My wife and I are heading to Anchorage for the Great Alaska Aviation Gathering and will be staying the week so we can hit Valdez the next weekend. In total, about ten days.

We want to grab a rental car and drive to Valdez via Fairbanks and take the week to see as much as we can.
We're looking for things to see that are off the beaten path. We did the tourist thing in Alaska a few years back which was fine for not knowing anything but this time, we're heading out on our own.

So, what's the best way to spend 5 days in Alaska with a rental car, hiking shoes and a day pack while avoiding the tourist traps along the way?

We like to do day hikes but wont be equipped for more than a few miles each way. (no camping)
We don't mind spending all day in the car taking in the view to get somewhere special. (we drove a Boxster from LA to DC for fun)

Any tips are greatly appreciated.

From Fairbanks drive out to Chena Hot Springs. About one hour. Bring your bathing suit! See you there.

Scott

If you haven't done so on a previous trip, or maybe even if you have, stop in Talkeetna enroute to FAI from ANC. Give a call to K-2 Aviation for a flight up to land on a glacier on Denali. Not cheap, but worth every penny. Weather can be iffy, but if the mountain's a no go, at least you'll have some time to mosey around Talkeetna, a "Small drinking town with a mountain climbing problem." The time period you're talking about is early in the climbing season, so should be lots of flying going on there.

Before leaving ANC, drive south to Seward. Go to the Sea Life Center, and maybe catch a scenic boat ride from there. Pretty drive and interesting boat trips there.

The drive from ANC to FAI on the Parks Highway (most direct route) isn't the most scenic till you get into the Alaska Range. A stop at Denali Park, maybe overnight there, and catch a park bus part way into the park. The entire bus ride is a looooong day in and out, but you can get off a bus and catch one going the other way any time. I think those buses require reservations in advance, so do some research at Denali Park web site.

Chena Hot Springs is nice, but fifty miles out of FAI.

In FAI, dine at the Thai House....best Thai food in the north......and maybe east of Bangkok.

Enroute back from Valdez to ANC, you'll go north till you intersect the Glenn Highway, which will take you over Tahneta Pass and back to ANC. That is a scenic drive.

In ANC, there's a nice small aviation museum right on Lake Hood.

Just some thoughts. I'll add some later.

MTV

An ideal lap would be to go up to FBX, then down to Valdez, then take a ferry across prince William sound over to Whiter, then up the Seward highway back to Anchorage. Trouble is that I don't see how that would work with your schedule depending on how soon after Valdez you are leaving.

Things that are worth seeing:

Like MTV said, flight seeing over Denali.
Like MTV said, Hood aviation museum
http://www.mahaysriverboat.com
Halibut fishing out of Seward (though I'm not sure on the season)
Hiking around Seward/Peninsula
Homer is kinda cool...

I'll be flying my 170 to Valdez as long as the weather isn't dangerous, feel free to ping me.
schu

If you like to hike, Chugach State Park is certainly worth a visit. My wife and I spent some time there last year while attending the show. Breath taking views!

Something to keep in mind is that at that time of year, you're not going to be going off the beaten path all that much--because you'll only go where the plows have gone. Winter is still hanging around the first week of May--historically, breakup on the Tanana River out of Fairbanks occurs anywhere between April 20th to May 20th.

Also keep in mind that there are huge distances involved. While it's only 225 air miles direct from Anchorage to Fairbanks, it's 360 miles (6 1/2 hours) by the most direct driving route. Talkeetna is 2 1/2 driving hours, 114 miles northeast from Anchorage. Seward is also 2 1/2 driving hours, 127 miles south from Anchorage.

All I'm saying is that in 10 days, there isn't time to see a whole lot of Alaska, even assuming that the weather fully cooperates. I'd suggest getting an Alaska trip planner and map out generally what you'd like to see and do, knowing that best laid plans get changed. https://www.travelalaska.com/Planners/Planner.aspx

Have fun! Alaska is beautiful--and I'd love to return.

Cary

Snow will likely not be an issue, even in normal years the snow is gone at lower elevations by then. If you exclude the 4” we got in the last 24 hours, Anchorage/MatSu/Kenai has practically no snow this year.

Don’t miss the drive into Denali on your way up. The road is closed because of the tourists [emoji6] at Mile 13 during the summer but by mid April the park has it plowed and let you drive to Mile 30 before they show up in droves at the end of May.




