Alaska – The Last Frontier. Everyone’s bucket list destination to visit at least once in their lifetime. The vastness of Alaska, the untouched wilderness is mind blowing. I stayed in Alaska for over 3 weeks in Summer of 2013, explored many parts of it which are accessible by road, drove over 2500 miles, visited some of the lesser visited places, both in southern and northern part of Alaska. This is our story about Alaska.
Suggested Itineraries
- Southern Alaska from Anchorage – Seward, Kenai Fjords, Whittier – 3 days
- South Central Alaska from Anchorage – McCarthy, Valdez, Wrangell-St. Elias – 3 days
- Northern Alaska from Anchorage – Fairbanks, Coldfoot, Dalton Highway, Delta Junction – 4 days
- Central Alaska from Fairbanks – Talkeetna, Denali National Park – 3 days
Southern Alaska – Seward, Kenai Fjords, Whittier
We made Anchorage as our base to explore the Southern part of Alaska. We took an Airbnb for two weeks, got a rental car from Anchorage. We headed towards Seward which is about two and half hours drive from Anchorage – one of most scenic drive in Alaska. We planned to spend next three days to explore these southern parts of Alaska.
Day 1: Seward
After having breakfast in our Airbnb, we started from Anchorage in morning and reached Seward by 12pm. Many people prefer to take the Alaska railroad which offers scenic view during the journey, but we preferred to drive. We took a hike to visit the Exit Glacier – one of the easy accessible glaciers in Alaska and can be done with smaller kids. The trail is about 10 minutes drive away from the city of Seward. One the way, there were signs marking years to show how the glaciers melted away over time. We witnessed craggy ice falling with cracking sound, rushing water. This Glacier (like most other glaciers in Alaska)is melting fast and may not be left for next generations. After the hike we returned to Seward to have dinner. We spent the night in a rented RV parked outside the residence of the owner of RV.
Day 2: Kenai Fjords National Park
Today, we are going for sea cruise in the Kenai Fjorods National Park. We booked the tour with Kenai Fjords Tours. We chose Kenai Fjords National Park Tour with Dinner on Fox Island. It was about 9 hours tour starting at 10AM. The journey up the coast from Seward was one of our unique ocean cruises. We glided past seals, sea otters and sea lions playing and soaking sun on rocky shores, caught a glimpse of a whale as it comes out of the surface of the sea, it was nothing less than magical. The tour covered many glaciers along the way such as Aialik glacier, Holgate glacier. On the way back, it made a stop at picturesque Fox Island, in the heart of Resurrection Bay for dinner. Night stay is in the same RV we spent the previous night.
Day 3: Whittier and return to Anchorage
Today, we started early in the morning around 8am from our RV camp in Seward and we drove on the way to Whittier. We reached Portage Pass Trail in less than an hour. The plan is to hike this trail before heading to Whittier. This was a moderate hike and because of the snow, the trail was not visible. We could not reach all the way to the glacier as it was turning very difficult after some point due to the snow on the trail. The view was truly spectacular with mountains surrounding all around and the valley in the mountains.
Around afternoon we started driving towards Whittier and reached Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel—the longest (2.5 miles) highway tunnel in North America and only one road link between Anchorage to Whittier. The one-lane tunnel is shared by cars and trains traveling in both directions and driving through the tunnel in itself is an unique experience. The Whittier Tunnel tolls start at $13 for a car and prices raise from there for larger vehicles with more axles. Generally, the tunnel is open for entry for 15 minutes each way, once each hour. The tunnel is closed overnight. So, check the schedule before you go, as you may have to wait up to 45 minutes if you arrive at the wrong time.
At a population of only around 200 people, Whittier is a really small town. We reached Whittier and had our lunch there. We spent a good amount of time at the Whittier harbor. There are boats available for rent if you want to spend your time on the water. We decided to enjoy exploring the harbor. We started our return journey from Whittier in the afternoon and reached Anchorage by evening. We’ll work from our Airbnb in Anchorage for the rest of the week. Next weekend we plan to start our road trip towards Valdez, about six hours drive from Anchorage.
South Central Alaska – McCarthy, Valdez, Wrangell-St. Elias
This week we plan to embark on a journey to explore the largest national park in the United States – Wrangell-St. Elias National park. We’ll explore the untouched wilderness of this part of Alaska. Then we’ll head to Valdez to explore this historic city and to experience the surreal beauty along the way.
Day 1: Drive to McCarthy from Anchorage
Today morning we started from Anchorage towards Valdez. The drive from Anchorage to Valdez takes 6 to 7 hours on average. But, there are many scenic vistas and unique places to stop along the way. We took a slight diversion from AK-1 to make a stop at Eklutna Lake, situated about an hour drive from Anchorage. This is a nice lake for water activities such as kayaking, paddle boating. After soaking some morning sun and absorbing the beauty of the lake, we took AK-1 towards our next stop in Palmer – The Raindeer Farm.
