We rented an RV from GAH (Great Alaskan Holidays) last September for a 9 day trip preceeding our 32 day cruise from Whittier to Bangkok (Laem Chabang). It was a phenomenal trip, including our having won the Denali Lottery (sorry, you are too early with your August rental to enjoy that great experience). With the wonderful help I got here on FT (including alphaeagle driving us through on our lottery day since our RV was a 25' and was 3' longer than was allowed to take onto the park roads past the first section), our trip was a breeze.

We took over 500 pix on that day in Denali and a couple of them are in a couple of earlier postings pertaining to our trip.

You are probably correct that you won't get away from the rental dealer early enough to make it all the way to Denali. By the time they had done the excellent and complete video briefing with us (our appt. was at 11 AM) and checked us out, and we were stocked up, it was around 2 PM. Unless you've rented the RV for the "night" before your trip starts, you may not get a pick-up time assigned before 12 noon. On that first afternoon, we drove a bit past Talkeetna and parked a little further towards Denali at a lovely roadside parking place on the left side (jackal -- please help me with the name of the small state park area). Don't forget the DEET -- or you will be eaten alive as soon as you stick your head out of the RV at that parking spot.

We are in Florida right now and all my notes are in Germany, so I can't help much until we get home mid-May. If I can help then, just send me a pm and I'll get back to you.

P.S. The Riley Campgrounds at Denali are a real pleasant place for your stay. You will need to reserve in advance and IIRC, it's $20 per night (or $10 if you are eligible for the sr. pass). These are nicely wooded spots, although with no hook-ups and only limited time allowed to use your generator (I think until 8 PM). Fresh water and dumping station are available at the nearby general store.

YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME!!