Utah/Alaska; May or September?

[Karennella]

Very early planning for 2018! We are looking at a holiday of five to six weeks; probably a cruise tour of about two weeks in Alaska and three to four weeks self-drive in the parks of Utah and Montana.

We need to be home by the beginning of October, being the month of birthdays in our family! I am torn between seeing more snow in May or the possibility of Autumn colours in September, neither of which we have a lot of here. Re Alaska, not so interested in whales, which we have here in abundance but interested in both places in wildlife in general.

Any advice welcome! We don't like really hot weather and usually prefer to be a bit out of peak season and school vacation times.

[CruiserBruce]

Alaska weather is covered here daily. May, cooler, drier. September, cooler wetter.

 

I am not a Utah or Montana expert, but southern Utah is pretty nice in May. Montana maybe cooler/wetter in both months,,depending on when you go.

 

How about cruise in late May, land in June, or land in late August, cruise early September?

[DaKa2002]

Very early planning for 2018! We are looking at a holiday of five to six weeks; probably a cruise tour of about two weeks in Alaska and three to four weeks self-drive in the parks of Utah and Montana.

We need to be home by the beginning of October, being the month of birthdays in our family! I am torn between seeing more snow in May or the possibility of Autumn colours in September, neither of which we have a lot of here. Re Alaska, not so interested in whales, which we have here in abundance but interested in both places in wildlife in general.

Any advice welcome! We don't like really hot weather and usually prefer to be a bit out of peak season and school vacation times.

 

Here is our take on this.

We are retired, so we tend to travel when schools are in session. I like Alaska in May - the trees and bushes are not yet leafed out (deciduous types) so more land features are visible; it also tends to be cooler and more snow is usually visible. My wife likes September - tends to be warmer, more greenery; the later you go the fewer "tourist traps" are open! We have cruised two of each! I will also tell you we lived in Anchorage for three years and love the "Last Great Frontier."

 

Just finished a spring trip to the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. Going to the Sun road in Glacier NP was still closed - snow, ice, and road damage from avalanche. Morning lows were in the 20s. Babies - bison, elk and wolves were visible in Yellowstone! A surprise - we drove over 200 miles per day in Yellowstone NP - really did in the gas budget! We stayed in the West Yellowstone area. On the other side, we have been chased out of Glacier National Park twice by early fall snows. Take your passports and visit Waterton National Park area and the Prince of Wales Hotel.

We have traveled in southeast Utah, based out of Moab, several times. We enjoyed two early spring trips more then one in the fall (which turned out to be too hot for us). Our favorite areas were Zion, Arches, and Canyon Lands. There is also Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and more.

We hope this helps a bit. Go enjoy!

Now last comment - if you like Alaska, try Norwegian Fjords cruising.

Edited July 11, 2016 by DaKa2002

[4774Papa]

Here is our take on this.

We are retired, so we tend to travel when schools are in session. I like Alaska in May - the trees and bushes are not yet leafed out (deciduous types) so more land features are visible; it also tends to be cooler and more snow is usually visible. My wife likes September - tends to be warmer, more greenery; the later you go the fewer "tourist traps" are open! We have cruised two of each! I will also tell you we lived in Anchorage for three years and love the "Last Great Frontier."

 

Just finished a spring trip to the Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. Going to the Sun road in Glacier NP was still closed - snow, ice, and road damage from avalanche. Morning lows were in the 20s. Babies - bison, elk and wolves were visible in Yellowstone! A surprise - we drove over 200 miles per day in Yellowstone NP - really did in the gas budget! We stayed in the West Yellowstone area. On the other side, we have been chased out of Glacier National Park twice by early fall snows. Take your passports and visit Waterton National Park area and the Prince of Wales Hotel.

We have traveled in southeast Utah, based out of Moab, several times. We enjoyed two early spring trips more then one in the fall (which turned out to be too hot for us). Our favorite areas were Zion, Arches, and Canyon Lands. There is also Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and more.

We hope this helps a bit. Go enjoy!

