Advice requested: Road trip IN Alaska (Sept 25-30th)

[BrianSD_42]

Hey T4R friends,

Please advise! What should we see, where should we go?

I'm going on a road trip IN Alaska at the end of September. It will be me and my newly certified old lady.

We are landing in Anchorage Sunday Sept 25th at 5pm and staying the night.

We are free to drive and travel anywhere Monday the 26th, early am through night of Thursday the 29th, then flying back to states Friday morning.

That gives us four solid days and three nights to be on road in Alaska (Mon-Thur). We are starting out at Anchorage and returning there. I will have a rental, minimum is a Front-WD small SUV (Rav4 or similar) for the week. If I am lucky National will bump me up to better SUV with actual 4WD.

Lodging: we will be staying at a combination of hotels, B&Bs and AirB&Bs. No camping. Nothing is booked yet.

What do we want too see and do:
* National parks
* Amazing nature!
* Ice caves
* Bears (but not too close lol)
* Icebergs (possible?)
* Northern nights
* Outdoors physical adventures like Kayaking

Plan: drive in a long sort-of-circle or similar. Don't spend any nights at Anchorage except the arrival and departure night.

Btw for anyone considering a similar trip:
* 5 days rental of a small SUV with National was $220 after taxes.
* RT plane tickets from San Diego on Delta were $370 each after taxes.

What do you think?


:bat:

 

[Khjphoto]

Sadly not nearly enough time! 3 days? Cash in tour tickets and find at least
Five or six days minimum to travel. Better yet, cancel and book an inside passage on the Alaskan Ferry and hit the stops - any of them.

If you can't cancel; Denali would be great; but that alone will take realistically
Two days minimum unless you take a bush flight. Drive down the Cook Inlet
to Girdwood, but don't go out if low tide for the Bore Tide!!!

3 Days? Stay home watch YouTube videos of Alaskan Travel!

 

[BrianSD_42]

Actually it will be 4 days on road in AK; 6 days in Alaska total.

Is that serious advice? "Cancel your trip"

I know this is a short trip. I plan on coming back later for a much longer period.

I realize that the first week of Sept would have been best because Denali Rd. is closed after the 12th.

We will probably do several scenic day drives, staying in Anchorage at a nice hotel and living it up.

These all looked pretty nice on the website.
http://www.alaska.org/destination/anchorage/scenic-drives

 

[Khjphoto]

Actually it will be 4 days on road in AK; 6 days in Alaska total.

Is that serious advice? "Cancel your trip"

Is it serious?

Yes it is. Kinda like being on a date that is willing to "go all the way"; but
you will settle for a peck on the cheek!

Drive down to Girdwood. Drive up to Eagle, do a day hike in the Chugach mountains, (but be aware it is recommended to carry a large caliber pistol best is a rifle - bears). I remember when living in Anchorage a doctor and a buddy were on a day hike just outside of town in the mountains and were attacked by a grizzly. Both survived; but the doctor was scalped! YES I AM SERIOUS. The bush in Alaska ain't a walk in the park in San Diego!

As to what to do, contact the chamber for ideas. Enjoy your visit. Alaska, you can spend a lifetime and never see it all!

Oh, and another thing; although you are going late in the season, mosquitos are big enough to trap - bear trap! Take some repellent.

 

[trap-alaska]

I've lived in Alaska most of my life and there is plenty to do, three days is better than none! You can drive to Denali, enter the park and drive to Savage river, spend the night at a local cabin, and drive back the next day. On the way back stop in Talkeetna for a burger. Good pizza in Eagle River at Pizzaman. For the next day drive to Seward or Whittier and maybe do a quick fishing charter. There are a couple good hikes around Anchorage if you are in to that (and you don't need a gun). Alyeska is a good place to stop and ride the ski lift up and walk down and Chairlift 5 is good food. Google is your friend...

 

[trap-alaska]

...and if you want great pizza and beer in Anchorage you have to hit Moose's Tooth. Burger Jim's in Anchorage has great burgers.

 

[Chris1515]

I would take a 4 hour boat ride out of Seward to see the whales/wildlife. I think a longer boat ride is just too much.

Drive thru the tunnel to Whittier. Whittier is nothing special IMO, but the tunnel arrangement is pretty unique.

Denali would be good, but that would eat up a lot of your time.
(edited)
Actually, Anchorage to Healy (near Denali) is just over 4 hours drive, so it's not a deal breaker. I'd make that trip.

 

[RunnerAK]

Be advised that most of the tourist related businesses and park visitor centers up here shut down for the winter shortly after Labor Day, so you'll want to check into housing/tour bookings ASAP.

With that said, if you want to do a grand multi-day sort-of-circle with loads of amazing scenery (and not drive the same roads twice), I'd do the Anchorage-Glennallen-Fairbanks-Anchorage loop. You'll see 2 national parks on this route, Wrangell-Saint Elias NP (from the Glennallen area), and Denali NP (on the Parks Highway between Anchorage & Fairbanks).

Alternatively, if you want to do several shorter trips from Anchorage, I'd suggest:

*Drive from Anchorage to Seward with stops at Girdwood (ride the tram up the mountain), the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (to see bears up close), and at Portage Lake (to see icebergs). Seward has tons of kayaking opportunities, and has a fun zipline course that is worth checking out.

*Drive up to Hatcher Pass for some amazing scenery/hiking areas and a historic mine. If road conditions are still good at that point, the drive over the pass to Willow is amazing too.

*Do an overnight trip to Valdez for some beautiful scenery (Wrangell St. Elias NP, Thompson Pass, Keystone Canyon waterfalls, etc.). Valdez also has sea kayaking opportunities. You could make this a sweet loop trip too by taking the ferry from Valdez to Whittier (see seals, sea lions, and possibly whales), then go through the tunnel and back to Anchorage.


That's probably enough for now, I've lived up here my whole life, so feel free to ask any questions.