Alaska bound.

The wife has decided that we are going to Alaska the last ten days of May. We are flying into Anchorage and pick up an RV then head out to who knows where.
Any tips of what to try to see and do in 10 days at the end of May? Any places to avoid? The wife has a bad knee, so I am not worried too much about bears...
I have no idea what to pack. I'd like to do some puddle jump sort of fishing, and maybe a halibut trip out of Homer. The wife wants to sight see.

There is a water airport in Anchorage where floatplanes operate. Go there to a flight company and take a small plane to Denali. The plane we took carried about six people. See the top of the world.

I would have gone mid June...isn't May early there for that?

Let me know if you want to go Halibut or Salmon Fighting my very best friend runs a guiding business out of Homer

Denali highway between paxson and cantwell, if you hit it right when the ice is going out on the lakes you can hammer the grayling and lake trout. Beautiful country and few people.

I did a road trip last September. We left Anchorage and drove to Valdez on day 1, then to Delta Junction, then a night in Healy, then back to Anchorage. On the last day we drove down to Seward and back to Anchorage in the same day.

It was a lot of miles each day 2-300, but we wanted to see as much as we could in the week we were there. Personally, I enjoyed the interior more than the coast but I also despise rain. Valdez was a cool little town though.

We’re going back this September. Planning on driving the Cantwell on day 1, then to Delta Junction via the Denali hwy. A few days there of bird hunting and then the long way back to Anchorage through Tok.

If you’re in an RV i would not advise taking on those distances. The roads are fairly nice but slow going in a lot of places.

Too early for most everything except the frost heaves.
No furnace and no to little insulation in most rental fleet motor homes.

Go check out the museum in Anchorage, well worth it. Shows all the early ways of living .

Went in late May also.You have the zoo in Anchorage. A animal park on the way to Homer.Went halibut fishing in Homer and watched the sunset over the cliffs in Homer also.Then you have Denali. Alaska is awesome.Enjoy your stay.

end of may is a great time. still snow on mtn tops, mosquitos not real bad yet, cool mornings, warming up during the day take a ride up the Glen hwy to glenn allen lots of moose and some sheep on the mtn's days are long.
Anchorage is not a place to stay, lots of homeless

If your going to Homer stop in Soldotna and walk some of the boardwalk along the Kenia River, very pretty area.

To supplement my earlier comment:

When arriving and departing, if necessary to stay overnight in Anchorage stay somewhere nice downtown that has shuttle service from the airport. Avoid unknown motels. First trip there, we were warned by a couple people at the airport to not go where we had reservations since rooms usually are rented hourly. If open, the Puffin was nice, but no shuttle.

Lake Hood is the Anchorage airport for floatplanes. .

If you go to Denali, the bus trip to the end of the road at Wonder lake lodge may not yet be running, or the road may not yet be clear or safe.

A day trip on the train would be good.

A fun visit in Anchorage is Wild West Guns. $$$$😎

Can you go over Summer Solstice? A great time to go, but tourists will be there by then.

The view around Homer is fantastic if a clear day.

Seward is a nice little village. We go out Halibut fishing from there.

Check out the sights in Gulkana and Gakona! Just kidding.

Look for Ethel wearing her fur bikini.

Get the insurance on the motor home windshield - it will probably break.

Have a great adventure!

Have fun Carl.

I second the Denali highway between Paxson and Cantwell but it might be pretty rough for an RV. Most rental companies 'prohibit' taking their vehicles across that stretch. Worth the trip though.

I'd avoid Homer at all costs. Long drive for a big disappointment. Scenic yes. Interesting no.

If you want to "flightsee" over Denali Park, I would drive to Talkeetna and fly out of there. Much closer to the park.

Willy Firewood is joking about Gulkana and Gakona but I actually find that area far more scenic and interesting than the Parks highway between ANC & FAI. The Gulkana is some dynamite rainbow habitat but that might be too early.

I have stayed at the Puffin Inn in ANC for decades. They always had a shuttle. Must be a virus thing. OTOH......there have been a couple shootings in the parking lot there in the last couple years.


The antique car museum in Fairbanks is a must-see IMO. A guided tour through the Fort Knox gold mine is quite interesting too.......if you're into geology and heavy industry etc. It's NE of Fairbanks and north of Fox IIRC. Need to arrange it ahead of time.

Lots of spots along the Richardson Highway to stop and fish.

The more I think about it, the more I think I'd fly into Fairbanks and never go as far south as Anchorage. If you want to see Valdez and the drive through Keystone Canyon you can do that by staying on the east side of the state and on the Richardson Highway.

There may still be substantial snow in Keystone in late May. Not sure on that. Striking scenery though !