Now last comment - if you like Alaska, try Norwegian Fjords cruising.

 

My cousins live in Idaho and say visiting them before June is just not an option due to snow. Utah is one state south of Idaho. We were looking at taking in some parks in Utah and Wyoming before going to Idaho. Thinking late June or July?

[Lisichka]

You get quite a bit more daylight in Alaska in May. That would be important to me. I am from Utah and September can still be extremely hot. I vote for May for Alaska but am leaning September for Utah (depending on where you go though). May is beautiful in Utah too. I assume you want to go to Southern Utah?

 

I would definitely not go to Southern Utah in July. Way too hot.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Lisichka

[saxmangeoff]

If Yellowstone is in your plans, much of the park does not usually open until Memorial Day weekend.

 

In general, September will be a better time for Yellowstone.

[Sequim88]

If you have not done so already do check out tripadvisor.com for info from the Destination Experts (DE) for areas you intend to visit. Much like CC TA has great message forums for various states. As a DE for the state of Wyoming I was able to give some very specific local info to people. September is a great time to visit Yellowstone as the Elk become more active prior to mating season.

 

Statistically early September is nicer weather for most of the Alaska route. Best of both areas (AK and UT) might be to cruise first and drive south later in the month prior to flight home.

[Glaciers]

May is a wonderful month to cruise Alaska. There is still snow on the mountains, there is a lot of light and there is typically less rain in May. September can have twice as much rain as May in Southeast Alaska. Then again, it may be sunny and warm in September.

[Chitownsailor]

Very early planning for 2018! We are looking at a holiday of five to six weeks; probably a cruise tour of about two weeks in Alaska and three to four weeks self-drive in the parks of Utah and Montana.

We need to be home by the beginning of October, being the month of birthdays in our family! I am torn between seeing more snow in May or the possibility of Autumn colours in September, neither of which we have a lot of here. Re Alaska, not so interested in whales, which we have here in abundance but interested in both places in wildlife in general.

Any advice welcome! We don't like really hot weather and usually

prefer to be a bit out of peak season and school vacation times.[/quote

 

 

I cannot comment on Alaska since we are making our first trip there soon, but we have been to Moab, Utah. It is a really unique place, we visited Arches, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Parks. We went in the summer, it was very hot. We were in Colorado for our son's wedding and then added Utah on to that trip. I would do May and hope that it was cooler. Also we stayed in Moab at the Sunflower Inn Bed and Breakfast, it is a fantastic place cannot say enough good things about it,they have a website. If you are in that area I would check that out but it fills up well in advance.

[Coral]

I love May in Alaska. I would do the cruise at the end of May, land part of Alaska the first of June (so you have access to Denali which doesn't start until June) and then head to Utah.

[Karennella]

Thanks everyone for your input. Very helpful. We have been enthused to get to Alaska partly because we have just been to Norway and loved it. We have probably spent a total of over twenty weeks on different trips touring in the US and Canada so want to get to some places that are new to us.

Sounds like the last suggestion might be the best for us, that also lets us do our usual trip to North Queensland in September, which is a beautiful time there.

I suppose it would be ideal to do Alaska and Utah as separate trips but the long flights do not get any easier as we get older! My brother will go from Sydney to Canada for a week to ski. I call that fanatical!

[Coral]

Thanks everyone for your input. Very helpful. We have been enthused to get to Alaska partly because we have just been to Norway and loved it. We have probably spent a total of over twenty weeks on different trips touring in the US and Canada so want to get to some places that are new to us.

Sounds like the last suggestion might be the best for us, that also lets us do our usual trip to North Queensland in September, which is a beautiful time there.

I suppose it would be ideal to do Alaska and Utah as separate trips but the long flights do not get any easier as we get older! My brother will go from Sydney to Canada for a week to ski. I call that fanatical!

 

Canada does have great skiing! :) Growing up, I thought the fanatical people were the ones who went to Alaska for fishing. Now I know they are the wise ones :)

 

Just watch your dates for Denali: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm