We did it "SOLO" in 2019 with zero regrets. We stopped when we wanted to, went when we wanted to. Our journey was limited to the Kenai, Fairbanks and seemingly all points between. We went in from the Yukon at Tok and left thru Tok across the "Top of the World" highway. We also (while staying in Fairbanks) went to the Arctic Circle. We had a great time and would do it again except for age/health. Getting old is not for sissies, except this one apparently!
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We did it "SOLO" in 2019 with zero regrets. We stopped when we wanted to, went when we wanted to. Our journey was limited to the Kenai, Fairbanks and seemingly all points between. We went in from the Yukon at Tok and left thru Tok across the "Top of the World" highway. We also (while staying in Fairbanks) went to the Arctic Circle. We had a great time and would do it again except for age/health. Getting old is not for sissies, except this one apparently!
glenthompson
New Member
We did the Fantasy Alaska Your Way caravan. The concept of the tour was good with a limited number f pre-planned activities. Too many of their tours have you doing stuff every day. This had a nice base of activities and groups of us would make our own trips on other days. Some wanted to go fishing, others not. Some liked to eat dinner early, we preferred later since it was still light out. While the concept of the tour was great, our wagon master could have been a lot better.
The main advantages of the caravan is that all the reservations are made and you have people to help you with problems. Were we to go again we would do it on our own or travel with friends. There are places in Alaska I would like to spend more time visiting and others I can skip.
Yes, the roads can be rough but if you take adequate precautions the chance for damage is minimal. Learn to read the road. Most frost hives are marked with flags or cones - Keep an eye on them. Protect your toad. We had one of our caravaners that drove his 42' bus like it was a BMW and almost lost his windshield. Tailgunner fixed it u enough to get him to Whitehorse where it could be properly reseated. Don't drive like him.
We did an Alaskan cruise before making the trip and taking the RV was the better trip. Got to see a less touristy view.
The main advantages of the caravan is that all the reservations are made and you have people to help you with problems. Were we to go again we would do it on our own or travel with friends. There are places in Alaska I would like to spend more time visiting and others I can skip.
Yes, the roads can be rough but if you take adequate precautions the chance for damage is minimal. Learn to read the road. Most frost hives are marked with flags or cones - Keep an eye on them. Protect your toad. We had one of our caravaners that drove his 42' bus like it was a BMW and almost lost his windshield. Tailgunner fixed it u enough to get him to Whitehorse where it could be properly reseated. Don't drive like him.
We did an Alaskan cruise before making the trip and taking the RV was the better trip. Got to see a less touristy view.
Judge64
Senior Member
We did the Alaska Your Way 62 Day Fantasy Tours Caravan last year.
The Alaska Your Way Tour is a bit less structured. You have time to do your own thing. There are optional activities you can participate in with the group but you can be totally on your own 75% of the time. You can eat when you want. You don't have to be on a tight schedule.... except for travel days. And on travel days you can stop on the way and do site seeing... it is not 25 rigs nose to tail when moving from campground to campground.
We had the same issues..... we retired early.... and not all of our friends had the time and/or financial resources to do a 3-month trip.
We made some nice friends during the trip and we ended up doing a lot of things with them as well. We have also planned some other trips with them.... including a 43-Day Fantasy Trip to the Gaspe and Maritime in 2026. You typically do find like minded people who like the same things you do when you go on these group trips.
We were lucky and didn't have any major issues with the RV.... just some minor things that were easy to address on the fly. Some others in the group had some RV issues and it was nice there were people around to help out.
We did have some unfortunate issues during the 3-month trip (the wife was sick for half the trip with bronchitis and ended up in the urgent care and an emergency room.... and our dog also died along the way) .... but through all of that we still enjoyed the trip.
I'm glad we did it but now that I have done it and know a lot more first-hand, I would do Alaska one of the following ways.....
- Put the RV on the Ferry out of Washington and take it up and back that way.
- Fly up rent a car / Jeep and and explore on our own. Take the train from Anchorage to Denali for some great sightseeing.
- Take a cruise up to Alaska.... then rent a car and spend another week or two exploring the interior on our own and then flying home.
If you don't do a Caravan, I think traveling with some like-minded friends make a lot of sense given how remote some places are and stuff can happen.
Lots of people do it on their own.... you just need to plan and prepare according.
