My wife and are considering going to Kennicott Glacier Lodge for a few days in early September during our ten day Alaska vacation. Would appreciate people's feedback on this idea. We are also looking at spending time on the Kenai also.

I've flown in and very scenic, not much wildlife. No major rental company will allow driving on the road. There is also bus service available.

On their Web site, the owners of the combined McCarthy Lodge-Ma Johnson's Hotel-Lancaster's Backpackers Hotel recommend using Affordable New Car Rentals in Anchorage (www.ancr.com) for driving to McCarthy.

With the independents- be sure to verify your auto insurance coverage. Some policies consider nonpaved driving off road- mine did and no insurance. Not covered with my credit card waiver either. I highly recommend you photograph the car before leaving the lot (which I do all the time now- easy with a digital, gravel can cause a lot of "dings" and cracked windshields. You may want to consider purchasing their insurance waivers.

I've drove the McMarthy road back in July of 02 with a compact rental from Dollar rental.The only road Dollar does'nt allow is the Dalton highway to the acrtic.Anyway the McCarthy really is'nt that bad,the first 10 miles is the worst.With no traffic,you do'nt have to worry with dings and windshields and I read somewhere that the Park Service is going the greatly improve the road.(Too bad,that means more crowds)Be sure to check out Root Glacier once at Kennicott.Its about a 2 mile flat hike from the lodge to the clean ice and bring some crampons to walk on the glacier,and plenty of film.

The above is outdated with Dollar. They now do not allow ANY driving on unpaved roads.



http://www.dollar.com/custom_travel/...icy.asp?lc=ANC

Affordable Car Rental will definitely allow you to take a car on the road to McCarthy. There are only a couple of roads that are off limits and they are north of Fairbanks.

Try a vacation package that includes a round-trip flight from Chitina (the end of the paved road). The flight to/from McCarthy is very scenic.

I was just here this last fall. Kennicott Glacier Lodge itself is very low key. The baths are shared, the rooms are small, but it is a real remote area and a wonderful getaway. the food is unbelievably good - almost gourmet. You can hike, stroll the town, and view the Mine. It does not have much in the way of tourism activities as of yet. They are still developing the area. It is best to fly in from Chitna. Wrangell Mountain Air has the best service.

The Glacier Lodge has reading nooks, board games, etc. No TV, no watercraft, no helicopters. Just a real escape from the bustle. There are 2-3 day raft trips in the Kennicott area that are fabulous. The flight out there is beautiful. The St. Elias mountain range is spectacular if it is a sunny day. If you take the time to go that far, consider a short raft at keystone canyon on the way to Valdez. Stop in at Copper Center to see the local museum. Very interesting there. Also, a great way to make the trip back to Anchorage is to take the ferry from Valdez back to Whittier, and then rail or car back to Anchorage.

Hope this helps out some.