I'd appreciate some recommendations on ways to enjoy the NPs in Alaska. I'm guessing that lodging is quite limited and travel a lot more difficult than a trip to a park in the lower 48.

I've stayed at both Kenai Fjords Wilderness lodge and Denali Backcountry Lodge.

The first is on a private island off the coast of Seward. It really is a magical place and our stay there (and the train ride to Seward) was the highlight of our Alaska trip.

https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/kenai-fjords-wilderness-lodge/

Denali Backcountry Lodge is as far into Denali NP as you can go. The lodge is great, we had to travel there on a converted school bus for about 5 hours. This access is currently restricted due to a major rockslide that closed the road at mile 43 (affecting access to a large part of the park), so the only way in/out of the Lodge right now is helicopter. I imagine this has affected the cost to stay here significantly (both lodges were very affordable when we stayed).

https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/denali-backcountry-lodge/

Both of these lodges are all-inclusive. We visited in summer 2021, so it was a unique experience (no cruise ship travelers anywhere).

Both lodges are operated under an umbrella organization called Alaska Collection. They have travel agents who will organize your entire trip, including lodging, transportation, and activities. We did our entire trip with no rental car (used trains and buses/motor coaches).

Denali NP. You can stay just outside at one of several lodges/hotels or as TXT said stay all the way in at Denali Backcountry Lodge. I stayed at DBL in 2021. It's ay mile marker 92 and at the foothill of Mt Denali. Getting there was a 7 hour bus ride in and we really got the see the best part of the park. It's a little different now because the road has been under repair for a couple of years. You have to either helicopter in or fly in and that has just about doubled the cost. It was expensive before. It's very expensive now. Because of the road issues you really cannot see the best part of the park right now unless you fly in or fly over it.

Kenai Fjords NP. Go to Seward and stay in town. Walk to the Exit Glacier. Take catamarans out to see the Fjords. Go fishing. Enjoy the town. As TXT said there is a Lodge run by the same folks who run DBL that you can stay at.

Katmai NP. Stay at one of a bunch of fish/wildlife places in the park, but they are all fly in. Brooks lodge is the most famous to see the bears at the Falls. I've been twice and am going again next year. They hold a yearly lottery for spots and the 2027 lottery will open in Dec 2025. It's fly in, expensive as hell, and the most amazing wildlife viewing in the entire NP system IMHO.

Wrangell NP. You can stay in McCarthy or in Kennnicott at the private Lodge. I've stayed there. It's at the old copper mine and at the base of the Root Glacier. Drive in the McCarthy Road or you can fly. We drove in.

Glacier Bay NP. Best way is a while on a cruise ship but you can stay at the small town in the park and do day trips out into the park. I believe poster BSD had done this.

Lake Clark. Like Katmai, it's fly in only to various private fishing lodges.

The other 2 way up north are fly on only with no services. They aren't traditional parks.

How much money ya got?

I'm half joking there, but Alaska can get pretty expensive. It depends on how crazy you want to get. Here are my favorites in order:

1. Katmai: this is in my top 2 outdoor experiences of all time. Mathguy nailed it by suggesting Brooks Lodge, so plan ahead. If you can't book a room there, try to get a camping permit or do a fly-in day trip. No matter what, you're flying into the park. Watching the bears at the falls is incredible. And walking past bears on the trail is incredibly nerve racking!!!! Be sure to look both ways when leaving your cabin, too. Bears are everywhere!!!

2. Wrangell: we stayed in a private house in McCarthy and used St Elias Alpine Guides for our excursions. We did ice climbing one day on the glacier and ice caving the second day. Then we had them fly us out to a remote iceberg lake and camped for two nights. You can also pack raft down the river and camp, but we didn't have time for that adventure on this vacation. We drove most of the way from Anchorage and then flew in the last main section of road to save time. I think this park is number 2 on my list because we got off the beaten path and had that iceberg lake (and probably another 100 square miles) to ourselves. Otherwise, Kenai may have jumped it, but I'm splitting hairs there. Do both!

3. Kenai Fjords: I'm not a cruise guy so I would never do a multi day cruise up the coast, but that said, I am a boat guy. We used Major Marine tours for a 10 hour tour out to the glaciers and to see the wildlife out in the Gulf. It's a long day but it's awesome. We've actually done it three times now. There is some good hiking near the visitor center in the park, which is about 15 minutes from Seward. The aquarium in Seward is worth a visit. Do the private octopus experience, which needs to be booked way in advance. We've stayed in town and at the Windsong hotel. I like the Windsong better, as it feels quieter. And it's only a few minutes from town. The drive from Anchorage to Seward is beautiful. Stop at the Alaska Wildlife Center about halfway down.