Several of us took our Jeeps from Fairbanks and did the 12-hour round trip to the Arctic Circle Sign on the Dalton Highway. Doing that very remote drive was better with some friends.
I would not go to Alaska without Starlink. I even took it with us to the Arctic Circle in case we ran into issues.... there was no cell coverage most of the way up and back. There is also many places with no cell coverage driving up the ALCAN and within Alaska.
Many campgrounds have power issues. The best upgrade I did several years before preparing for the trip was doing the Lithium conversion in my Super C and installing a 850Ah of batteries, a 3000W Inverter / Charger and wiring the coach to run everything off the Inverter. There were many times I gave up on shore power and ran off the batteries. Some campgrounds are nice and others are..... well..... dumps.... but its all part of the experience.
Camping on the beach at the Home Spit with the snow covered mountains reflecting off the water was terrific. Taking a sea plane to Katmai National Park to watch the bears eat salmon at Brooks Falls was a thrill of a lifetime. Seeing eagles, whales, puffins, salmon, bears, moose and elk was amazing.
Alaska is worth the trip... but there will be challenge..... it will be an adventure.... and it will be stressful at times...... but when you look back on it you will be glad you did it.
Life is too short.... most of us work hard and look forward to doing things we dreamed of doing. Alaska is one of those dreams for many people and it is worth doing.
Caravan or on your own..... do it!
If you want to call me to chat about it, shoot me a PM.
The Alaska Your Way Tour is a bit less structured. You have time to do your own thing. There are optional activities you can participate in with the group but you can be totally on your own 75% of the time. You can eat when you want. You don't have to be on a tight schedule.... except for travel days. And on travel days you can stop on the way and do site seeing... it is not 25 rigs nose to tail when moving from campground to campground.
We had the same issues..... we retired early.... and not all of our friends had the time and/or financial resources to do a 3-month trip.
We made some nice friends during the trip and we ended up doing a lot of things with them as well. We have also planned some other trips with them.... including a 43-Day Fantasy Trip to the Gaspe and Maritime in 2026. You typically do find like minded people who like the same things you do when you go on these group trips.
We were lucky and didn't have any major issues with the RV.... just some minor things that were easy to address on the fly. Some others in the group had some RV issues and it was nice there were people around to help out.
We did have some unfortunate issues during the 3-month trip (the wife was sick for half the trip with bronchitis and ended up in the urgent care and an emergency room.... and our dog also died along the way) .... but through all of that we still enjoyed the trip.
I'm glad we did it but now that I have done it and know a lot more first-hand, I would do Alaska one of the following ways.....
- Put the RV on the Ferry out of Washington and take it up and back that way.
- Fly up rent a car / Jeep and and explore on our own. Take the train from Anchorage to Denali for some great sightseeing.
- Take a cruise up to Alaska.... then rent a car and spend another week or two exploring the interior on our own and then flying home.
If you don't do a Caravan, I think traveling with some like-minded friends make a lot of sense given how remote some places are and stuff can happen.
Lots of people do it on their own.... you just need to plan and prepare according.
Several of us took our Jeeps from Fairbanks and did the 12-hour round trip to the Arctic Circle Sign on the Dalton Highway. Doing that very remote drive was better with some friends.
I would not go to Alaska without Starlink. I even took it with us to the Arctic Circle in case we ran into issues.... there was no cell coverage most of the way up and back. There is also many places with no cell coverage driving up the ALCAN and within Alaska.
Many campgrounds have power issues. The best upgrade I did several years before preparing for the trip was doing the Lithium conversion in my Super C and installing a 850Ah of batteries, a 3000W Inverter / Charger and wiring the coach to run everything off the Inverter. There were many times I gave up on shore power and ran off the batteries. Some campgrounds are nice and others are..... well..... dumps.... but its all part of the experience.
Camping on the beach at the Home Spit with the snow covered mountains reflecting off the water was terrific. Taking a sea plane to Katmai National Park to watch the bears eat salmon at Brooks Falls was a thrill of a lifetime. Seeing eagles, whales, puffins, salmon, bears, moose and elk was amazing.
Alaska is worth the trip... but there will be challenge..... it will be an adventure.... and it will be stressful at times...... but when you look back on it you will be glad you did it.
