Alaska Camping Myth: Do You Actually Need Those Reservations?

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:00]Do you need to reserve every campground months in advance to RV to Alaska?

[00:00:05]Honestly, no. And to a lot of people, that's a big surprise.

[00:00:09]>> If you've spent time RVing in the lower 48 lately, you're probably used to booking everything months in advance, planning every stop down to the mile, and stressing over whether there'll even be a campsite available. But the road north is different. In most cases, especially through Canada and much of Alaska, you can still travel with freedom, flexibility, and spontaneity.

[00:00:34]>> Today, we're talking about where reservations do matter, where they usually don't, and how to travel the Alaska Highway System without locking yourself into a rigid schedule. Welcome to this week's RVing to Alaska Insider with real answers for the road north.

[00:01:11]Hey everyone, I'm Gary with RVing to Alaska >> and I am Stacy, lead of RVing to Alaska and managing editor of The Milepost magazine. If you're planning a trip north or just starting to think about one, you've come to the right place.

[00:01:26]>> Before we jump into this week's main topic, let's start with a quick news from the north update that could affect a lot of travelers heading north this summer.

[00:01:37]>> In this week's episode of News from the North, Starlink announced a new international registration policy for users traveling outside of their home country. And yes, this affects RV travelers crossing into Canada on their way north to Alaska. Right now, the details are still a little unclear. What we currently understand is Starlink may require some type of registration when operating outside of your home country, as well as submitting your passport information and a realtime live facial scan during the registration process.

[00:02:18]This is getting a little little weird.

[00:02:20]>> Yeah. So, >> Starlink, >> when we asked Starlink directly through their support center if travelers needed to register immediately upon entering another country or only after being outside of their home country for longer periods of time, such as 60 days, as allowed per the Rome Plan, this is what they returned.

[00:02:44]While Rome plans allow use in Canada for up to 60 days without address changes, international travel registration is still required for all accounts, including US registered ones. To avoid service disenable when crossing borders, regardless of duration. Wow.

[00:03:04]>> The policy is consistent per their documents and incomplete registration triggers restrictions. Wow.

[00:03:11]>> So, they should submit. Now, this is a a long address. I'm going to just put it down below so you know how to get to it to register when you're about to enter Canada. I also did learn you might want to do this a couple days in advance cuz it could take a couple days to get you approved.

[00:03:31]>> I'm just wondering now, is this something that are they're they're adopting a new policy. Is this something that could change in the next month as they as things happen? You know, we don't know for sure. It sounds like it's pretty well solid almost. Maybe >> Starling kind of just rolled something out with no advanced warning. And that's what happened here. We just started seeing a conversation about this on Friday. Today is Sunday and it's hidden in the internet pretty hard.

[00:04:00]>> And because so many RV travelers rely on Starlink now for internet, navigation, work, staying connected with family, this is definitely something we're going to pay close attention to.

[00:04:09]>> Yes. At this point, we don't want to speculate or spread incomplete information, but we are actively working through the details ourselves. This new policy, as I just mentioned, just popped up on our radar earlier this week on Friday, and there is a lot of inconsistent reports from the road.

[00:04:28]Right now, we currently have travelers traveling through Canada where some have already been asked to register and others haven't.

[00:04:36]>> Wow. So, as we learn more and get clarification, we'll absolutely bring that information to you here on a future episode of RVing to Alaska Insider.

[00:04:47]>> And that's exactly why the we give you these weekly updates so we can get you the most recent news as soon as we can.

[00:04:54]>> Absolutely.

[00:04:55]>> Great. All right. Now, let's jump into this week's main topic because it's probably one of the most asked questions we see in our RVing to Alaska community from firsttime travelers heading north.

[00:05:10]Do you really need campground reservations for an RV trip to Alaska, including traveling through Canada?

[00:05:18]>> Well, the answer actually is pretty reassuring in general. No, you don't need hard reservations every single night for a trip to Alaska. That's one of the things that still makes this adventure so special. In the lower 48, especially after the pandemic RV boom, many travelers got used to booking every stop months in advance.

[00:05:39]>> But once you get into Western Canada and Alaska, things change quite a bit.

[00:05:44]You're dealing with a much larger area, fewer people, and a completely different style of travelers. Many RVers traveling north actually prefer not having rigid reservations because they want the freedom to stop longer somewhere beautiful or keep driving if the weather turns bad. And trust us, as we taught you in last week's insider, >> flexibility is one of the biggest keys to enjoying this trip.

[00:06:11]>> Right now, let's talk specifically about Canada. For the most part, you can confidently travel through Canada without locking down every campground reservation. Most private RV parks along the Alaska Highway corridor hold a portion of their sites for same day arrivals. In fact, many of them expect travelers to roll in during the afternoon without reservations.

[00:06:32]>> And when it comes to provincial parks, many operate on the same first come, first serve basis. And those that do have advanced reservations, they still leave approximately 50% sites open for those nonreservation same day arrivals.

[00:06:49]And here's our biggest tip. If you arrive by around 300 p.m., you'll usually have very good luck finding a site. The later into the evening you wait to stop, the harder it becomes.