If you have the time and interest, I would drive to Dawson City..........not Dawson Creek. Small but tons of gold rush history. Jack London's cabin, Robert Service's cabin, Old banks, boats, dance halls. Good food and hotels. Just upstream of Dawson the Klondike River joins the Yukon. A mile or so up the Klondike, Discovery Creek enters from the south. The largest timber framed dredge in the world is on Discovery creek and guided tours are available. Just the construction and operation of the dredge was a real eye-opener for me. If I remember correctly, it is sitting 18 miles up the creek. It "worked" its way there by dredging. Generally.........the creek is smaller than the dredge that's floating in it. Some stairs involved so your wife might not enjoy it. Still some active mining along Discovery creek.

The RV would be handy if you want to stop somewhere for a while but I would rethink that. Gas won't be cheap and distances are substantial. A car and hotels might be just as cheap and more comfortable.

I suspect 10 days will not be adequate

I think I stayed at that hotel back in 2016. Can't remember the name but it had no trespassing signs in the lobby. I asked why the no trespassing signs in the lobby? The counterperson replied to keep the prostitutes from bothering the customers. Same hotel had a community back porch and the rooms on each side of me had so much marijuana smoke coming out of the windows it would have made Cheech and Chong proud. Only stayed there one night.

I have been doing the Alaska RV trip since 2016 every year but 2020. We go a little later in the year though.

As others have mentioned take advantage of shuttles, because it seems like the standard cab fair in Anchorage is $40 no matter where you go. It really ate us up in 2016. Now we shuttle from the airport to the RV pickup and back.

Enjoy your trip.

A friend of mine lived in Fairbanks for quite a few years until he got an either/or from his wife to move back to MN where it's not so cold.
Anyway, he said be more concerned about a moose attack than a bear attack.

If the wife has a bad knee, at least you can out-run her in case of a bear attack.

10 days ain't nearly enough.You might as well watch a video from home. Pick an area and take your time. Humans a lot more dangerous than moose or bears.

I’m more concerned about my vehicle attacking a moose!!

Thanks fellers! I welcome any more advice if you can think of anything.

Denali is a must see even if it's from the highway. Ken doesn't seem to be much of a fan of the Kenai but I loved it and owned land there. A man would really need lifetimes to adequately explore that state. It's immense.

Have fun,Carl.

My wife and I did a 15 day trip to Alaska last July for our 5 year anniversary and had an absolute blast!!! Definitely recommend spending the money and get on a glacier. We hiked and climbed one but you can take planes and helicopters to them. One trip out of Seward will fly you to the Harding ice field and you get to ride with a sled dog team. We didn’t do that one as the availability was full but we done a sled dog ride and it was very fun. Wish I could have made it to Valdez but we didn’t allow enough time to make it between all the activities we booked. We had a flight seeing tour out of Denali booked but it was canceled due to weather. That was probably the biggest bummer of the trip as I looked forward to it the most. Halibut fishing out of Homer was a blast! We used Maverick Charters and did a multi species tour. I would 1000% recommend them! Try to ride on the Alaskan railroad if you can, it’s an awesome experience.

Anybody going to Alaska send me a PM my best friend runs A fishing Guide Service that I will stand behind

Very nice pics. I love it in Ak and hope wife and I go again.

Head south on the seward hiway around the turnagain arm . Spend your first night in Hope ( the first place they found major gold in alaska ) eat some halibut and chips at the seaview . Take a drive up palmer creek road ( my backyard trapping country ) . Head back to seward hiway , stop at gwins in cooper landing for lunch if you like . Jimmy jacks have great fishing charter that launches out of ninilchick almost to homer . Caught many big halibut with those guys . Should be about the time you can catch kings out of the pool on the homer spit . Living all over alaska , the kenia penninsula is the alaska playground . Enjoy !!

I second visiting the town of Hope as well as the Halibut at the Seaview. We always stay in Hope a few days. Gwins is always good as well. If she is open I believe her name is Libby sells food out of a small food truck beside Wildmans in Cooper Landing. We always refer to it as the Alaskan Roach Coach but she is a great lady with good food and at times Cinamon Rolls. One year I bought a whole pan off her. I always enjoyed chatting with her and supporting her small business.

Carl - the first time we did the RV rental thing it was for 3 weeks and 1,750 miles. We drove around, looked around, did some great adventures, and fished a lot. Our conclusion was 3 weeks was not near enough time for a general statewide drive around tour. We enjoyed the Kenai peninsula the best. Maybe if just driving and looking, but that is all we wanted. 1,750 miles was a lot of driving.

Most water that is accessible from the road means disappointing, lousy, or combat fishing.

If at all possible, get unbiased referrals on everything. Many folks scam the tourists in every way possible.

Get a Gazetteer from DeLorme.

Ever since that first trip when we have gone back, it was to the Kenai peninsula.

Have fun!

I see a piebald moose in the Kenia Peninsula