Life is too short.... most of us work hard and look forward to doing things we dreamed of doing. Alaska is one of those dreams for many people and it is worth doing.
Caravan or on your own..... do it!
If you want to call me to chat about it, shoot me a PM.
Attachments
Last edited:
Judge,
Thanks so much for responding. Yes, I would love to chat with you. I will PM you in the near future so we can chat.
Sorry to hear of some your personal life challenges during the trip. They sure make it extra challenging. My condolences on your dog. I will be saying my final good bye to our family's 29 year old horse in a few weeks. Right now it is gut wrenching. Trying to find the silver lining, it will give us the freedom to make the Alaska trip we have waited for for so long.
Some of my questions, in response to your remarks will include:
Why the ferry? Is it just the length of the drive up and the fatigue toll it takes on you or is it road conditions or something else? We would actually like to explore the Canadian Rockies on the way up or back.
We are not generally cruise enthusiasts, but are considering one (with adult kids/family included) for our 50th anniversary coming up in '28. With the current state of the cruise industry, I'm holding my breath a bit. We'd really like to visit Glacier Bay NP and Sitka. A cruise seems like that may be the best way.
Planning is indeed very big with me. I like to have my ducks in order and am quite attentive to details and preparation. On the other hand, we recognize that this trip will involve a considerable amount of "go with the flow." Isn't that the case with most RV adventures?
Noted about Starlink. I will have to better educate myself in that department. Maybe you can shae some tips.
Camping at Homer keeps coming up in my "research" enough that we are adding it to the want list. The flight to Katmai National Park sounds amazing, yet terrifying to me. (My borther, a Navy and commercial pilot, die in a small plane crash. Also my kids had a school teacher that was an Alaska bush pilot in a former life. The stories he told and they brought home, well...) But wow, I sure would like to bring home some feeding bear photos like your's. They are awesome, as are your others! Eagles, whales, and puffins, oh my! Yes, we want to see ALL that wildlife.
I'll be in touch.
Thanks so much for responding. Yes, I would love to chat with you. I will PM you in the near future so we can chat.
Sorry to hear of some your personal life challenges during the trip. They sure make it extra challenging. My condolences on your dog. I will be saying my final good bye to our family's 29 year old horse in a few weeks. Right now it is gut wrenching. Trying to find the silver lining, it will give us the freedom to make the Alaska trip we have waited for for so long.
Some of my questions, in response to your remarks will include:
Why the ferry? Is it just the length of the drive up and the fatigue toll it takes on you or is it road conditions or something else? We would actually like to explore the Canadian Rockies on the way up or back.
We are not generally cruise enthusiasts, but are considering one (with adult kids/family included) for our 50th anniversary coming up in '28. With the current state of the cruise industry, I'm holding my breath a bit. We'd really like to visit Glacier Bay NP and Sitka. A cruise seems like that may be the best way.
Planning is indeed very big with me. I like to have my ducks in order and am quite attentive to details and preparation. On the other hand, we recognize that this trip will involve a considerable amount of "go with the flow." Isn't that the case with most RV adventures?
Noted about Starlink. I will have to better educate myself in that department. Maybe you can shae some tips.
Camping at Homer keeps coming up in my "research" enough that we are adding it to the want list. The flight to Katmai National Park sounds amazing, yet terrifying to me. (My borther, a Navy and commercial pilot, die in a small plane crash. Also my kids had a school teacher that was an Alaska bush pilot in a former life. The stories he told and they brought home, well...) But wow, I sure would like to bring home some feeding bear photos like your's. They are awesome, as are your others! Eagles, whales, and puffins, oh my! Yes, we want to see ALL that wildlife.
I'll be in touch.
Homer is one of our favorite spots in Alaska. Halibut fishing charters can be fun - but just the town is great. In fact, the whole Kenai is very nice. A forest fire a couple of years ago changed the scenery. But still worthwhile - especially if you like salmon fishing.
An alternative for bear viewing is the Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Site near Hyder. You can drive to it. - It's off the Cassiar Highway - not the Alcan. A visit to Hyder is worthwhile. As far as I know, it's the only place with no border security. (There is a border crossing coming back into Canada.)
An alternative for bear viewing is the Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Site near Hyder. You can drive to it. - It's off the Cassiar Highway - not the Alcan. A visit to Hyder is worthwhile. As far as I know, it's the only place with no border security. (There is a border crossing coming back into Canada.)