[00:07:02]>> So, if you're the kind of traveler who likes flexibility, just start thinking about your overnight stop a little earlier in the day.

[00:07:11]>> Right. Exa. Exactly. Right. Now, there are a few places in Canada where reservations are strongly recommended.

[00:07:18]BA National Park, Jasper National Park, Mesiaden Lake Provincial Park, Buoa Lake Provincial Park, Leard River Hot Springs Provincial Park. That's just to name a few. These are incredibly popular destinations and they can fill quickly during peak season. If Bam for Jasper on your bucket list, reservations are absolutely worth making. And some of those iconic provincial parks like Buoa and Leard Hot Springs are destinations in themselves.

[00:07:47]Yes, I know. We sometimes we've really lucked out coming late into those parks, but especially if you're a bigger rig, um >> I wouldn't count on it.

[00:07:59]>> Right. No. And then you had great advice earlier. Get off the road by 3 p.m. Get your campsite and generally you you should be good. Um in most situations, that's been proven for us.

[00:08:10]>> Now, let's dig into Alaska. Once you cross into Alaska, honestly, it's still pretty easy to wing it. You can usually find a private RV park, a public campground, or overnight options either same day or maybe a couple days ahead in advance. And that flexibility is something we really encourage people to embrace.

[00:08:31]>> Some of our favorite experiences happened because we didn't have reservations. We stayed longer somewhere because, well, it was beautiful. Or we changed plans after hearing about some activity coming up the road or maybe the weather was just not worth staying and hanging out for.

[00:08:51]>> Yep.

[00:08:52]>> So, again, don't be afraid to travel uh without reservations because you you do have more flexibility.

[00:09:01]>> It does offer a lot more flexibility. It it's just an easier way to travel. Some people like to have everything booked, but as we said last week, something may happen on your route and those bookings will get broken. So, having some flexibility built into your schedule is really important. Uh, base your travel around some hard dates of things and places you want to be at specifically on those times and travel around that. Now, let's talk about the exceptions in Alaska. Denali National Park is definitely one place where reservations are recommended and that's especially going to become true in 2027 because once the pretty rock landslide bridge project is completed and the Denali road fully opens to Conditiona for the first time since 2021, demand is likely going to skyrocket. So if Denali is a major priority for your trip, plan ahead. And just to give you a pro tip for 2027 travelers, the 2027 reservations will open for bookings starting the morning of December 1st.

[00:10:02]>> Yes, that's for Denali National Park and all their campgrounds.

[00:10:06]>> Yep.

[00:10:06]>> Now, another area that you really want to probably get reservations is the Kai Peninsula. Reservations there really do matter. It's one of Alaska's busiest summer tourism destinations and it's nicknamed Alaska's playground. Right.

[00:10:25]>> Wildlife and glacier cruises, fishing charters, and busy campgrounds full of both locals and visitors can make it challenging to find last minute spots.

[00:10:35]And I'll be honest again, just a pro tip, boondocking doesn't come as easy on the Kenai. In Seward, most city- ran campgrounds require advanced online reservations. In Homer, if you want to stay out on the spit, the waterfront sites are incredibly popular and can fill far in advance during the peak season. And Sodatna, especially when the salmon are running, most campgrounds and fish camps are full to capacity.

[00:11:03]>> So again, be prepared to plan ahead when visiting the cities on the Kai.

[00:11:08]>> Right. Exactly. It gets very busy on the Kai pretty much all summer. There's just so much going on. It's such an attractive place to be.

[00:11:15]>> I would say July through mid August is right the peak season there. If you can get there in June June, not as busy.

[00:11:22]>> Fish aren't running as heavy in June, so it's not as busy. But of course, when the fish run, the people go.

[00:11:27]>> Yep.

[00:11:28]>> But overall, we really want to reassure people. You do not need to panic book every night of your Alaska trip. In fact, we think over planning can sometimes hurt the experience. One of the best parts of RVing to Alaska is the freedom to enjoy the journey. So stay flexible when you can. Stop when you find something amazing and travel at the right pace that feels right to you. Now, before we move on, one of the reasons Stacy and I are able to travel with this much flexibility is because we always have tools with us to help us make decisions while we're actually on the road. So, for this week's Milepost Minute, Stacy's going to show you how the Milepost can actually help you locate campgrounds and overnight options along your journey north.

[00:12:17]All right, so I'm not going to actually show you how I've kind of done that in the past with the icons. I know we discussed that last week, but one thing that I would like people to understand is that the milepost is an incredibly powerful campground planning tool. What I mean by this is all government-run campgrounds, municipality parks, and privately ran RV parks located along the highways we cover are included directly in the road logs. And that's important because some people think only advertisers are listed and that's absolutely not true. A campground or RV park does not need to advertise in order to appear in the mile post.

[00:13:05]>> Uh that is kind of my job. I'm the editor. I don't do sales, but I make sure that everything gets placed in the road log. So, even if ABC campground is not a paid advertiser, they're still going to be in the book.

[00:13:22]>> But if there is a campground that might be 5 miles off the highway, >> they won't be >> they won't be in the book because they're not on that main corridor of the highway.

