My family (2 adults - 50's, son - 24) from Texas is venturing to Chickaloon in July. This will be our first time to Alaska. Would you recommend that our excursions are mainly to the Anchorage area or to the Denali area? We are mainly into fishing, sightseeing, and wildlife. Right now the only thing I'm pretty sure we want to do is the Nova Lionhead Whitewater Raft. Thanks for any info!

Welcome to Fodor's! Hopefully you're aware that Chickaloon is a wide spot in the road (barely). How long is your trip? If you plan to visit Denali and don't already have accommodation booked, you're in big trouble. Give us more information and we can help more.

We are staying in a cabin on Weiner Lake in Chickaloon for a week in July. Is that too far from Denali or Anchorage to visit/sightsee for the day? Looking at the map it seems as though both of those towns are a couple hours away. I am just wondering if Chickaloon is too far out for us to be staying. Is there anything at all in that area to do? Thanks!

I wouldn't call Chickaloon a town at all, and yes, it's much too far to visit the Denali area as a day trip. (Denali can't be done as a day trip anyway - the logistics are far too complicated.) Anchorage is under two hours, and there's plenty to do in town, but of course that means at least three or four hours on the road to get to town and back. The closest attractions are Matanuska Glacier and the Hatcher Pass/Independence Mine areas. You might also visit the interesting Native American cemetery in Eklutna, a small village alongside the Glenn Highway between Palmer and Anchorage. Otherwise, I'm afraid you're kind of in the middle of nowhere.