The idea of our 5 month epic Alaskan Adventure had been tossed around for several years. Early in 2015 we started talking about Alaska again, but this time we decided to make the trip in 2016. We started by telling family who were mostly supportive but somewhat surprised by the length of the trip. 5 months seems like a long time, but as I get further into planning I realize that we will only be scratching the surface.
With everything else that goes on in life, we may only have this one chance to make this trip. I wanted to do plenty of research and take full opportunity of everything Alaska and Canada have to offer. Some internet research quickly found that the one book we absolutely had to have was the 2016 The Milepost.by Kris Valencia This book includes every highway we will be traveling on with locations of pull-outs, scenic views, campgrounds, and fuel stations, etc. The other two books that we highly recommend are: Traveler’s Guide to Alaskan Camping by Mike & Terri Church and RV’ing to Alaska by Ronald E. Jones. The Jones book is a good overview. The Church book contains lots of specific and detailed information about campgrounds and other services. I have supplemented this with numerous other books and web research. I am listing the other books I found most useful and you can decide which ones are most important to you based on the types of things you want to do and see.
Here are most of my books for planning:
The other books that were most helpful for overall planning:
- Banff, Jasper & Glacier from Lonely Planet guides
- Alaska from Lonely Planet guides
- Yukon by Polly Evans, a Bradt guide
- Anchorage, Denali and the Kenai Peninsula from Moon travel guides
- British Columbia from Frommer’s travel guides
- Fodor’s Pacific Northwest
- Denali National Park, The Complete Visitor’s Guide… by Bill Sherwonit
For Hiking specifc information:
- Hiking Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve by Greg Fensterman
- Whitehorse & Area Hikes & Bikes from the Yukon Conservation Society
- 50 Hikes in Alaska’s Chugach State Park by Shane Shepherd & Owen Wozniak
- A Falcon Guides: Best Easy Day Hikes: Anchorage by John Tyson
- A Falcon Guides: Best Easy Day Hikes: Fairbanks by Montana Hodes
- The Kluane National Park Hiking Guide by Vivien Lougheed ** There’s a newer version of this book, but the only copies for sale at the time of my purchase and this post were listed at $475 each!
For Wildlife Viewing:
- Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula Wildlife Viewing Trail Guide created by Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game
For Fishing:
- Alaska Fishing On A Budget by Bernard R. Rosenberg
- Alaska River Maps & Fishing Guide by Frank Amato Publications