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Thanks! This is all great stuff.

We did the bus tour in Denali last time. I think everyone should do that at least once but once was enough

The driving is fine with us. Road trips seem to be our thing since the airplane came apart.

Can't wait to see everyone at the Gathering and Valdez!

One other idea is to rent an RV from Great Alaskan Holidays or similar and go where you want when you want. My wife an I did 10 days in an RV a few years back and loved it. It was late May and we drove til we got tired and over nighted at the scenic pull offs for all but the 3 nights we stayed in Denali. As far as cost, it was quite reasonable considering the RV is your car, hotel room, and kitchen so we didn't eat out all the time. As mentioned before, the flight from Talkeetna to the glacier was well worth it. Also spend an evening hanging out at Lake Hood checking out the planes and watching them come and go. Only thing I wish we would have done was rent a plane and instructor for a few hours and go sight see ourselves. Its on my list of places to return and we usually dont go the same place twice

McCarthy and the Kennecott Mine aren't much of a detour, but I don't know what the road past Chitina is like at that time of year. It might be nice to keep it in your back pocket as an option if weather and road conditions allow. if you do drive the McCarthy Road, or any other unpaved road in Alaska, make sure you have read the fine print on your rental car agreement.

It's too bad that the Denali road is closed to turistas now. When I drove it many years ago, it was to the end turn-around, about 80 miles if I recall, and we saw some pretty fabulous things on just that trip alone: a bull moose with at least 7' antlers, Polychrome Pass, and a Toklat grizzly immediately come to mind. That was also the week that the Mt. McKinley hotel burned down--fire started in the kitchen as we were waiting to be seated in the dining room, everyone was evacuated to the outside, and pretty soon it became obvious that we should get away from there.

We drove down the road some short distance to a place to camp. I was outside and saw the flames above the trees, so we decided that discretion being the better part of valor, we shouldn't stay anywhere that close. So we headed on back toward Anchorage. I can't recall whether we stayed overnight along the way or drove all the way back. I'm guessing that we pulled over somewhere, because the Anchorage-Fairbanks Highway hadn't been completed yet, so it was a bit circuitous to go between Anchorage and the Park, I think via Glenallen and Paxon if I recall.

Cary

Nobody I know refers to Alaskan Highways by number. They pretty much all have names as shown on this map. The best idea I've heard so far would involve renting a motorhome in Anchorage, taking a drive to Valdez to fish and eat, take the ferry to Wittier and take a boat tour to watch glaciers, otters, and eagles and then explore the Peninsula for a few days. That's just about all you're going to get done unless you don't sleep at all. The Old Denali Highway between Paxon and Cantwell takes two days minimum to traverse but if you're a photographer you could spend your ten days right there. It's a very tough road to get stuck on so make sure your vehicle is up to snuff. A rented sat phone would be kinda nice. In May the bears might be waking up, momma Moose and babies are out in abundance and momma WILL KILL YOU if you get too close so smarten up on them before you head up.

The loop from Anchorage to Valdez then up the Richardson to Fairbanks and back down the Parks has lots of side trips and tourist traps depending on what your goals are. Alas, Skinny Dick's Half Way Inn burned down (rumor: It's been rebuilt) but it was worth a few hours. In Glennallen there is a shop with the most amazing taxidermy display of a wolf pack in the process of killing a young bull moose I've ever seen. Glennallen also sports the highest concentration of skeeters on the globe...or so it seems. Depends on the time of year obviously. May is not a bad time to go actually though as a rule I always suggest the last two weeks of August and the first two weeks of September to get the full effect. The weather in Wittier is shitty every day of the year but it's a it's a great attraction because of it's geography. There is a really strange tunnel through a mountain that is shared by car traffic and a train; though not at the same time.

Have fun. Be spontaneous but safe. If you plan to overnight in Wittier make prior arrangements. There's no place to park much of anything.

Last year my wife and I went to Alaska to see the northern lights for her birthday in March. The trip to the bush pilot museum in Anchorage started me on the path to learning to fly. The museum at the Univercity of Alaska is pretty great and we also took a "flag" train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. It was a day trip in and out of Denali park with Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. It's called a flag train because it stops for homesteaders. Have a great trip.