For you residents of Alaska and those who have spent a lot of time there. I’m 69, in good health so far. I would like to plan a trip of a lifetime to the last frontier. I would either drive with a camper in tow or fly and stay for a month or more.
I would see the sights and fish the various specie and if it worked out stay for the earliest hunting season. I have no issue having a base of operations and venturing off for multi-day trips without the camper, staying at the destination and returning to base. It’s a hugeeee state so I’m not sure how to approach this project.

All the posts you guys put him up is like reading about it in OUTDOOR LIFE in bits and pieces and that’s what i find most interesting and intriguing and very personal to your life experiences.

Thanks for any input you guys can give me.

Steve

#1) Wait for a clear calm day and go to Talkeetna. Take a flight around Denali. Option: land on Ruth Glacier #2: take the Devils canyon tour, by boat, from Talkeetna. 3) Drive the haul road to Deadhorse 4) drive the Denali hwy from Cantwell to Paxson 5) drive to Seward 6) on your way home drive the Top if the World hwy, take the ferry accross the Yukon to Dawson. These are all road system trips. This will get your listed started. Ak is a great big spectacular place. Enjoy

come to SE and ride the ferry from location to location, the schedule is online

Lots of people bring an RV or camper and stay several months in an RV camp, with a small boat you can do a lot. Once Canada opens up would like to drive and fish all the lakes I could taking my time on the way back home to Alaska with a small boat.

Going to add a lot just leave their RV up here and fly back home here every summer.

You can do a lot with a beater rig you leave up here, small boat and 3 months to play

Definitely drive but travel light. Don't overload the camper. You really don't need a pile of clothes or food as grocery stores are frequent and quality.
Yukon Territory has a lot of interesting areas and roads with fewer tourists. Kenai Peninsula fishing is a mad house and roads are crowded. Bring
binos and spotting scope for game watching without visiting the Park Circus.

My recommendation is to wait until September. Most tourists are gone by then or are on their way south, the weather is glorious (usually), the trees are turning color, and while some species-specific fishing opportunities may be limited there are always silvers and dollies and big catch & release rainbows to chase. Plus, it coincides with good hunting seasons. Cool/cold nights, fall colors, and many fewer tourists open up lots of opportunities that would simply be a zoo during peak summer months. The only potential problem might be driving through mountain passes of you're driving up from the L48. Fly up and rent a vehicle and then fly home.

Don't think one can do the state justice in a lifetime. Still, the ability to stop and smell the roses is far ahead of the jump out, snap a pic, and run crowd. Been up three times. Two for hunts and the third as a tourist. One needs planes, trains, boats, automobiles, and several years. All of Alaska and the Yukon is view property.

The advice to avoid the tourist meccas until Sept is quite sound.

I would be in Anchorage by the end of May, to catch the best King fishing in Cook Inlet, and then go for whatever blows your skirt up. I doubt you will be able to drive through Canada then, so you have to either drive to Tacoma and ship your vehicle up, or rent or buy when you arrive. If it were me I would come in mid-May, spend a week or two buying and stocking a camper, and then sell it when you leave, rather than pay the steep cost of shipping a vehicle up and back.

I prolly wouldn't do a lot of sight-seeing, I'd pick species of fish to pursue (like graying along the Denali Hiway) and see the sights while doing that.

I'd end it with a hunt for blacktail deer on Kodiak in October, probably one where you sleep on the boat that transported you from the town of Kodiak to the bay you would be hunting. I would not fool with trying to hunt sheep, goats, moose or bears. I'd be fishing through August, catching Silvers and trout, then I'd sell the vehicle, fly to Kodiak and do some things there, such as flying out to a lodge or two for fishing, maybe some ptarmigan hunting, then cap it all off with the boat deer hunt.

Tourism is going to be way, way down in Alaska again this year, so finding hotels and lodges to stay in should be pretty easy. You prolly could not have picked a better year to come.

Yup!.....Late August and take your time on the Alcan.......see Atlin......if you time it right, there's a one hour ferry from Skagway to Haines......

What makes you guys think Canada is going to be letting him drive thru by then, or that there are going to be ANY tourists in Alaska this year?

Exactly rimfire. If this scare is over and borders open, driving is the best.

If you fly up and rent a vehicle, don't tell them where you are going. Some roads are banned cuz of conditions. One is the Denali highway. To me that is the best dirt washboardy road in the world. I loved that drive. We would hit it atleast once a year. I gave up looking for my exhaust that fell off one year.

