Day 1 Anchorage to Seward | 204 km/127 mi
This morning travel along the Seward Highway towards scenic Turnagain Arm. Turnagain Arm is a body of water featuring the world’s second highest tides at over 30 feet. Keep an eye out for Beluga whales chasing salmon in the bay or Dall sheep along the highway. In Seward we suggest a visit to Exit Glacier and the SeaLife Centre.
Day 2 Seward | Kenai Fjord National Park Cruise
Today enjoy a 6-hour cruise of Kenai Fjords National Park. The park boasts abundant wildlife, alpine and tidewater glaciers, and breathtaking scenery. As you cruise through Resurrection Bay, keep watch for Steller sea lions, seals, puffins, eagles and whales. Cruise past the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, home to a large variety of birds, on your way to either the Holgate or Aialik Glacier. You will stop in front of the glacier to hear it moving and possibly see ice fall into the ocean. Enjoy a deli style lunch onboard.
Day 3 Seward to Talkeetna | 386 km/240 mi
Begin your day with a short drive to Exit Glacier to take the easy walk to stand beside this spectacular Glacier. Next, visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center which provides care and rehabilitation for injured and orphaned wildlife. Here you can safely observe and photograph some of Alaska’s largest land animals including moose, bison, elk, deer, caribou, bears and muskox. Continue on through Anchorage on the Glenn Highway north to Wasilla and onto Talkeetna. Stops can include a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Centre in Anchorage and the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry in Wasilla. Talkeetna serves as a base camp for Denali climbers; the community of under 1000 residents is located at the confluence of the Talkeetna and Susitna Rivers. A turn-of-the-20th-century gold-mining centre, the town has retained much of its early Alaskan flavour. Log cabins, a roadhouse, and clapboard storefronts line the dirt streets, and colourful locals and bush pilots stroll the wooden sidewalks, while Denali looms overhead.
Day 4 Talkeetna to Denali National Park Entrance | 257 km/153 mi
Today, explore Denali’s south side or depart early for the drive to Denali National Park. You’ll have as much time as you like to experience the majesty of Denali National Park, take in the sights of the George Parks Highway or arrive at your hotel near the park entrance to take advantage of an optional excursion or a visit to the Denali Visitor Centre.
Day 5 Denali National Park Backcountry Tour | Coach | Flightseeing
This full-day narrated coach trip explores the entire 148 km/92 mi of Denali Park Road on your way to Denali Backcountry Lodge. With multiple stops for wildlife viewing and photography, your experienced driver-guide will help search for grizzly bears, moose, wolves, caribou and Dall sheep while sharing the biology and geology of the area. For the return trip, board a small Alaskan bush plane for a flightseeing tour back to the park entrance where if weather permits, you will fly close to Mount Denali (Lunch & snacks included today between Jun 4 - Sep 12) (Please note during May to Jun 4 this tour does not include the scenic return flight and will be replaced with a shorter 6-7 hour Tundra Wilderness Coach Tour while the road further into the park thaws and dries out)
Day 6 Denali National Park to Fairbanks | 198 km/123 mi | Sternwheeler Riverboat Cruise
Continue on the George Parks Highway north to Fairbanks. Accompanied by incredible forest and mountain landscapes, you drive through the communities of Healy, Nenana and Ester - an old mining camp. In the afternoon, climb aboard the Riverboat Discovery III for an unforgettable 3-hour cruise into the Alaskan Interior, traveling the Chena and Tanana Rivers on the only authentic sternwheeler riverboat operating in Alaska. This narrated tour provides background on the area’s natural history and the Athabascan Indian culture. You will see a floatplane take off, meet sled dogs, witness the “wedding of the rivers,” and gain insight into the ancient Athabascan Indian culture. Athabascan guides who have worked and lived in Alaska will take you on a personalized tour of the Chena Indian Village.
Day 7 Fairbanks to Chitina | 498 km/310 mi | Chitina to McCarthy | Flight
Settle in for a day of driving through some of Alaska’s most diverse and dynamic landscapes. You’ll drive the Richardson Highway along the Tanana River through Delta Junction, home to the Delta Bison Sanctuary. Once you’ve reached Copper Center you’ll turn east to the small town of Chinitna.
Flying from Chitina is the best way to get to McCarthy-Kennicott and the flightseeing that is included in the trip makes it a great value. On the way to McCarthy fly alongside 16,000’ Mt. Blackburn, over the Kennicott and Root Glaciers, past the Erie Mine and view the awe-inspiring Stairway Icefall. A flyby of Kennicott and McCarthy before landing will orient you to the area you are about to explore. Along the way your pilot will describe landforms, point out wildlife and fill you in on a bit of the human history of the area.
(Please note: Flying has the added benefit of saving 4-5 hours of driving on the single lane, gravel surfaced McCarthy road)
Day 8 McCarthy | Kennicott | Root Glacier Hike
Spend the morning exploring the dynamic features of nearby Root Glacier on a guided trail and ice hike. The afternoon is yours to visit the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark and the funky-rustic nearby enclave of McCarthy.
Day 9 McCarthy to Chitina | Flight | Chitina to Valdez | 194 km/120 mi
Today fly back to Chitina by bush plane while enjoying great views of the Wrangell Mountains. From Chitina continue south where you will begin to enter the Chugach Mountains that ring the coast of Alaska from Prince William Sound. At Thompson Pass you may wish to stop at one of the pullouts for the scenery and views of Worthington Glacier before you begin the descent into Valdez.
Day 10 Valdez | Prince William Sound Columbia Glacier Cruise with lunch
Discover the magic of Alaska on this 7-hour Columbia Glacier cruise from Valdez. A local captain and crew will guide you through the Trans Alaska Pipeline Terminal and Columbia Bay before arriving at Columbia Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in South Central Alaska. Look out for wildlife along the way; if you’re lucky you could spot porpoises, puffins, sea lions and sea otters among other creatures. (Lunch included)
Day 11 Valdez to Sheep Mountain Lodge | 309 km/192 mi
Today you will drive back north on the Richardson Highway with great views of the Wrangell Mountains as you return to Glennallen (weather permitting).Here you follow the Glenn Highway towards Palmer/Anchorage until you reach Sheep Mountain Lodge. The rest of the day is at leisure to enjoy the scenic mountain views or recreational activities in the area. There are over 20 km/12 mi of trails near the lodge perfect for exploring. Birds and wildflowers abound. Maps are provided in each cabin for self-guided hiking.
Day 12 Sheep Mountain Lodge to Anchorage | 172 km/107 mi
Drive the Glenn Highway south to Anchorage. Highlights on today’s trip include the Independence Mine in beautiful Hatcher Pass and the many communities in the Mat-Su Valley. This valley contains many farms with the remarkable growing season in Alaska and offers beautiful views of the Chugach Range. Upon arrival in Anchorage your incredible Alaska self drive adventure comes to an end
