Heading to Alaska...looking for things to see and do

[cbmontgo]

One of my buddies and I are taking our teenage sons to Alaska this summer and looking for intel on things to see and do while we are there. Anyone of the forum knowledgeable of the state? Would definitely like to chat this week if so.

 

[Corbet]

We are headed there in 2025 so just subscribing to see what the feedback is.

 

[Crash]

Carson, you might check with Mike Koons as he has experience up there. @baileyfj40

 

[HoneyBadger]

Join on with a commercial fishing vessel crew and forsake the lower latitudes. Sail around through the coves and bays and inlets that no one ever gets to see and catch tens of thousands of pounds of salmon. Learn how to run a large diesel vessel. Hike around through extremely remote areas and ward off bears. Eat fresh salmon for dinner right out of the ocean. Fall in love with it all and dream about going back for the rest of your life...
At least, that's what I did.
There might be some other touristy things, but I don't really know what.

What area are you guys planning on going to? Alaska is basically the size of the entire western lower 48.
There are really about five main places most people go, Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Ketchikan, and Juneau.

So lets say you're going to go to Seward. Book a day trip on the tour boats to go see the glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park.
And most of these places will have fishing tour boats as well where you go out and catch fresh Halibut. Most of the outfitters will pack your fish in dry ice and ship it home for you.
There's always Denali National Park. But that's pretty far north.
There are plenty of cool places on the Kenai Peninsula to check out.
If you go to Homer, again, fishing trips are the main attraction. There are some cool old bars and restaurants down by the marina on The Spit.

 

[DouglasVB]

Are you going to ride the narrow gauge railroad out of Skagway?

 

[powderpig]

Well now? How long is your trip? you flying up or driving up? how much money you have to spend(takes money to for most of these trips)?
As mentioned, it is pretty large, but only about 1/3 the size of the contiential US. More coast line than the States(or lower 48), land of a few million lakes. Might want to give a bit more info to help you chose? Between living there, working as a Mechanic and teaching Mountaineering
there. I have seen a bunch of that state. Still my favorite place to live.

One place I have not been to that I would love to Go, Katami National monument. I would also love to go to do the viewing of Brown bears in Katami some day. Not to say I have not been close to Big browns in my life exploring AK. Most recent was fishing on the Kenai River 3 years ago
when one floated by as I was on a Island. It was bobbing up and down trying to catch fish. That is until it saw me, and heading on the bank shore past me to get back in the water. Fun to watch.

Other dream trip, is to river boat around on the Yukon in AK side, fish and explore. First time on that river was when I was 14, in a canoe. All in Canada for 2 weeks from Whitehorse to Dawson.
Places to rent Kayaks to paddle around different area, lots of places to hike to get away. Lots of flight seeing companies to charter plane flights over the mountains.
Back country tours are available. Pretty much what ever you can dream of, there are people to make it happen. One of the most remote places to fish for Big fish, Wood river lake system near Dillingham AK. Look on the map, huge salmon. King salmon fishing on the Kenai has shut down
for the Foreseable future. I remember fishing this as a young man in my 20's my biggest King was 72Lbs. Nice eating that King salmon was.

Post up some more info on what you planning, so we can help. Take more than one life time to see it all in that Vast state.

 

[On the RX]

Whatever you do, grab a functioning ulu! Never been but my gramps brought one back and gave it to me. I love using that knife!

 

[cbmontgo]

Thanks so much, guys.

We will have about a week to spend, so it's a fast trip. We will be flying up, and probably into Anchorage, but that's flexible.

Ideally, we would rent a cabin or cool hotel in a couple of different locations and HQ from there each day. Will rent a 4x4 Suburban or similar.

My buddy's son is about to graduate from high school, and we have taken our kids on camping and 4x4 trips since they were born, basically. The thought process is to take one last fun trip before he's too "cool" to hang out with dad and his friends. My son is 16, so he's got a couple of years left at the house, but they are all growing up and we want to maximize this time with them.

On our previous trips, we always like to sample great local fare/breweries, see interesting smaller towns, explore back roads, etc. I think it would be cool to take a rive boat on a day trip as Robbie suggested and see a grizzly or two.

I know it's a huge state, so this will be an exploratory trip and that is fine. I'm thinking we'd probably need to stay in about a 500-mile radius so that we aren't hammering hundreds of miles every day.

Seems like getting to the far reaches of the state is gonna be tough on this one due to the distance from any decent-sized airport.

Since Denali is close to Anchorage, is it worth spending time there?

 

[DouglasVB]

Oh if you're going into Anchorage and you'll have a vehicle, you can do the drive down to Seward. It's super beautiful (okay basically everything in Alaska is). There are a bunch of hikes and such you can do along that route including one up to a glacier near Seward. The next time I'm that way for work, I want to go to Whittier because of the tunnel. You can also drive down the other side of the Kenai Peninsula to Homer. I've never been there but it looks pretty from the Alaska home hunting TV show I've watched on Discovery + 😅

In the other direction, I drove out to Glacier View on Highway 1 and that was very pretty. That's another place you can get up on a glacier if I'm remembering correctly.

