Northern Lights viewing in Alaska

For those interested in viewing the Northern Lights in Alaska (aka Aurora Borealis), this is the best place to find the most reliable aurora predictions for the state of Alaska.

UAF Aurora forecast

Please keep in mind that the northern lights can ONLY be seen during the time of year when the sky gets dark. That would be approximately Aug 25th – mid April in Central Alaska.

For those who be visiting during the summer month, chances are slim to none that you will see the Northern Lights.  Until you can make a “winter” trip to Alaska, please enjoy these photos:

                     

My new favorite campground in Denali State Park.

In May 2017, a brand new campground opened in Denali State Park (Trapper Creek area just north of Talkeetna) at Mile 135.4 Parks Highway.  Allow me to introduce you to the K’esugi Ken Campground Complex.   Facilities include a ranger station, 32 RV campsites, 10 walk-in campsites, paved roads, a group campsite, two public-use cabins (a third cabin is available during winter months), a new hiking trail to alpine areas plus a network of trails for a range of abilities, and an interpretive center/pavilion.   New hiking trails have been blazed to the top of the nearby ridge that give unprecedented views of Denali on good weather days.

Now for the best part… the campground not only has 32 beautiful, level RV sites, it also has POWER!  All RV sites include either 20, 30, or 50 amp electricity, a picnic table, fireplace and grassy tent-pads. All sites will accommodate up to 30-foot RVs, with 5 pull-through sites that will accommodate up to 60-foot RVs.  All campsites are only available on a first come, first serve basis!  There are no dump stations and only hand pumps for non potable water.

Check out some of the campsite photos:

At the campground you will also find an amazing interpretive center.  This is a large, 30 x 90 foot open pavilion that contains interpretive information about Denali State Park and the Alaska Range.  The pavilion has an outdoor, covered fireplace and several picnic tables surrounding it.

As I mentioned above, there are also 3 public use cabins which can be reserved per night.  This is the Hunter cabin and the view of Denali from the front deck (taken on March 30th, 2018):

How to find this new campground?  It is almost directly across the highway from the Denali View South pullout.

For many years, Byers Lake campground has been my favorite campground, but it now has some awesome competition.