rmgood

We need help thinking thru the best time for us to visit Alaska.. We are leaning toward flying (vrs cruise) to Anchorage, then renting a car for 2 weeks of exploring (already read many great posts on where to go; Denali, Fairbanks, Hatcher Pass Rd., Seward...). We are most interested in seeing wild life like Moose and Bear; seeing the beauty of the land, and visiting historical sights.
When considering May thru Sept;
The advantage of late May or early Sept would be fewer tourists; and maybe an outside possibility of see the Northern Lights in Sept. But I have heard that the bugs are bad early in the season(May-July), and average rainfall in Sept is much higher than May-July. May many tourists in August!
Again, with the focus on seeing wildlife (Flight out to see Bear in the wild a must), when is the best time to travel Alaska?

Gardyloo

Without necessarily endorsing them (although they're very good) use Rust's bear viewing calendar to help - http://www.flyrusts.com/bear-viewing/index.html As you can see, bear viewing options are fewer in May than later in the summer and into the fall.

Most years May will be too early to experience much of Denali National Park at all; the park road (and bus service) usually opens after May 20, but isn't fully open until June. It usually closes around Sept. 15-20. And yes, the bugs in May/June can be horrendous, particularly near standing water or on the tundra.

Yes, the weather can turn wetter by the end of August or September, but frankly it can be foul in June and July, too - depends on the year, on your precise location, and on your luck. Something like a majority of visitors to Denali never actually see the mountain.

I personally like the end of August to early/mid-September. In Denali Park the tundra turns color into an amazing scene, the Silvers are biting in Resurrection Bay, and the pace of life starts accelerating.

Let me also throw out an off-the-wall idea if you're feeling a little adventurous. You can fly to the historic gold mining town of Nome for around $300 round trip from Anchorage. (Or you can book your flights from home to Nome, with a long Anchorage "stopover" - for your main touring - even more cheaply.) In Nome, which is hundreds of miles from the tourists and the main road system in the state, you can rent a vehicle and explore the various roads that radiate from Nome out into the subarctic landscape of the Seward Peninsula. There are native villages, lots of roadside history and fabulous scenery, plus moose, bears, caribou, muskoxen, and reindeer, as well as umpteen species of birds, all viewable in day trips out of Nome. Look here - http://www.alaska.org/destination/nome/scenic-drives and here - http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm...ewardpeninsula for more information.

vincenzo32951

I'll give you the advice of friends who live there and whom we visited: "Come in July." We did. Weather was good, and we saw lots of wildlife in Denali.

serenatravels24

There are a few things to think about. Definitely July or August. I was there one time around the first of September and it was very cool. Something to keep in mind. There isn't a huge network of roads like in other areas. People get around by airplane.