The Raindeer Farm is a nice place to get up close view of Alaskan wild life such as Rain deer, Moose, Elk, Lama and many more. This is a must stop if you are traveling with kids. My kiddo thoroughly enjoyed the the stop here. He even took the opportunity to feed rain deer and moose. There is another place to see wildlife nearby – The Musk OX Farm. Since it was already afternoon and we need to cover a long distance before we call it a day, we did not visit the Musk OX Farm. After spending our morning in the farm, we headed out in the afternoon.
On the way, we made few more brief stops – Matanuska Glacier, it is one of the most accessible glaciers by car, you can also hike on the glacier. We stopped near Glennallen where on a clear day you would see snow-capped mountain range off in the distance, the Wrangell Mountains. A small stop to take photos of scenic view of Copper river with Mt Wrangell at the backdrop; Willow Lake for another great view of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park & Preserve. From AK-4, we took turn toward AK-10 to reach a small town to Chitina.
Chitina is where the paved road end and the drive further way to reach McCarty is through gravel and dust road. This is the last town to get groceries, gas, eateries and other services. There is option to take planes to from here to reach Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. We drove further about one hour from Chitina through gravel road to reach Wrangell Mountain Lodge where we took night stop before heading to McCarthy tomorrow. Warning – This place was full of mosquitos, there is no way you can go out or sit outside with adequate mosquito repellent.
Day 2: Hiking on Glacier at Wrangell-St. Elias
Today morning we drove more than one hour further through gravel road to reach Kennicott River footbridge. Car can’t be taken beyond this point, so we parked our car at paid parking spots and walked to cross the bridge. We had booked a full-day guided hiking tour with Stelia Guides and our guide was waiting for us on the other side of the river. They took us in a shuttle to the hiking point where they provided the hiking gears, shoe spike as we plan to hike on the glacier. We had a awesome guide along the way and believe it or not she is doing PhD in Glaciology. We had awesome views of the glaciers all around and the glacial terrains offered perfect spots for photos. Our guide arranged lunch, coffee and pure glacier water in the middle of our hike. I was looking for bear plunge in a glacier pool but could not find one in our journey. After experiencing what McCarthy has to offer, we resumed our drive to Valdez and we reached Valdez at night.
Day 3: Valdez
Located near the head of a deep fjord in Prince William Sound, Valdez is a paradise for explorers. It offers tidewater glaciers, rainforests, and majestic mountains. Little bit of history of this Gold Rush town which has been through a lot – Valdez suffered great damage during the 1964 earthquake and the entire town was moved to a different location.
We kept our day quite light as we have to make 6 hours drive on our way back to Anchorage. In morning, we went for kayaking in the glacial lake which we had booked with Anadyra Adventures. They provide the suits to keep us safe from the cold glacier water. It was an amazing experience with breathtaking views of the glacier which are melting. The mountain at a distance, the ice chunks of glaciers and the lake provided a nice vista to enjoy. We got to kayak all the way inside glacier caves. We made brief stop at an island for lunch and continued with our kayaking post that.
Around afternoon we started our drive from Valdez towards Anchorage. On the way back we stopped at the point where Old Valdez was there once upon a time and now nothing left, just a sign indicating where the city was. We also made stops at the waterfalls which were right on the road such as Bridal Veil Falls, Horsetail Falls and also at Thompson Pass which provides nice view of the mountain and glacier right from being on the road.
Northern Alaska – Fairbanks, Coldfoot, Dalton Highway
Week 3 of our Alaska adventure – we are heading north and further north in quest to cross the Arctic circle by road which will require us to drive through the infamous Dalton Highway – a dirt and gravel road with no services anywhere. We are also worried by the news that there are forest fires all around and Fairbanks and nearby areas are covered with smoke.
Day 1: Hatcher Pass
Today we finished our work early and started towards Fairbanks in the afternoon. On the way we made a visit to Hatcher Pass, a scenic 49-mile rugged mountain pass in the Mat-Su Valley. We started the hike of Reeds Lake Trail which is about 8.5 miles out and back. First couple of miles was smooth but once we reached the up hill it was only boulders trail alongside the river. I must say the hike was a challenging one but the view of the rugged mountains and the blue lower lake is breathtaking. We started form Hatcher Pass towards Nenana, a small town before Fairbanks, where we plan to stop for the night. The drive was amazing in the mid-night with the gorgeous view of the sun setting in Denali mountains.
Day 2: Dalton Highway – Crossing the Arctic Circle
We started from Nenana in the morning and headed towards Fairbanks. The visibility was poor due to the forest fire all around. We packed the food from Fairbanks and started our journey further North. We took the James W. Dalton Highway, a 414-mile stretch of gravel and dirt that runs from the town of Livengood up to Prudhoe Bay and through some of Alaska’s most remote wilderness. This road is primarily used by truckers to transport oil and is the only road that connects to the north of Alaska. There is no gas station or other services for miles on this road until you reach Yukon river crossing. We made a brief stop at Yukon River crossing, had lunch, fueled the car and started to cross the Arctic Circle.
When we reached the famous Arctic Circle sign, we felt a sense of achievement as we have crossed the Arctic circle by road. We met an aged couple here who drove their RV all the way from Seattle to in this part of the globe. As we drove further, the visibility became bad as there was smoke and we could not get good view of the distant mountains. We saw the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, one of the world’s largest pipeline systems, about 800 miles long, delivering more than 500,000 barrels of oil per day from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.