4. Lake Clark: we stayed at Redoubt Mountain Lodge and it was pretty awesome. We mainly fished (had a guide for 8-10 hours a day) and watched bears. This was before my Katmai trip and it was my first experience with brown bears. It was ranked higher up until we went to Katmai. That said, it's beautiful there and I'd love to go back. There were only lodge guests (8 other people) so it was quiet. Fishing was fun because we'd be in waders right off the bank and we'd see a bear coming so we'd hop in the boat, motor out a few yards, and then wait for the bear to pass before heading back over. There are other areas of the park which are considerably cheaper. Like Katmai, you'll need to fly in from Anchorage.

5. Denali: we went before the rock slide so we're able to get all the way to the end of the road and stayed a few days at Backcountry Lodge. It was 2020 so our bus ride out there only had 2 other people on it. It was like a private tour. Good wildlife viewing on the ride out. And it's a beautiful scenic drive. We saw dall sheep, caribou, moose, bear, beaver, and porcupines. We hiked at 10:30pm at night which was cool. Didn't see Denali from the park but took a plane ride out of Talkeetna and saw the peak for a few seconds. Landed on a glacier along the mountain and had a snowball fight.

6. Glacier Bay: we flew out of Juneau on Alaska Air and landed in Gustavus and stayed at the lodge in the park (about 10 minutes from "downtown"). It's about a 17 minute flight to get there so I spurged $20 so my son could fly first class for the first time. We did a day tour on the park's boat which gets you in closer than the larger cruise ships. There's a little hiking inside the park and you can rent kayaks, but you're nowhere near glaciers there so it's typical coastal kayaking. Not much to do in Gustavus, so we fished for a day.

7. Kobuk Valley: the goal was to camp and fish with local guide out of a small village but that fell through so we chartered a plane out of Kotzebue to take us to the sand dunes. It was pretty cool but I'd only do it if you're on a mission to see all the parks.

8. Gates of the Arctic: my goal was to backpack there but like Kobuk, life got in the way. So we made it to Bettles with the intent of doing some flight seeing and a little fishing. But then weather got in the way and we only made it barely inside the park along the river. My report is pretty incomplete on this park.

Pages 12, 14, and 15 on the Favorite National Park thread have a few post about Alaska from Ryan, Mathguy, and me.

Thank you very much for the detailed information. It's very helpful. I have to say that planning a trip to the Alaskan NPs is quite different than one here in the lower 48. Cost aside, the travel planning seems to require greater coordination. And just due to time constraints, it would be darn near impossible to hit all of the parks in one trip.

Have any of you spent the day fishing from Brooks Lodge ?

I've been twice and will be there next year. I've never done it but It's on my list to step in the river and fish with the bears.

Last year when we were there I watched 3 idiots fishing who got sent packing. They were in the river when a bear walked in their direction. The rules are very clear. If that happens you give way. They decided it would be cool to move towards the bear. The bear did nothing. The NP docent watching was pissed. He radioed the NP warden with the ticket book. The 3 idiots got their trip cut short.

ETA I've met two groups who pulled off the feat of visiting all 8 NPs in one shot. Both had trip planners on speed dial and each needed help changing plans in mid trip. They said it would have been impossible without the planners.

Mathguy - What will your schedule look like when you return to Brooks next year ?

BSD - I thought we were doing pretty good with our NP passport book with 32 parks, but you take it to the next level. I looked at some of your posts in the NP thread..............Incredible ! Speaking of the passport book, are you able to get the stamps when you do these trips into Alaska ?

We fly out from Anchorage to Brooks on 7/20 and will get to Brooks about 2 pm, weather permittting. We have 3 nights.

speckledtrout said:

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it would be darn near impossible to hit all of the parks in one trip.

Have any of you spent the day fishing from Brooks Lodge ?

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It's taken us 4 trips to hit all the Alaskan NPs. I can't see me doing it in one trip, as i just don't have the time to stay away that long and do all the things that I would want to do.

2019: Glacier Bay (flew up from an Olympic Np visit)
2020: Kenai Fjords, Denali, Lake Clark
2021: Katmai (met Mathguy on the plane ride down), Wrangell St Elias, Kobuk Valley (revisit to Kenai Fjords, Gates got rained out)
2024: Gates of the Arctic (revisit Kenai Fjords)

We did not fish at Brooks but we did 10,000 Smokes tour. That was an interesting spot. Take a water bottle if you're going hike down, which you should. I did not and my family damn near killed me.

speckledtrout said:

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BSD - I thought we were doing pretty good with our NP passport book with 32 parks, but you take it to the next level. I looked at some of your posts in the NP thread..............Incredible ! Speaking of the passport book, are you able to get the stamps when you do these trips into Alaska ?

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Yeah, I've been pretty fortunate to go on some cool adventures with my son to all those amazing spots. Only one more to go! That said, we still revisit some every year: Zion for canyoneering, Everglades for boat trips, rock climbing at …well, wherever.

Yes you can get stamps at all of those spots. There's a ranger station in Bettles for Gates and a visitor center in Kotzebue for Kobuk Valley. The rest have regular visitor centers in the normal areas (Kenai Fjords has two, one in the park area and one in Seward by the marina for people who just do boat tours and don't go walk around in the park)