Milepost 2014

There's no doubt that pretty much the only people who would buy this book are people who are planning a road trip to Alaska, myself included. The unfortunate thing is, there's really no accurate review that can be made until you make that trip. Given that most of the reviews on this book (at this moment) are from June 2014 or earlier, I can say that many haven't made the trek with the book. Myself included, for what it's worth in an honest review...I'm scheduled for a whirlwind tent-camping trip between August and September...a trip I've wanted to make since I've been able to drive. I was reluctant to buy the Milepost, mostly because of price. After thinking about it, though, considering I'll be investing thousands of dollars into my trip...it ultimately became a no-brainer for what it can bring with up-to-date info and essential knowledge along the journey. Few would argue that the Milepost is the quintessential reference for the Alcan trip, but now that I have it, the value is far more than I expected. To me, the real savings (and reason I don't begrudge the purchase) was with the maps included of all the various routes. I had planned on purchasing a map of AK, BC and the Yukon ('cause you'll never get this guy to totally trust GPS technology) to supplement the trip, but now I don't need to. (There's $10+ right there.) As for what's included? Every ridiculous thing you could practically want to know from pretty much any major or minor route in, into and out of Alaska. You'll find out about the crazy festivals, the camping and hotel opportunities, historical information, things to do, places to fuel up, mileage markers...in fact, I don't even know why I'm trying to detail it, as I could never do it justice. The point is this. As for me and my road trips, I don't like to plan too much ahead...I like to have a route planned, but let the trip happen to me within a general timeline, instead of forcing my way through through the trip. (Don't get me wrong, I'm an experienced and relatively prepared camper, road tripper and traveler.) I was nervous about taking that laissez-faire approach with Alaska, mainly because there are some serious distances between things and knowing where you are and where your next gas and night's sleep is can't be understated. To me, this book alleviates any concerns. We're not studying it extensively now, just flipping through...we have the route planned and will have an undeniably excellent road reference for the 5500 mile posts we'll be passing on this journey. I'm comfortable with taking a more laid back approach to the trip because of this book, so that's what matters to me. I'll report back once I've made the journey, but it's aiming to be unforgettable! Usage Edit: Returned from our trip, it was absolutely amazing! This book did turn out to be a tremendous resource for figuring out what to do, where to camp and where we could locate services we requested. We felt that with the information we were armed with, an "impromptu" trip was easily put together and figured out on the fly. That said, it wasn't without it's pitfalls. The biggest issue we had was locating things in the book. GPS coordinates would have been much preferred, but rather, the book commonly provided only mileage from a known point as the locator. We found ourselves having to add or subtract mileage quite often to get a reasonable idea of where the thing of interest was and in many cases, we had no clue as to how far we were from a city or junction. This caused us to inadvertently miss some things we wanted to see because we were off in our estimations by a mile or two. In other cases, there wasn't any detail on where to locate a thing, such as a couple campgrounds we searched for. Fortunately, with the GPS, another camping book and countless brochure from the places we wanted to visit...it overall worked out pretty well. The point is that mileposts aren't as common as they used to be and KM posts across Canada only appear every 10KM, if you're lucky! The other issue we ran into is that the info wasn't quite current for 2014. For example, we wanted to stay in High River, just outside of Calgary. Well, come to find out, in mid-2013, the entire town experienced the worst flood of memory and everything (including the campground) was shutdown even a year later. We realize that this is probably checked the year prior, but this along with other issues with closures of gas stations and other camps, makes me wonder how much they're really updating the information every year. Although this might not be a concern for many, another concern is that navigation solely on this book would have been nearly impossible. It's great that it has maps of most of the little towns and such, but they're not the type that are good for navigating. Missing are common street names or other info that can be used to locate where you are or where you want to go from there. GPS is almost a necessity if you're interested in exploring the little towns you come across. Despite these gripes, it was a fantastic resource to use on the trip and when we do it again, we'll probably consider purchasing a current copy.

