thebs

Hi,

My wife and I are active retired seniors and experienced travelers from camping and hiking at National Parks to exotic foreign travel. We are also very familiar and comfortable with long cross country (and continent) drives.

This summer we are leaving for a self drive (SUV) from Washington DC, through Canada and back home by way of Utah and New Mexico.

We like to hike and experience nature and have a strong interest in native and local cultures. Museums are great. We do not: fly within a country (or a state), take cruises, kayak, fish or hunt and try to avoid formal tours. We are fairly flexible but like to keep moving and down time (think hot springs or spas) doesn’t work for us.

We had thought that we could “just go” and make up the trip as the mood to do different things came to us — our research disabused us of that idea.

The drive times are AAA TripTik estimates (same as Google) and we understand that we may have to add 25% or so to to portions of them to adjust to local Alaska summer driving conditions.

With that in mind we would appreciate any thoughts the Alaska experts may have on the “still a work in progress” Alaska portion of the itinerary - see below.

Days 1-12 On Route to AK (thru Canada with stop at Steward BC/Hyder AK)

Day 13: Mon., 9 Jul - Teslin-Skagway-Haines
Drive: Teslin YT to Skagway & Haines AK (158 Mi/ 3.5 Hrs)
Activities: Walk Skagway, AK Ferry Skagway-Haines w/car

Day 14: Tue., 10 Jul - Haines
Drive: Local
Activities: AM - Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center (Arrange tour of Center & traditional knowledge camp. PM - Kroschel Nature Center Tour 1:30-3:30. Tour totems in Haines. Hike: Battery Point Trail

Day 15: Wed., 11 Jul - Haines-Juneau
Drive: None - Fjordlines Express Ferry to Juneau dep 8:30 AM - arr 11:00 AM
Activities: Sightseeing cruise en-route. Mendenhall Glacier & hike to Nugget Falls. Walter Soboleff Center w/Sealalaska Heritiage Center.

Day 16: Thur., 12 Jul - Juneau
Drive: None
Activities: Adventure Bound Tracy Arm Cruise 8:15-6:00

Day 17: Fri., 13 Jul - Juneau-Haines
Drive: None - AK Ferry Juneau to Haines dep 7AM - arr 11AM
Activities: AK Ferry PM - Hike and walk in town

Day 18: Sat., 14 Jul - Haines-Burwash Landing YT
Drive: Haines-Burwash Landing (215 Mi/ 4.5 Hrs)
Activities: Kluane NP w/Klukshu Fishing Camp, Da Ku Culture Center (Haines Junction YT)

Day 19: Sun., 15 Jul - Burwash Landing YT-Willow Creek (Via Tok)
Drive: Willow Creek-Glacier View (385 Mi/ 7.5 Hrs)

Day 20: Mon., 16 Jul -Willow Creek-McCarthy/Kennicott
Drive: None
Activities: Day Shuttle RT (Wrangell-St Elias Tours). Kennicott Mill Tour 11:30-1:30. Rest of day Hike.

Day 21: Tue., 17 Jul -Willow Creek-Matanuska Glacier-Wasilla
Drive: Willow Creek-Glacier View (150 Mi/ 3 Hrs) Glacier View-Wasilla (68 Mi/ 1.5 Hr)
Activities: Glacier Hike w/MICA Guides 11:30-3:30.

Day 22: Wed., 18 Jul - Palmer-Portage-Cooper Landing
Drive: Palmer-Portage (100 Mi/ 2+ Hr) Portage-Cooper Landing (65 Mi/ 1.5 Hr)
Activities: Begich Boggs Visitor Center, Bryon Glacier Hike, AK Wilderness Conservation Center

Day 23: Thur., 19 Jul - Cooper Landing-Homer
Drive: Cooper Landing-Homer (120 Mi/ 2.5 Hrs) - Lots of stops en-route
Activities: AM - Russian River Falls - Ferry & Hike (2 Mi). Ninlichik (Old Russian village).

Day 24: Fri., 20 Jul - Homer
Drive: Local
Activities: AK Island & Ocean Visitors Center. Town visit. Tide Pooling Coal Point

Day 25: Sat., 21 Jul - Homer
Drive: Local
Activities: Kachemark Bay Park All Day - Water taxi & TBD Hike

Day 26: Sun., 22 Jul - Homer-Seward
Drive: Homer-Seward (170 Mi/ 3.5 Hrs)
Activities: Trail Lake Fish Hatchery (near Moose Lake). Possible Ranger Hike Kenai Fjords NP - Town walk.

Day 27: Mon., 23 Jul - Seward
Drive: Local
Activities: Exit Glacier Hike - Marmot Meadow Hike. Alaska Sea Life Center.