Tourons will fly, not drive. Like last year. Fewer of them, but that’s a plus to me.

Buy a copy of "The Milepost" and dream and plan.

https://www.amazon.com/MILEPOST-2021-Alaska-Travel-Planner/dp/1892154552/ref=sr_1_3?crid=CYRBY13NOZBI&dchild=1&keywords=the+milepost+2021&qid=1614458257&sprefix=the+milepost%2Caps%2C284&sr=8-3

Thank you. I tried getting up there back in the day when the pipeline was hiring but i was a day late and a dollar short!!
I will definitely go in the off season and likely will fly because my wife won’t spend two months on the road unless i convince her to fly home for two weeks!! Another alternative is a trip with my son and his buddy for 10 days in the fall. It would be great to fish and then do a hunt, not interested in Grizzly or goats, way to expensive and no desire.

was watching a YT channel i follow and they highlighted the Chena hot springs NE of Fairbanks, had no idea

Overrun by folks bent on the notion procreation under the Aurora embues special characteristics in their children...

This guy nailed it! I would ad a Homer halibut charter though.

exactly what i was thinking...could get a little gross

Bernie has done a lot with CHS. I remember when it was just a little rock pool.

Me too.

Especially if you speak Japanese.

Funny story from 2019 Xmas trip up there. We went out to soak in CHS with my nephew and his wife, Alba. It was 35 below outside. Nippon lady took Alba's towel, and when confronted, went to jabbering in Japanese, pretending she had no English. She did - we had heard it.

Big mistake! No one does Spanish invective better than a pissed off red-headed Columbian!

Hell, I was looking for an exit!
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OP -Seward is beautiful during the 3 days yearly it ain't raining. Take the glacier cruise- you can also fish salt-water silvers in late August and September, halibut most any time.

Hike up the Carter Lake Trail with binocs - it's gorgeous up there. You might see bears, or sheep. At/near Seward Y (Tern Lake) glass both sides of the valley. Sheep and goats are usually visible. Spotting scope is very useful.

At Sunrise (when you first hit Kenai lake coming from Anchorage, there are usually sheep to be seen in the closed area on the north side (right). There is a parking lot there that has telescopes - or used to.

In Seward, you could hike or boat to Caine's Head - A WWII fort, We walked the beach down (low tide!) and took the water taxi back last summer. 7 miles, part of it on trails, part on the beach. Taking the taxi both ways makes it a shorter hike - 1.5 miles IIRC. You could take a pack along and overnight along the beach in places if you wish.

Driving would be a great way to see more of Alaska. If you want really good fishing a fly in camp or lodge is the best bet. Hunting poses logistical problems but deer or caribou should be doable. Black bear hunting in SE is also accessible. In September it can be some of the best silver salmon fishing and some rivers will have steelhead runs starting then.

Where might he hunt caribou in August as a nonresident without extensive and/or expensive efforts?

not so much gross as totally overrun.

Certain times and years I run up almost to the devils canyon every day sometimes twice to fish, Doing that tour is well worth it and our neighbors Mahays do a great job!
Landing on the glacier is not an option but a requirement, but I like it the earlier the better personally.
Talkeetna is a little tourist trap town but folks seem to enjoy it. Home base for me for 3 months of the year.

No clue about stupid socialist Canada. But there will be tourists. AK travel restrictions were getting easier.

And 90% everyone that cancelled fishing charters last year just moved em to 2021.

That said no cruise ships will make it hard to pay the bills but will make it less folks which is a double edge sword but nice.

I went to Alaska on a “once in a lifetime trip”, I’ve gone back 6 or 7 times since, it’s bit addicting. Only been there once in the summer, no plans on ever doing that again. Shoulder seasons, either early-mid May, or Sept., are the best times to go IMHO, and I would choose Sept., much less crowded and better prices available on lodging, etc..There’s no way one trip will allow you to even scratch AK’s surface, so make plans to see and do the things that are most important to you. There is a ton of info available on the internet, and the guys on here will be a lot of help. The train ride to Seward or Fairbanks is a decent option, gives you a chance to see the sights without driving off the road while gawking at something. (If you're in Seward about lunchtime, hit the Showcase Lounge for an amber and a bowl of seafood chowder). The downside is you can’t stop just anywhere you want, but you can do that in a rental car. A charter out of either Seward or Homer will put some fillets in your luggage home, I prefer Seward for the charter. Also some very good river fishing south of Anc., heck there's good fishing about everywhere. Unless you’re a better fisherman than I am, and most folks are, I would for sure charter out to someone in the know, again, no shortage of folks who will help you with that. Can’t help you with any hunting info. You can spend any amount of money you want on the trip, as a friend says, “speed costs money, how fast do you want to go?” Meaning that if you plan and pre-book a lot of the trip yourself, you can save a lot of money as opposed to having someone do it for you, you can spend the money you save for chartering side trips. Best of luck to you.