The 2014 version of "The Milepost" is the 66th edition of a uniquely useful travel guide to the limited road network in Alaska, the Yukon, and the northern portions of the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, along with the principal access routes to the area. The guide also includes seasonal road access routes in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It also includes basic information for the Alaska Marine Ferry System, a way to see Southeast Alaska from the water and take your vehicle with you. This guide is a must-have resource for those planning an extended trip in the region, whether by car, RV, or camper. Alaska and Northwest Canada are a huge area, with rugged terrain and significant weather variations, and far less travel infrastructure than most travelers are used to in urban Canada or the lower '48 states in the US. Visitors should not expect gas stations, restaurants, and franchise motels at every exit from the main roads. They should not even expect that facilities, or even the roads themselves, will be open year-round. In fact, dangerous weather and driving conditions can be expected as much as six months of the year in some parts of Alaska and northern Canada. In addition, travelers need to be alert to the hazards of close encounters with wildllife, natural hazards such as avalanches, and even the landing of private planes on the road. "The Milepost" offers a mile-by-mile travelogue for the main roads of the North Country, along with maps, diagrams of some key towns, photographs, and advertisements for attractions, accomodations, and other travel facilities. It is a terrific planning resource for areas that have much to offer, including small delights that might not make it into guide books. It lists the next gas station, some small but worthwhile museums, scenic overlooks of glaciers, historical markers, and even unique restaurants specializing in local wild catch or "the world's best cinnamon buns." Visitors can and should plan ahead for such delights as fishing charters on the world-famous Kenai Peninsula or the operating hours of hot springs, wildlife parks, and ferries. "The Milepost" is updated annually to assure the traveler of reasonably up to date information about construction, changing schedules for the Alaska Marine Highway System of ferries, and the like. The guide can also show the way to recreational opportunities for hiking, fishing, camping, biking, and snow machining. "The Milepost" is very highly recommended to the visitor and the resident of Alaska and Northwest Canada, which are some of the most scenic parts of North America. Don't miss the sights, and don't leave home without The Milespost.

I called this my moving bible. It was the best thing I had for navigation as I moved from Alabama to Alaska. It gave a lot of helpful information about the towns, and made it easier to plan our trip, when we had to stop traveling at night because of limited open fuel resources, and where the best towns to stay in were. Even though the Milepost does not tell you everything that is in a town, you could get a good feel about your options, based on the town size and who/what companies were advertising. This made it easier to pre-plan where were would stop for things. Since there were two of us, one person would drive, and the other person would read the random facts at each mile or kilometer marker. I'm a history buff, so it was great to hear about the things that had happened during the creation of the Al-Can. It was difficult to understand how to use it as first, as it does not read like a typical map or travel guide, but once we got the hang of it, it was great! The biggest challenges is when you would change roadways and trying to figure out new/different numbering patterns/layout in the book. This is a must have for anyone making this journey!

Lots of useful information on all the highways leading to, and within, alaska. I'd driven the Alaska Highway twice, in '62 and '78, and the Haines Cutoff and the portion of the Alaska Highway from Haines Junction on into Alaska in '71 and '81. In October of this year (2014) a friend of mine and I drove from Seattle to our homes on the Kenai Peninsula via the Cassiar and Alaska Highways. We found it to be a very useful publication. One should be aware, however, that the Motels and Hotels they list are ones that have chosen to advertise with them. In any given location, there may be several places to stay, but you won't necessarily find them all listed in the Milepost. This is of course their privilege, but you should be aware of it. Checking on hotels.com or some other internet source may be worthwhile, in any given situation, in addition to referring to the Milepost.

I like to plan my own trips and also like to read maps. The Milepost is the most detailed Alaska map and guide book I could found. It contains road, attractions, tour, lodging, dining, pretty much everything I want to know, and as much detail as view points location, paved/unpaved turnouts on which side of road. I pre-ordered 2014 revision at $23 before my trip. I found the book on sale in Anchorage COSTCO at $21 (no sales tax), an indication that it is a popular Alaska travel "Bible" book.

Thanks MILEPOST for helping us move from NY to AK. We loved this book and it helped plan our trip greatly. Due to the trip in December most of it wasn't watching the beautiful scenery but trying not to get hit by the ice truckers! This book has so much information. Everything you need for the trip, and yes I thought why do we need it if there is internet? There is so much in here that isn't online, it'll really help.

very excited to use this on our upcoming trip to Alaska - love the detail and tips (some made me chuckle, like warnings around moose and such, but very good to know!) The best part is the ability to download the digital edition on my ipad which rocks. It's a little confusing to get the VIP account set up and app going (directions seem off) - but once I got it loaded, LOVE the features of the app, such as bookmarking pages as favorites with customized names. Will definitely be using this as our road bible via the app on our trip!

We've lived in Alaska and used the Milepost for road trips for many years. This is the most definitive road guide anywhere - more comprehensive than a AAA TripTik because in addition to point-to-point, this guide has information about driving and road conditions, every mile and part thereof; it notes every bridge, creek, service location, campground, attraction, etc. plus has fishing and hunting information and basic demographic information about each city, town, and hamlet. Yes, it's full of ads, but I've used those both for planning and when we're on the road without advance reservations. We update our version every few years, largely because visitors ask if they can have our copy. There's nothing more useful, especially for it's amazing price.