Thanks for the tip. We've kind of had a stop in Hyder in our back pocket in case we didn't see bears in the wild on the rest of our trip (or I'm to chicken to do the flight to Katmai). We'd drive up via the Alcan and back down via the Cassiar. More options, more fun.
Alaska Hwy
Hi,
My wife and I did an Alaska run last summer (2023) with our 32 ft Motorhome (2018 Thor Ace) towing a Jeep from Maryland, 12,000+ miles roundtrip and right about 2 full months total. This was my 3rd Alaska run and sort of a 50 year commemorative re-peat of a 1973 Alaska run our family made when I was a kid in a pickup camper. Back then it was gravel from Dawson Creek to the Alaska border. The AlCan Hwy is much, much nicer now so the actual road itself should not be a concern.
I had to do a little convincing for my wife to get on board with the trip, she was leaning towards "we can fly there in 6 hours, why spend 6 weeks in the camper just getting there?" My angle was that the Alaska Hwy was as much of the destination as Alaska itself. There is so much along the way, particularly if you have a weakness for historical items such as I do. All the old WWII trucks left over from the Hwy construction, nice museums and displays etc. So my point is please don't view the Alaska Hwy as just a means of getting to Alaska like the ferry or flying, the Hwy itself is an important part of the overall experience (IMHO).
We went by ourselves, we are retired so time was not any concern, I am reasonably mechanically competent
and these were the main preps I made:
1) I got 2 new front tires, kept the best old one and bought a new steel rim and mounted the tire so I had an actual spare tire for the motorhome. My Ace has slightly oddball tire size 245/19.5 and my concern was that even though there are many places along the Hwy that can mount/change your tire, if you need a new tire they are not going to have your odd ball size "in stock" and will order it and you wait several days while they have it shipped in. So I put my RV spare in the back of the Jeep, and double-checked I had all the correct jacks, breaker bars etc so I could change my own tires (and physically swapped a couple tires on the RV to prove it).
2) My motorhome did not include an inverter so while driving the frig runs on propane (or I could start and run the 4000 watt on-board generator but I don't like to do that while driving). So I added a 2000 watt inverter which gave me what I needed. I also added 400 watts solar panels up on the roof and replaced the 2 old house batteries with 3 new type 31 AGM batteries. The purpose of this was so that we could dry-camp for up to 2 days with no issues. Yes, I always had the backup of the on-board 4000 watt Onan generator, but I am not going to be the guy who fires up a noisy generator while everyone in the campground is enjoying the pristine silence of the Yukon. It is very helpful if you are set so you are self-contained, if you are at a Provincial Park Campground or don't trust the questionable looks of the power at the campsite do not plug in, just run off your batteries etc.
I can see both sides of going with or without a "caravan", there is a definite advantage of organization. But we are more un-structured so it is not for us. I like to be up early, cup of coffee and silently as possible idle out of the campground and on the road by 6 AM. The organized tours (I believe) have scheduled departure times so they do not make a big logjam by all pulling out at the same time. Likewise on arrival, I have seen the tour group advance guy get to the new campground an hour or two before the first camper arrives, he goes in and gets all the campsite numbers for his 20 or so campers, I watched him physically go to each site with his power meter to check the power pole, then he waited at the entrance with his clipboard and when one of his campers arrived he just pointed and told them which site to go to. That way the camper with the big dually towing a 40 foot 5th wheel went to the bigger site, the smaller class c went to an appropriate site so all 20 got the site that made sense. That is nice.
One other thought I have is that it would make a difference if you do or don't have another vehicle. We towed our Jeep the whole 12,000+ miles and we only drove it about 250 miles. But it was indispensable for those 250 miles. For instance in Whitehorse, the campground is about 5 miles out of town, we stayed there 2 nights, we went into town 3 or 4 times. The Jeep was perfect. Could we have rented a car ? maybe. Could we have un-hooked the power/water and driven the motorhome in to town and found RV parking? maybe. But if you were with a group of 20 or so other campers that are rapidly becoming friends couldn't you easily hop a ride with one of them? My estimation is that 3/4 of all the campers are pickups towing 5th wheels so lots of pickup trucks you may be able to catch a ride with. Likewise in Fairbanks we were 10 miles out of town, and in Anchorage we actually stayed in Palmer which was 40 miles outside of town.