Nude beaches?


Bob

Every tourist who fishes needs to spend a couple of hours on the Russian during the peak red runs.

U have to loop fbks ...theold storybooks about this place are the same as u were reading as a kid... a 10pm charter out of the east ramp will show u some real Alaska wildlife....

Can a guy do a couple days black bear hunting towards end of August?

Its worth stopping to witness that

I like going beginning of Sept and still get some silvers without the big crowds

Steese or Taylor - 40 mile circus? August 10? opener. 1 bull for NR? Off top of head -check Regs.

Absolutely

Tourist here checking in....

Did exactly that 2 years ago, except it wasn't in the peak, it was on the downhill swing of the run. Didn't have much issue catching my limit though. We didn't fish where the Russian hits the Kenai though, hiked the mile or whatever it was back to the falls and fished below them. We started our hike at 3 am to beat the crowds...

Not an expert, not even a novice on Alaska, but we enjoyed it, and I'd go back tomorrow if somebody wanted to go. Drove 1500 miles between Anchorage, Seward, up to Denali, back down to Homer. Sounds like a ton of miles, then you look at the routes we took and it is barely even a blip on the map of Alaska.

Halibut fished out of Seward. All of us limited on halibut, and I think we caught 9 or 10 different species of fish, my 8 year old caught an Octopus and was excited about that. Our boat captain was apologizing for it being so slow. We thought he was crazy. I think we ended up with 130 lbs of filets to bring home.

Tourists that saw Moose, bears, caribou, all the fish, eagles sitting in every dead snag of a tree, it was a great time.

That whole 'never getting dark' in the summer will mess with your head though. Sun brightly shining at 10pm makes you think you're not tired.

I'll second the milepost book, a lot of really interesting stuff in there. As far as chs, there does seem to be a procreating area in the pond.

That gets us too. That fact is often cited as a cause of hwy wrecks as people try to fit so much activity and distance in 18 hours of daylight.

I always wear a watch as it’s very hard to tell time by sun position.

(Nude beaches?)

Yes, we encourage that helps keep mosquitos away from the locals!

And the opposite problem in winter?

For me at least, yes. I amaze myself at the things I’ll start in summer, that I’ll not consider in winter. Tend to not travel as far nor as long in winter. The up side is that frozen ground allows travel in places not possible in summer.

abby

pak had a lot of good suggestions. I would strongly add halibut fishing out of Homer or Valdez. Seward is probably good for halibut also and the sea life center is worth a look. If you drive, take the ferry on the marine highway for one of the directions, either up or back. I found the ferry nice, as I only got to see Juneau the 5 years I was there. When I took the ferry, I got to see places I had only heard of while I was in Eagle River. You can actually go on Matanuska glacier which is on the Glenn Highway. In the 5 years I was there, I feel I only scratched the surface of what was to be checked out.

Thinking of September this year; we have airline credits that need to be used up.

Well since your not planning on hunting I’d visit in Mid July, hit the Kenai for red and king salmon. Maybe homer at least if you don’t take a halibut charter out of Homer just the drive into Homer Alaska on a SUNNY DAY is one of the most BEAUTIFUL natural sites you’ll ever see. Stay till September and drive to Fairbanks maybe see Denali ( few do) on the way and enjoy the colors.

Lots of great suggestions, thank you to all that commented. I’m going to write it all out and talk to my wife. It’s either July or first two weeks of September.

A few years ago, my Wife, Daughter, son-in-law, & one small grandson flew into Anchorage, rented a SUV, & drove for 10 days. My daughter had made AirB&B's reservations & it all was seamless. We hit Homer & the Spit, Denali, Seward, & Talkeetna. We took a Air Ride out of Talkeetna & landed on a Glacier at the foot of Denali. We didn't see it all, but we saw a lot. We had a couple of years earlier taken an Inside Passage cruise", & this was much better.

I think one needs to avoid the drive-snapshot-drive visits, of course IMO.

Focus on an area based on research for what you want to see and do. Then, focus some more.

It is literally to not possible to see/do everything even on our limited road system.