Practical Info Alaska (USA)
Weather/When to go
June through August is the best time to visit Alaska with your bicycle. Temperatures vary, near the coast
of Anchorage it is normally cooler than the interior. The rainfall in the interior is about 25cm a year, near
the coast the rain chance is much higher.
Interior (below Fairbanks): 21°C to 26°C
South central (Anchorage) : 15°C to 21°C
Warm clotes are still recommanded, weather can always change (thermo underware + fleece + goretex jacket). This summer we where lucky it was very hot without rain (only one day).
Travel documents / Money
Passport was enough for people from the Netherlands.
Good travel insurance, medical cost can be 3x as high as in europe
European bank card with code are generally accepted.
In supermarkets you even can get cash when you pay your bill (so called "cash back").
Credit card and Traveler checks are a good backup.
Transport
Aircraft: Amsterdam - Anchorage (via Minneapolis)
Carrier: NorthWest
Regulations for bike: Two of pieces baggage of 32kg for free.
For bike the is a special rule, it counts as one piece and must be packed in a box (±20 euro at Schiphol).
I took in total 36 kg with me. 15kg bike, 15 kg camping equipment, 6kg handluggage.
No problems encountered. Bike boxes available at the airport of Anchorage(±$15).
Staying
We stayed the firts night on the campsite near the railway "ships creek landing" at ingra street 150.
I made a map for this campsite, because the map in the loney planet is not correct. This campsite is very close to downtown Anchorage.
Another good option is Spenard hostel but often fully booked. For the rest we stayed at RV camps, no facility campsites and camping in wild.
Here a small list of places to stay the night:
Palmer RV camp, Willow RV camp, Talkeetna RV camp, from Talkeena to cantwell along HWY 3 there are some no facility campsites, Cantwell has
a RV camp, At the entrance of the Denali NP there is a big RV camp, in the Denali NP there are no
facility campsites reservation needed, along Denali HWY there are three no facilitycampsites(see milepost), along Richardson HWY every 80 km you
can find no facility campsites, glennallen has a RV camp.
Road conditions
Good asfalt al mayor highways have perfect shoulders. Denali NP and Denali HWY are dirt roads, but easy to ride with 26"/1.9" tires.
Watch out for local cyclists, once I passed a old drunk local on a bike he fell down by seing me.
Maps
- The Alaska Travel Reference Map 1:1,150,000
produced by: ITMB International Travel Maps
Was not our favourit, it was usefull to find campsites.
For navigation perpose the free maps in magazines are much beter, this can save you $10.
- GPS map= garmin mapsource worldmap
Food / Supplies
Wallmarkt can be found in Anchorage. But Fred Meyers is a beter option 1000 E Northn lights. Outside Anchorage the following places are suitable for resuppling, Palmer, Talkeena, Cantwell, approx. In between Paxson/Glennallen you a find small shop with cans and drinks. Glennallen, Valdez.
Planning you food supply is needed, >3 days (esp Palmer to Cantwell and Denali NP/HWY)