From Fairbanks we took a couple side trips that I would recommend, a bus day trip (20 hours) up and back the Dalton Hwy to the Arctic Circle. Then an Alaska Railroad 2 day trip from Fairbanks down to Mt McKinley/Denali Park which was really nice.
Then while in Anchorage my wife needed to fly back home for some family issues so I was left to return the 6,000 miles back to Maryland all by myself.. So, I went back to Tok, then took the Top of the World Hwy to Dawson City, Yukon - which required driving the motorhome down the gravel embankment onto a ferry boat to cross the Yukon River - and then up the Dempster Hwy to above the Arctic Circle in Canada (with the RV towing the Jeep) and eventually re-joined the Alaska Hwy in Whitehorse after 1,000+ miles of gravel road. No flat tires, no windshield chips on the RV, but 1 tiny windshield chip on Jeep.
All in all was a great trip. I am actually somewhat planning my 4th run in another year or so. Not sure if my wife will come along on another one though, so that might be a total solo run.
So with or without an organized tour is whatever you are comfortable with, you will have a great trip either way.
I think I have attached a couple pics, the road pics shows the 99.9% nice road and the one shows about the worst spot which is always in construction.
Best Regards
Hi,
My wife and I did an Alaska run last summer (2023) with our 32 ft Motorhome (2018 Thor Ace) towing a Jeep from Maryland, 12,000+ miles roundtrip and right about 2 full months total. This was my 3rd Alaska run and sort of a 50 year commemorative re-peat of a 1973 Alaska run our family made when I was a kid in a pickup camper. Back then it was gravel from Dawson Creek to the Alaska border. The AlCan Hwy is much, much nicer now so the actual road itself should not be a concern.
I had to do a little convincing for my wife to get on board with the trip, she was leaning towards "we can fly there in 6 hours, why spend 6 weeks in the camper just getting there?" My angle was that the Alaska Hwy was as much of the destination as Alaska itself. There is so much along the way, particularly if you have a weakness for historical items such as I do. All the old WWII trucks left over from the Hwy construction, nice museums and displays etc. So my point is please don't view the Alaska Hwy as just a means of getting to Alaska like the ferry or flying, the Hwy itself is an important part of the overall experience (IMHO).
We went by ourselves, we are retired so time was not any concern, I am reasonably mechanically competent
and these were the main preps I made:1) I got 2 new front tires, kept the best old one and bought a new steel rim and mounted the tire so I had an actual spare tire for the motorhome. My Ace has slightly oddball tire size 245/19.5 and my concern was that even though there are many places along the Hwy that can mount/change your tire, if you need a new tire they are not going to have your odd ball size "in stock" and will order it and you wait several days while they have it shipped in. So I put my RV spare in the back of the Jeep, and double-checked I had all the correct jacks, breaker bars etc so I could change my own tires (and physically swapped a couple tires on the RV to prove it).
2) My motorhome did not include an inverter so while driving the frig runs on propane (or I could start and run the 4000 watt on-board generator but I don't like to do that while driving). So I added a 2000 watt inverter which gave me what I needed. I also added 400 watts solar panels up on the roof and replaced the 2 old house batteries with 3 new type 31 AGM batteries. The purpose of this was so that we could dry-camp for up to 2 days with no issues. Yes, I always had the backup of the on-board 4000 watt Onan generator, but I am not going to be the guy who fires up a noisy generator while everyone in the campground is enjoying the pristine silence of the Yukon. It is very helpful if you are set so you are self-contained, if you are at a Provincial Park Campground or don't trust the questionable looks of the power at the campsite do not plug in, just run off your batteries etc.
I can see both sides of going with or without a "caravan", there is a definite advantage of organization. But we are more un-structured so it is not for us. I like to be up early, cup of coffee and silently as possible idle out of the campground and on the road by 6 AM. The organized tours (I believe) have scheduled departure times so they do not make a big logjam by all pulling out at the same time. Likewise on arrival, I have seen the tour group advance guy get to the new campground an hour or two before the first camper arrives, he goes in and gets all the campsite numbers for his 20 or so campers, I watched him physically go to each site with his power meter to check the power pole, then he waited at the entrance with his clipboard and when one of his campers arrived he just pointed and told them which site to go to. That way the camper with the big dually towing a 40 foot 5th wheel went to the bigger site, the smaller class c went to an appropriate site so all 20 got the site that made sense. That is nice.