We reached a small town of Coldfoot in the later in the day (time-wise it would be evening, but the sun does not set here as we were above Arctic circle. We stayed at Coldfoot Camp which is mainly used by truckers as a stopover. We could smell oil everywhere and saw a number of trucks parked here. There is a separate menu only for truckers. We witnessed the 24 hours of day here as I could see the sun at 1am also.
Day 3: Fairbanks, Delta junction
Today, we made our journey back to Fairbanks and reached Delta junction in the evening. On way we made a stop at North Pole, a small town near Fairbanks where you could see Santa House, recommended place to stop by if you have kids. It was pouring heavily which was making the drive difficult, but probably good to stop the spread of forest fire. We planned to go to Castner Glacier to see the Castner Glacier caves.
Day 4: Delta junction
We read a lot about hiking to Castner Glacier and exploring the Castner ice caves which makes for an epic Alaskan adventure in a unique environment. We drove along AK-4 which was an epic drive with beautiful view of the mountains. It was expected to be an hour drive from Delta junction. After we drove for about 30 minutes, we found the road was blocked as some part of the road washed way due to heavy rainfall from yesterday night. Our dream to see a glacier cave remained unfulfilled as we had to head back towards Fairbanks with heavy heart.
Central Alaska – Talkeetna, Denali National Park
This week is the last leg of our journey to explore Alaska. After reaching the pinnacle point by crossing Arctic Circle, this week we head back towards south to visit the Denali National Park, spend a day in the historical town of Talkeetna and then head back to Anchorage.
Day 1: Denali National Park
After a working week, we started our last leg of the Alaska trip to visit Denali National Park. Denali National Park is Alaska’s most popular attraction. From Fairbanks, it’s just 3 hours by car, and 4 hours by train. We started early in the morning from Fairbanks and reached Denali National Park visitor center by 10am. You can visit the park by taking the bus tour offered by National Park Service. Private cars are only permitted to drive to mile 15. Denali Park Road is only road that takes you to the deep of the park and is only accessible through bus torus. The road is only accessible upto mile 43 as over the past several years, an ongoing landslide has caused the closure of the road and visitors will have access to the first 43 scenic miles of the park road. This part of the road was built over a rock glacier. Recently, the glacier began melting, causing the road to slump. A bridge is under construction which once open will take visitors further deep into the park.
Most visitors come to Denali National Park to see the 6,200-meter-tall Mount McKinley. The farther down Denali Park Road you go, the better the experience. Not only do the views of Denali get better, but you also have the chance to spot all of Alaska’s Big 5 – Caribou, Moose, Bear, Dall Sheep and Wolve. We were fortunate to be able to spot four of the Big 5s. We could only got a glimpse of mount Denali behind the clouds. They say that only 30% of the visitors get a chance to see Mt Denali as the cloud will be covering it rest of the time.
One of the best ways to view this mountainous park is to take a helicopter tour. We booked a tour with TEMSCO Air. We were able to explore the mountains just outside Denali National Park w and local wildlife. The helicopter landed on a mountain which provided us the breathtaking view of tundra around. We could also spot Dall sheep from above gazing on the top of the hills.
Later in the day we drove back to the 15th mile of the park for hike in Hike the Savage River Loop Trail. This easy, 2-mile trail makes a loop around the Savage River. The trail is a loop, so you’ll return to the parking area when you’re done. While you won’t see Denali on this hike, you will get amazing views of the river and surrounding canyon. This was the last adventure of the day and we headed towards Trapper Creek for our night stay in a log cabin.
Day 2: Talkeetna
The scenic village of Talkeetna is located just outside Denali National Park and is a must for any Alaska itinerary! If it’s a clear day you’ll get spectacular views of Mount Denali but we could not as it was cloudy and misty whole day. We wandered along the main street and got to see historic buildings such as the Fairview Inn and Talkeetna Roadhouse. There are plenty of restaurants, coffee shops, and ice cream parlors here and one of the famous things we tried is the spinach bread which is must here.
Talkeetna has plenty of options for excursions such as flight tours, fishing, rafting, boat tours etc. It was busy day in Talkeetna as we were not getting any tour options. The fishing tours were cancelled due to high water level in the rivers and also the flight tours were cancelled due to poor visibility. We got a rafting tour option which is very late in the day. We booked that tour and since we have few hours we drove towards Palmer to soak in the views once more as our month long Alaska tour is going to come to an end.
We took the rafting trip which took us around the Talkeetna river. We observed the beautiful flora and fauna around. Our guides are versed in describing the flora, fauna, and scenery along the way. We could even spot a bald eagle from very close. This is perfect trip even if you don’t have rafting experience. The river was calm and there were no scary part in the whole trip. There were plenty of opportunities to take photos! We got to purchase photos with an extra money from the tour provider.
We drove toward Anchorage in the evening, returned our rental car and spent the night in a hotel near the airport in Anchorage. An epic journey come to end with loads of memories.
Places where we stayed
Seward
McCarthy
Nenana
Coldfoot
Talkeetna
Delta Junction
Escape Explore Experience 