[00:13:29]>> They may be in the book if they're a paid advertiser at that point. But my point is everything that's tourist related or visitor related, traveler related is going to be in the road logs regardless if they are a paid customer of the mile post or not.

[00:13:47]>> It's not all paytoplay.

[00:13:49]>> No, it's >> everybody everybody is listed that's on the on the quarter of the of the travel roads. And I also want to say if a business is an advertiser, it is clearly marked at the end of their listing as an advertiser and may have more information on what services they offer.

[00:14:07]>> But the actual road log itself is built to help travelers locate sanctioned overnight camping options all along the route. So whether it's a commercial RV park, a provincial campground, a territorial campground, or a state recreation site, you can use your milepost to locate overnight options all along your journey north. And honestly, this is one of the reasons so many travelers still travel with flexibility because you can literally look ahead in the book as you travel. Just look for the tenting icon for all the camping locations.

[00:14:42]>> Sounds good. I'm going to add one more thing. You're not going to find tons of boondocking locations in the mile post.

[00:14:51]That is not the reason for the mile post. There are a few sprinkled in in in between locations, but you want to use other apps such as eye overlander, Campendium for those type of hidden gems, >> right? We don't want to spoil some of those pristine boondocking locations by putting it in a major publication like the milepost. So >> it wouldn't be pristine and beautiful anymore.

[00:15:16]>> We try to leave it to the to the people who wanted to actually seek out those locations and make it maybe just a little bit more difficult to find.

[00:15:22]>> Yeah.

[00:15:24]>> Now every week we love hearing from all of you and answering some of your questions coming in from our RVing to Alaska driven by the Mile Post Facebook community. So, let's hand it back over to Gary for this week's Arving Do Alaska question of the week.

[00:15:41]>> Sounds good.

[00:15:45]>> Well, this week's question comes from Mindy Wells Morren, and she asked, "I'm trying to understand the closest, more realistic time frame it takes to travel in Alaska. For those who have traveled this, is it accurate? If not, do you all have a better idea?" I keep seeing people say it takes longer. Mindy, this is a great question uh because it is one of the biggest mistakes people make when planning their trip to Alaska. They're assuming Google maps always reflect real Alaska travel times. And honestly, Google usually gives a fairly decent baseline estimate, but in Alaska and northern Canada, we almost always recommend adding extra buffer time as we mentioned in last week's episode. For a drive like toque to Fairbanks, if Google says about three hours and 20 minutes, we personally would probably plan closer to four to four and a half hours in real world travel time with your RV. And that's not because the roads are necessarily bad. It's because Alaska travel is just different.

[00:16:44]You're going to stop for photos. You may hit summer construction delays. You might stop for fuel or bathroom break or wildlife sightings. Or honestly, just because the sceneries are incredible.

[00:16:54]And another thing people don't always realize is their GPS systems and mapping apps don't always work perfectly in remote northern areas. Some of these systems rely heavily on live sale signal and traffic data to calculate travel estimates. And once you get into areas with limited coverage, those estimates can become less reliable. So our biggest recommendation is this. Do not plan your Alaska trip like a tight lower 48 road trip schedule.

[00:17:22]build breathing room into your travel days because up here the journey is part of the adventure. And honestly, if you're driving to Fairbanks and you stop a few extra times because the Alaska range is out or you found a great bakery or there's a moose standing in the in next to the highway, you're doing exactly you're doing Alaska exactly right.

[00:17:41]>> Thanks again, Mindy, for such a great question. And honestly, questions like this are exactly why our RVing to Alaska community exists. Every single day, travelers are sharing realworld road conditions, campground experiences, travel times, fuel stops, construction updates, and advice from people who are actively on the road right now. So, if you're planning your own trip north and you want to learn from thousands of fellow travelers who've already done it, come join us over on Facebook at RVing to Alaska, the original driven by the mile. I'll put a QR code somewhere, maybe over here.

[00:18:19]>> Sure. and uh click on that to join us.

[00:18:22]It's one of the largest and most active Alaska travel communities out there and we'd love to have you a part of it.

[00:18:29]>> Absolutely. So, and honestly, that's really what this entire Alaska journey is about. Learning to slow down a little, leaving room for the unexpected and realizing this trip isn't just about getting from point A to point B. It's about seeing everything in between those points.

[00:18:44]>> Yes. It's about the memories you make along the way, the roadside stops, the wildlife sightings, the conversations around the campfire, and the places you'll never expect to fall in love with.

[00:18:56]>> So whether you're a detailed planner with reservations booked months ahead, or someone who prefers to travel a little bit more free, there's no wrong way to RV to Alaska. The important thing is simply taking the trip. and hopefully today helped take away some of the stress and uncertainty that comes with planning a big adventure like this.

[00:19:16]>> If this episode has helped you out, make sure to hit that like button, subscribe to the channel and share this episode with someone who's dreaming about making the trip north, too.

[00:19:26]>> And down in the comments, let us know, are you a reservations every night traveler or are you more of a flexible wing it kind of guy? Thanks for watching RVing to Alaska Insider. We'll see you next time on the road north. Bye.