One other thought I have is that it would make a difference if you do or don't have another vehicle. We towed our Jeep the whole 12,000+ miles and we only drove it about 250 miles. But it was indispensable for those 250 miles. For instance in Whitehorse, the campground is about 5 miles out of town, we stayed there 2 nights, we went into town 3 or 4 times. The Jeep was perfect. Could we have rented a car ? maybe. Could we have un-hooked the power/water and driven the motorhome in to town and found RV parking? maybe. But if you were with a group of 20 or so other campers that are rapidly becoming friends couldn't you easily hop a ride with one of them? My estimation is that 3/4 of all the campers are pickups towing 5th wheels so lots of pickup trucks you may be able to catch a ride with. Likewise in Fairbanks we were 10 miles out of town, and in Anchorage we actually stayed in Palmer which was 40 miles outside of town.
From Fairbanks we took a couple side trips that I would recommend, a bus day trip (20 hours) up and back the Dalton Hwy to the Arctic Circle. Then an Alaska Railroad 2 day trip from Fairbanks down to Mt McKinley/Denali Park which was really nice.
Then while in Anchorage my wife needed to fly back home for some family issues so I was left to return the 6,000 miles back to Maryland all by myself..
So, I went back to Tok, then took the Top of the World Hwy to Dawson City, Yukon - which required driving the motorhome down the gravel embankment onto a ferry boat to cross the Yukon River - and then up the Dempster Hwy to above the Arctic Circle in Canada (with the RV towing the Jeep) and eventually re-joined the Alaska Hwy in Whitehorse after 1,000+ miles of gravel road. No flat tires, no windshield chips on the RV, but 1 tiny windshield chip on Jeep.All in all was a great trip. I am actually somewhat planning my 4th run in another year or so. Not sure if my wife will come along on another one though, so that might be a total solo run.
So with or without an organized tour is whatever you are comfortable with, you will have a great trip either way.
I think I have attached a couple pics, the road pics shows the 99.9% nice road and the one shows about the worst spot which is always in construction.
Best Regards
Attachments
Bob Nodine
Senior Member
One of the high lights of our trip was an opportunity to video a juvenile grizzly catching a salmon. Here is my youTube video of that encounter.
Alaska Hwy
Hi again,
Thinking of the Alaska Hwy again got me to researching some more and I did check some of the RV caravan tours to get a better idea of what they offer. Although they are not what I am personally looking for, they really do seem to offer a well-rounded itinerary.
My biggest take-away from what I learned is that several of them offer a 0ne-way RV caravan that you take from Dawson Creek up to Fairbanks or Anchorage with all the campgrounds, organizational advantages and tours included and then you are on your own to explore whatever additional stops you want in Alaska and make your own way back down the Hwy to Canada/US.
If you are somewhat unsure of the by-yourself approach for the whole trip, this might be a good alternative. By the time you have reached Alaska you will be more than confident in your abilities to make the return trip back down the Hwy by yourselves.
Who knows, you might even add in the Top of the World Hwy as part of it. It is certainly doable, but it is gravel and requires a ferry crossing of the Yukon.
Anyway, here is one sample for consideration - and note the price drops from $13K/couple for the 50/60-day round trip package to only $7K/couple for the 23-day one way package. Certainly still not cheap, but there is value in what they offer.
--------------
The 23 Day Alaska "One Way" Tour is unique in that you travel with the folks on the 50 Day Alaska Tour, for the first 23 days. You participate in all of the same activities that the 50 Day Alaska Tour folks do. You will end up in Anchorage, Alaska on the 23rd day.
--------------
https://www.rvadventuretreks.com/23-day-alaska-tour.html
--------------
Best Regards
Hi again,
Thinking of the Alaska Hwy again got me to researching some more and I did check some of the RV caravan tours to get a better idea of what they offer. Although they are not what I am personally looking for, they really do seem to offer a well-rounded itinerary.
My biggest take-away from what I learned is that several of them offer a 0ne-way RV caravan that you take from Dawson Creek up to Fairbanks or Anchorage with all the campgrounds, organizational advantages and tours included and then you are on your own to explore whatever additional stops you want in Alaska and make your own way back down the Hwy to Canada/US.
