Pat2003

Is everyone visiting only Denali, Seward, Anchorage, Fairbanks?
What about places that are less popular?
Any suggestions?
Trying to plan our trip next summer. We like outdoors

Gardyloo

Travel off the road system becomes quite expensive. Plus, most rental car agencies won't allow their vehicles on unpaved highways, which further reduces the list of destinations, even if they are on the road system. Denali Park, Fairbanks, the Kenai, all are readily accessible by car (or bus or train.)

There are plenty of other destinations, it's just hard getting to them. If you don't mind flying in small planes, and have the budget, the world's your oyster. Go look at www.alaska.com for a big picture view of the state and your choices.

tcapp

We visited Alaska in May, and one drive we really enjoyed was between Copper Center and Valdez. There was not much in Valdez, but the drive was just breathtaking. We also spent the night at the Copper Center Princess Wilderness Lodge in Copper Center. This lodge is owned by Princess Cruise Lines and was really a treat. Also, do yourself a HUGE favor, and go to your local bookstore and purchase a copy of the Milepost. This is the best investment for Alaska you'll ever make. It is super thick and runs about 25.00 and is a wealth of information.

KMK

I really liked Valdez. We did a neat day hike there, and also took a 3 day kayaking trip (wilderness lodge based) with Anadyr Adventures. Day hikes are free, guided tours are pricey!

Oh, if you REALLY like the outdoors - climb Donnelly Dome - it's on a military base southeast of Fairbanks & you need military permission to be there - mainly, they don't want you there if they're doing target practice, I don't think it's a national security issue, so even now you can probably get to it. We just went to the base, asked, and they gave us the permit. Really fun, just a scramble/hike (not at all technical) up this odd 'mountain' set in the middle of nowhere. Great views, NO one else was there with us.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is great - we took a small plane into the McCarthy/Kennicott area, hiked, and then took the shuttle van out. I'd love to stay a few days in there - if you're willing to camp, the only real expense would be getting into the park.
You could take the van both ways to save $.

It seems to me taking the Alaska Ferry from Valdez to Cordova might be a neat, and not too expensive experience.

I really enjoyed our trip up to Prudhoe Bay also - but, again, that's a tour, so pricey....I hear there is a shuttle that would take you to Coldfoot, though, and then you could hike in some real wilderness, right by/in Gates of the Arctic.

Check out the state park system, too - I think there are some neat parks that may be overlooked because they aren't the big name 'National Parks'....for example, Denali State Park looks to have some neat hiking trails, but obviously it is overshadowed by the 'real' Denali...

Of course, previous posters are right, the inaccessibility of some places is really the limiting factor. But, if you do research, I'm sure you'll find some hidden treasures!

moneygirl

We spent a wonderful week in Petersburg a few years ago. We went in May during their Norwegian festival...it is a Norwegian Fishing Village. Located just south of Juneau, there is one flight in and one flight out each day, an island town of about 3,000 people. Great wildlife, great fishing, wonderful food (fish!) and an interesting historical museum. If you were at all intrigued with the film, The Perfect Storm, this is the town for you! If you're interested, I will answer more specific questions. There were three small hotels and one bed and breakfast when we were there. Also, it might be fun to choose a few places that you could take the Marine Highway to, and see a few different towns. We would've liked to do that, but we were traveling with an infant.

Pat2003

Thanks for interesting ideas.

KMK
What hike did you do in Valdez? Were there many people on this trail?
What did you like about your kayaking trip? Did you have to bring your own tent and food? How many people were on this trip? Where did you stay? Did you make reservation for this trip in advance?

After some initial reading I am fascinated by Wrangell-St Elias NP Did you fly from Anchorage? What company?

Would you please tell me more about your trip to Prudhoe Bay. How long did you stay? What did you do when you got there?

Denali State park sounds interesting and will have to find out more about hiking opportunities there.

Gardyloo
I would be interested in staying in some remote cabin and do not mind paying for transfer but I do not want to pay $1000 or more per night for 2 persons. This is how much some of the remote lodges charge. Any suggestions?

tcapp
What oudoor activities are around the Copper Center Princess Wilderness Lodge in Copper Center?

Pat2003

Thanks moneygril
We did not think about visiting Southeast part of Alaska but the a Norwegian Fishing Village seems interesting

wemr

Do S.E. Alaska. but forget Wrangell.

Pat2003

Can any of you recommend place to see grizzly bears that is overrun with bears but not visitors? How to get there? How much would or did you pay for it?

KMK

Pat2003, I'll try to reply to all your questions!

