Still working on our driving itinerary for next summer in Alaska. After driving down from Denali to Anchorage and then a week on the Kenaii peninsula, should we backtrack to Anchorage and up the Glenallen highway to Tok before going down to Haines/Skagway? Or would it be worth it to take the ferry across from Whittier to Valdez, just spend the night there and then drive up to Tok, etc? They say the Glenallen highway is beautiful and we won't have driven it before, but would it be more interesting and scenic to go across Prince William sound, even though we will have done the full boat trip out of Seward?

Patrick,I think it's worth the trip. Whittier is an interesting bit of Alaska history on its own, too.

Thanks, John, but do I understand it right? Don't you take the car train from Portage to Whittier arriving just in time to get the car on the ferry? If so, must you spend a night in Whittier to get any appreciation of it?

No, there's now a car tunnel to Whittier, opened recently. Whittier is interesting for a couple of hours, maybe half a day, not more. Put the car in line for the boat, walk around, mission accomplished. I think the Marine Highway's web site has a link to a description of the Whittier tunnel/train/history picture.

Hi, Patrick, we went to Alaska this summer and went to Whittier, we only stayed there 15 minutes, there is nothing to see there. If you are spending a week on the Kenai Peninsual for a week you will be spending some time in Homer and the spit there reminds me a lot of Whittier.
We drove from Soldotna to Palmer, spent the night went to Glenallen and Valdez
and spent the night in Glenallen, then thru Tok to Destruction Bay,from Tok there is not much to see as the trees are close to the road and you can only see where there are scenic overlooks, but the closer you get to Destruction bay it opens up and is beautiful. After Destruction bay we went thru Haines Junction to Haines and spent the night there and got on the ferry to Skagway the next morning.
Of coarse if you are rushed for time the ferry would be faster, but you will miss a lot of beautiful country.
You can email for more information if you want. I did all of our reservations over the internet with no problems at all.

Wanda, maybe we aren't on the same wave-length. I was only talking about taking the ferry from Whittier to Valdez then driving up to Tok, and doing exactly what you did. The only part of driving we would miss would be from Anchorage (Palmer) to Glennallen. And we would not have to drive from Glennallen to Valdez and then back up to Glennallen again the same way.

Wanda, me again. I reread your message and am confused. You spent the night in Palmer? Then drove from there through Glennallen to Valdez in one day? Did you then spend the night in Valdez before driving back to Glennallen and spending another night there? Also where did you stop the next night or did you drive all the way from Glennallen to Haines in one day?? If you stopped for the night between there where did you stay? Hotel name? Also would appreciate a recommendation for a place to stay in Haines overnight before catching the ferry to Skagway.

Hi Patrick, we stayed 100 miles east of Palmer at Long Rifle Lodge, would not really recommend them, not the fanciest, but about 3 miles further on Glenhighway is Sheep Mt. Lodge which is really nice. We drove to Glennallen, checked into our hotel there and went on the Valdez, took a tour there in the museum of the 1964 earthquake, a must see, and stopped frequently to take pictures, beautiful canyons, waterfalls, glaciers. We stopped at "the knife man" on the way back to Glennallen, he is interesting to talk to, and had no problem making this in one day,but we were in a car with which you can make better time than pulling a camper or driving a motorhome. As you go into Yukon towards Destruction Bay you will gain an hour, even with road construction we had no
problems making this in one day. We stayed at the Talbot Arms there and in Haines we stayed at the Fort Seward Lodge.
I had all these reservations made by the lst of March, even the Fjords tour in Seward and the ferry from Haines to Skagway.
Be sure and get a copy of the Milepost, you will not put in down on this trip.
Contact me again for some information if you want.

Wanda, thanks for the response. Maybe I'm brain dead this morning, but I'm still not totally following your itinerary. You spent the night in Glenallen --drove to Valdez the next day and returned to Glenallen in the same day for another night in Glenallen? Or did you spent the night you came from Valdez at Destruction Bay. Or did you also spend a night in Valdez? Sorry, I'm still having trouble getting the timing right.

Patrick, we left 100 miles east of Palmer went through Glenallen to Valdez and back to Glenallen, all in one day, no problem, spent the night in Glenallen and went to Destruction Bay the next day, again no problem with this many miles in one day.

Wow, that sort of sounded like what you were saying, but it just seemed like so much going all the way to Valdez and back in one day --guess the road will be much quicker than I thought. Thanks again.