If you are somewhat unsure of the by-yourself approach for the whole trip, this might be a good alternative. By the time you have reached Alaska you will be more than confident in your abilities to make the return trip back down the Hwy by yourselves.
Who knows, you might even add in the Top of the World Hwy as part of it. It is certainly doable, but it is gravel and requires a ferry crossing of the Yukon.
Anyway, here is one sample for consideration - and note the price drops from $13K/couple for the 50/60-day round trip package to only $7K/couple for the 23-day one way package. Certainly still not cheap, but there is value in what they offer.
--------------
The 23 Day Alaska "One Way" Tour is unique in that you travel with the folks on the 50 Day Alaska Tour, for the first 23 days. You participate in all of the same activities that the 50 Day Alaska Tour folks do. You will end up in Anchorage, Alaska on the 23rd day.
--------------
https://www.rvadventuretreks.com/23-day-alaska-tour.html
--------------
Best Regards
Schedule it, and drive it. It is a great experience.
I live in Alaska. Last year we bought an RV in Chicago so I flew down and drove it back. I had driven the Alaska Highway before but this was the first time in an RV. By the time I got halfway through Alberta I was calling my wife telling her we had to come back through here so this summer we drove down to Washington on the Cassiar Highway through Idaho and back up. Mostly state routes, and back roads. We did that in late August and most of the road construction had concluded, that helped. The roads were all in great shape except for the godforsaken section between Destruction Bay and the US border. It seems Canada thinks the US should pay for maintenance on that section so they do the absolute bare minimum. Schedule a long, slow day for that section.
Regardless of that privation, it was a fabulous trip. Great scenery and experience. Absolutely worth the trip. Do your research and take your time and you will be fine. The 2025 Milepost will be out pretty soon. Provincial and Parks Canada parks are generally very nice. We plugged in one day, boondocked the next. Most of our plugins were municipal parks or ones run by civic organizations like the Lions Club and those were inexpensive and very nice.
I will echo what yukongrant had in their post that the road is much better than it was 35 years ago. Lots of services along the way. Don't pack like you are going to the moon! Provision along the way.
We have RV towing insurance and I used an inReach satellite communicator for the "dark territory" where there is no cell coverage. If we would have needed mechanical help, I could have used that to have someone call the roadside assistance company for me and give them our location. They would have really hated driving a quart of oil or fixing a flat out to us in the middle of nowhere!
Many other adventures to relate but that is my general advice at least. Photos below - the yin and yang of the trip - beautiful scenery around every corner but a logging truck pegged our brand new windshield. Looks like I be getting another brand new windshield.
I live in Alaska. Last year we bought an RV in Chicago so I flew down and drove it back. I had driven the Alaska Highway before but this was the first time in an RV. By the time I got halfway through Alberta I was calling my wife telling her we had to come back through here so this summer we drove down to Washington on the Cassiar Highway through Idaho and back up. Mostly state routes, and back roads. We did that in late August and most of the road construction had concluded, that helped. The roads were all in great shape except for the godforsaken section between Destruction Bay and the US border. It seems Canada thinks the US should pay for maintenance on that section so they do the absolute bare minimum. Schedule a long, slow day for that section.
Regardless of that privation, it was a fabulous trip. Great scenery and experience. Absolutely worth the trip. Do your research and take your time and you will be fine. The 2025 Milepost will be out pretty soon. Provincial and Parks Canada parks are generally very nice. We plugged in one day, boondocked the next. Most of our plugins were municipal parks or ones run by civic organizations like the Lions Club and those were inexpensive and very nice.
I will echo what yukongrant had in their post that the road is much better than it was 35 years ago. Lots of services along the way. Don't pack like you are going to the moon! Provision along the way.
We have RV towing insurance and I used an inReach satellite communicator for the "dark territory" where there is no cell coverage. If we would have needed mechanical help, I could have used that to have someone call the roadside assistance company for me and give them our location. They would have really hated driving a quart of oil or fixing a flat out to us in the middle of nowhere!
Many other adventures to relate but that is my general advice at least. Photos below - the yin and yang of the trip - beautiful scenery around every corner but a logging truck pegged our brand new windshield. Looks like I be getting another brand new windshield.