First, Valdez. I don't remember the name of the trail we hiked - it was supposed to go all the way to a glacier (we didn't make it that far!), so it might have been the Shoup Bay trail. I know that we had asked at the visitor's center & they suggested it. It was a neat trail - we saw 2 black bears, from a distance, fortunately! Probably 3 or 4 other people, mainly closer to the trailhead. Along the whole length of the trail, you could see the water below you, as it sort of skirted Prince William Sound (not scary exposure or anything, but pretty far away from the water.) There is a website www.valdezadvnetures.net that lists hikes in the area, & I personally found the visitor's center in town very helpful.

Our kayak trip we booked with Anadyr Adventures, in advance of our trip. www.anadyradventures.com We did the lodge based trip, so no tents or anything - we were in the lap of luxury in the remote wilderness town of Ellamar. The lodge, at the time, could accomodate up to 6 guests, but our group of 4 was the only group there, which was nice. (If you stay at the lodge, the food is OUTSTANDING! Definitely not roughing it.) Anyway, for this trip, we had a boat taxi take us & the guide to Shoup Glacier to kayak the first day. It's not strenuous kayaking - basically, sightseeing around the glacier, paddling around chunks of ice and seeing wildlife like seals and otters. Pulled onto a beach for lunch. When we were down for the day, the water taxi picked us up & took us to Ellamar. Second & third days, we did hikes from the lodge and took another short kayak trip - just exploring with the guide to different islands. I remember the water being so very clear & seeing starfish and sea anemones on the bottom. Since we were our own small group, we pretty much decided what we wanted to do, along with the guide's help/suggestions. If you can do this trip, it is awesome. I think there are just day kayak trips, if you don't want to commit much time, or camping based ones if you want to rough it more (or don't want to pay for the lodge.) Oh, no kayaking skill required - we had never kayaked before! (Everything I described, all the transportation, food, lodging, kayaks, is included in the lodge trip package, by the way, so it does cover quite a bit for the price.)

Io get into Kennicott/McCarthy in Wrangell-St. Elias, we used Wrangell Mountain Air - www.wrangellmoutainair.com. We took the flight in from Chitina, but they do have lots of fly-in options. We took the shuttle van out, partly to save $, partly to see the scenery on the road out. Wrangell Mountain Air has lots of different trip & tour options; you can do charter trips, you can fly in from other locations. Flying in from Chitina is probably the cheapest, though, particularly if you take one of their scheduled flights. You just park your car by the airfield in Chitina (which is still on the paved road, so it is ok to take a rental car there), and they pick you up in a tiny plane. Quite an experience - even though it is transportation, the pilot gives you a headset, talks to you, and shows you the scenery. There is rustic lodging in the park, and you can camp. We just stayed for the day, but next time I would stay longer. We hiked around the abandoned mine buildings, and up the trail to Jumbo Mine, although we didn't make it all the way because we had to get back for the shuttle van. Saw LOTS of bear sign, but no bears.

Prudhoe Bay - took the Prudhoe Bay trip with Northern Alaska Tour Company. You can see the complete trip description on their web site www.northernalaska.com. Definitely do the road trip northbound; I think it's most interesting that way. They use a van, so the group is relatively small - 10 people. The scenery is amazing. Prudhoe Bay is neat, walking out on the Arctic Ocean & touring the oil fields is interesting, but the best part of the trip is really the drive up. When you stay overnight in Coldfoot, if you're not too tired, hike over to the Koyokuk River. We were there in early June, the sun never set, we were hiking along the riverbed at midnight. Awesome! Crossing the Brooks Range is also spectacular.

tcapp

At the lodge itself, they have several different adventure packages. You could call them to find out. One couple we dined with had gone out that afternoon on a four-wheel excursion and really enjoyed themselves. You could call the lodge to find out more.
In the area itself, there's fishing, hiking, and I'm sure even more. There are beautiful lakes en route to that area also.

Wildflower

You got some great suggestions. We just returned from our fourth trip to Alaska but always looking for somethhing new. We were thinking about going next year to Wrangell-St. Elis National Park and KMK's post confirmed our desire to go there.
If you wish to read more about bear watching find my post "Just returned from our fourth trip to Alaska."

Before you decide on bear watching trip you have to do some research and ask lots of questions.

Ask about saftey record of the plane and a pilot, how many hours she/he has, how many years is a guide in business, what other business they are involved in (I would stay away from those who do also fishing, hunting, hiking, birding, white water rafting trips and some other things, the best is to find a company that does exclusively bear watching), how long is a trip and how many hours you will be actually watching bears, where are you going to go, is your guide going to be with you all the time or a pilot/guide just drop you off and you will be in line on a platform, how large is a group, how many other groups are going to be in that area, do they suupply hip boots, when do you have to put your deposit and how much, do they give refund (100% of deposit)if there is no trip due to a weather.

Pat2003

Thank you KMK for your outstanding answer and Wildflower too.