Day 28: Tue., 24 Jul - Seward-Anchorage (Via Hope)
Drive: Seward-Anchorage (160 Mi/3.5 Hr)
Activities: Hope. AK Native Heritage Center. Possibly hike Lower Winner Creek Trail en-route

Day 29: Wed., 25 Jul - Anchorage-Talkeetna
Drive: Anchorage-Talkeetna (170 Mi/3.5 Hr)
Activities: Eklutna Historic Park Tour, Town Walk

Day 30: Thur., 26 Jul - Talkeetna-Denali (Healy)
Drive: Talkeetna-Healy (155 Mi/3 Hr)
Activities: Denali Visitors Center. Dog Kennels

Day 31: Fri., 27 Jul - Denali
Drive: Healy-Denali (15 Mi/ 1/2Hr)
Activities: Transit Bus Eielson Visitor Center 7AM-4PM. Stop & Hike

Day 32: Sat., 28 Jul - Denali (Healy)-Fairbanks
Drive: Healy-Denali (125 Mi/ 2.5 Hr)
Activities: U of AK Museum of the North

Day 33: Sun., 29 Jul - Fairbanks-Arctic Circle-Fairbanks
Drive: Local
Activities: Arctic Circle Drive Adventure - North AK Tour Company. Dep 6:30AM Rtn 11:30PM

Day 34+ Return to USA - Drive thru Canada to USA via Tok and Taylor & Top of the World Highways

Thanks
Nick & Gemma
Washington DC

Gardyloo

Welcome to Fodor's!

Nothing jumps out at me that I wouldn't recommend, but there are a couple of things I'd try to add, at the risk of making you rearrange your timing a little.

- Thompson Pass, Worthington Glacier and Valdez: The Richardson Hwy between Copper Center and Valdez is (IMO) in parts the most scenic road in Alaska, and in the top ten in North America. Since you're going to McCarthy anyway, I'd give serious thought of continuing south through Thompson Pass and past the Worthington Glacier to Valdez, then take the ferry across Prince William Sound from Valdez to Whittier.

- Glacier cruise, Whittier: These are half-day cruises that typically travel into College Fjord. They offer terrific bang for the buck IMO.

- Denali Hwy: Most rental car companies don't allow their vehicles on gravel roads, but in your case the Denali Highway (SR 8) between Cantwell and Paxson is available and highly recommended. This is a very scenic road, very lightly traveled.

So that might lead to a reordering of your trip so that you'd go SE Alaska/Yukon - McCarthy/Valdez - Kenai Peninsula - Anchorage/Mat-Su - Denali - Denali Hwy - Fairbanks/Haul Road - TOTW/Dawson - home.

I'd also try to squeeze in a flightseeing trip at some point; there's nothing like it for seeing the scale of the place; the road system doesn't give a complete picture. Or, budget allowing, even a 48-hour flying trip from Anchorage to someplace like Nome or Kotzebue.

tomfuller

This sounds like a well planned trip. Are you spending the night in Palmer or Wassilla? Between Homer and the turnoff to Hope, you might want to drive the Skilak Road. There is a good chance to see some wildlife while driving the road slowly. In addition to the U of AK museum you should visit Pioneer Park. There is an interesting aircraft museum in the middle of the park. At the edge of Pioneer Park is an Alaska Salmon Bake that should not be missed.
Don't pass an open gas station with less than half a tank no matter what the price per gallon is. There are some long distances between gas stations in Alaska.
Buy your shuttle bus or tour bus tickets for Denali online before you go to Alaska.
Hope is a very sleepy town. I did find a geocache there.

sandragoodlife

Don't miss the Pratt Museum in Homer - excellent local museum of the local history and culture. We really enjoyed it.

nyamazan2000

Hi,

Only a couple of things:
Wasilla: I did not think that there was much to see here. We stopped by just to check it out and it took less than 1 hour.

Begich Boggs Visitor Center. We took a short hike (maybe 1 mile or less) very close to the visitor center that goes along a river where the salmon were spawning. It was quite interesting to see them at the later stage either spawning or already dead. Parts of the river looked red with so many fish.

Also lots of Russian Orthodox churches to stop along the way between Kenai and Homer. I also enjoyed walking at the Soldotna Creek Park (it's along the river in Soldotna) and walking along the Homer Spit.

kejohnson166

My husband and I did a similar trip in 2007 pulling a small camper. We sold the camper but want to do another driving tour. Did you take this trip? Did you camp? I'm wondering if it is difficult to find hotels along the way between Whitehorse and Anchorage? We are planning to rent a place on the Kenai peninsula once we arrive there. Any insights you can share?
Thanks!