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Read this thread (for the third time, at least) again today. My wife and I are contemplating this trip for the summer of '26. Tossing around the idea of doing it with one of the caravans (her choice) vs. free-styling it on our own (my choice). She wants the security of the pack and the camaraderie of a group. I want to see a LOT of stuff that isn't anywhere in the caravans' itineraries. Plus, the amount we'd spend on the lowest cost option (23 days one way) would pay for our gasoline for the whole trip.
For you folks that have done it, thanks for sharing your experiences!
Decisions, decisions....
For you folks that have done it, thanks for sharing your experiences!
Decisions, decisions....
Caravan v lone-wolf
PS89 - I have never been part of a Caravan but I have seen a lot of them come through over the years. I'm not sure what the benefit is. I have met quite a few people that had a problem and were left behind by their Caravan. Traveling and meeting new people is kinda the idea. Different neighbors every night. You meet lots of friendly people (because the unfriendly ones don't chat with you). A small group of people might be nice but I dunno about a large organized caravan.
When I was young I met a teacher at a Museum. I took a lot of educational courses there and got to know her well. When she was retired and headed to Alaska she asked my parents for my contact information. We had breakfast and she related that this was her second time to Alaska. The first was in the 1950s when one of her friends found a copy of the Milepost (maybe 75 pages back then) and they and another friend decided to drive up - from Cleveland! The 3 young ladies took turns driving, navigating and the 3rd person would jump out and roll rocks out of the road so they wouldn't damage the Buick's undercarriage.
It is much less adventurous now.
Browse over your route in Google Maps and if you want to know what the road looks like there, drag the little yellow person to where you want to investigate and you'll get a 365º photo of the area. It's pretty slick. That's how I decided it was OK to drive the Cassiar Highway, Cariboo Highway and Route 95 in Idaho.
PS89 - I have never been part of a Caravan but I have seen a lot of them come through over the years. I'm not sure what the benefit is. I have met quite a few people that had a problem and were left behind by their Caravan. Traveling and meeting new people is kinda the idea. Different neighbors every night. You meet lots of friendly people (because the unfriendly ones don't chat with you). A small group of people might be nice but I dunno about a large organized caravan.
When I was young I met a teacher at a Museum. I took a lot of educational courses there and got to know her well. When she was retired and headed to Alaska she asked my parents for my contact information. We had breakfast and she related that this was her second time to Alaska. The first was in the 1950s when one of her friends found a copy of the Milepost (maybe 75 pages back then) and they and another friend decided to drive up - from Cleveland! The 3 young ladies took turns driving, navigating and the 3rd person would jump out and roll rocks out of the road so they wouldn't damage the Buick's undercarriage.
It is much less adventurous now.
Browse over your route in Google Maps and if you want to know what the road looks like there, drag the little yellow person to where you want to investigate and you'll get a 365º photo of the area. It's pretty slick. That's how I decided it was OK to drive the Cassiar Highway, Cariboo Highway and Route 95 in Idaho.
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Hope you will report back after the journey.
We are still looking at going in 2026. We'd also love to find a few like minded people who might want to form a small causual caravan, mostly for cameraderie and a bit of "moral support" if needed.
Have a super fun trip!
Bob Nodine
Senior Member
I suggest you start a new thread with the title "Looking to form a small caravan to Alaska" and see if you can find other members who would be interested in doing the trip in 2026. Our caravan of 5 motorhomes was not an organized effort and happened because we belonged to a website like this for another brand of motorhome. I made a post one day that the wife and I were planning to go to Alaska and another member posted that he was interested. We had a yearly get together at Lazydays in Seffner, Florida and the discussion continued there. By the time that gathering was over we had two more motorhomes for a total of 4. Then one of the website members in Portland, Organ decided to join so the group grew to 5 motorhomes. We were all from different locations, us in Tn, one in NC, one in Ga, one in Fl, and one in Oregon. The plan was to all meet at Mile Zero in Dawson Creek in Alberta and go from there. We all left home at slightly different times. The one from North Carolina met up with the wife and I at the Flying J here in Knoxville and we traveled together meeting up with two other couples who had left weeks earlier and did a side trip of the Mississippi River up to its beginning. We met up with those at Medora, North Dakota and the couple from Oregon met up with us at Dawson Creek. We all traveled together from there until we got back to Montana where we each went our separate way.
Bob
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