I want to go to the Independence Mine State Historical Site next time I'm up there. It looks cool. I also want to ride the Alaskan State Railroad heading north out of Anchorage.

I had way too much fun watching the float planes come and go at the float plane basin and there's an excellent plane spotting area inside the main airport terminal where you can see all the cargo planes and other odd birds come and go. I missed the airplane museum just outside the airport so I'll catch that next time I go, too.

 

[Corbet]

The road to Wonder Lake in Denali National Park is closed half way due to a rock slide and does not expect to reopen until 2026. As a result we don’t plan to spend much if any time there on our trip next summer. We looked into flying to a lodge there and enjoy the fact no ground vehicles could access the area. But it was like $1400 per night per person. Too rich for our blood.

 

[powderpig]

Such a short trip. Rent a small RV (if one can be had). This will allow you to travel just about any where, stay in out of the weather,
see as much as you can in different places. Stop when you are tired, sleep along a river or just about any where you can park it. Take your own food. (1 week is way too short, did I state that). But if you rent a RV, you can try and avoid the weather.
If it is raining on the Kenai Penisula then head north. If it is raining in the interior(Fairbanks, Denali) and it is nice toward Tok or Copper river area, then you have options for such a short trip. To me, it give flexibility. If you figure the cost of these RV against the cost of hotel room, (300+ night), and car rental, 1400-2000 for a week. It might just be a wash and give you flexibility.
As for Denali, the road is only open to driving by people in late fall and early spring type of thing. IN the thick of the toursit season, only buses are allowed on the road.
If going north and you are near Talkettna, take a flight see tour of Denali. or for more adventure, take a flight that lands on one of the Glaciers near the park. Flying over those mountains are a gas, and an adventure. one soon not forgotten.

Take a small plane filght out of Anchorage, one of the ones that take off and return on the lake Hood, if you have never taken a flight wiht a plane on floats, that is a trip in is self. Lake Hood is the busiest lake for small plane in the world.

Did I say 1 week is too short

Just a thought. What time of year

 

[DanS]

I’d take Robbie’s advice. I used to live in Anchorage, and have flown all over the state. North Slope, Y-K delta, the Aleutians, Southeast, and the interior.

I also spend 4-6 days a month in Anchorage for work these days. About the only place you don’t want to spend time in is Wasilla. Used to be that the joke was that Anchorage was only 20 minutes from Alaska, but today Anchorage is way less “Littleton-ey” than Wasilla.

Denali is cool. Definitely go there, Take an out and back flight out of Lake Hood (Anchorage) or out of Talkeetna to see Denali from the air. Homer is awesome. Seward is too. Whittier is odd, and worth the trip but don’t stay there.

If you’ve got a camper especially get up to Fairbanks and out to a roadhouse (I like Chatanika).

it’s probably not long enough of a trip to get to Kobuk or Gates of the Arctic, but those are probably the coolest national parks in the system.

As Douglas said, you can take the ARR north of Anchorage, to Fairbanks (it also stops in Talkeetna) and that would be a cool ride. I haven’t done it (shamefully), but the Moose Gooser is pretty pricey.

Time of year definitely matters. There’s some dry land mushing going on in the summer, and I’d plan a stop at the Iditarod headquarters. You’d probably need Barb Redington.

Dan

 

[DanS]

Are you going to ride the narrow gauge railroad out of Skagway?

WP&Y just yesterday released their steam schedule for 2024. I really need to go ride behind 73 this year I think.

Dan

 

[WestwardCruiser]

Like @DanS said, Denali is amazing and worth the day trip. I'm a video producer and I've been lucky enough to span the state of Alaska a few times for work and my favorite places for simple trips are Kenai, Seward and Denali. If you're looking to spend some time in a boat, the Kenai is a great experience if you have a guide. (Photos attached of a half-day trip on a friend's boat on the Kenai)

Another amazing place to visit and stay is Hatcher Pass - there are dry cabins (red cabins in photos) here if you can get reservations - it's a phenomenal spot for a night. If you're into hiking, you can reach the surrounding peaks in Hatcher Pass in a few hours with some incredible views. (Drone footage of Hatcher Pass)

If you want a fun spot for great food and views, Seward is amazing. Great breweries and some neat spots to stay (Orca Island Cabins) in the area. Also, quite a few whale sightings here; I've seen 10 or more in my trips there. (Footage I captured of a Humpback in Seward)

Last, if you make your way into Juneau, I have a relative who runs deep sea charters and would happily assist with a trip or I can get you connected with a few other guides in Juneau, if needed.

Either way - Alaska is a blast. It's a place that most Americans will never see - and I feel very fortunate to have spent a lot of time there, enjoy it and share some photos when you return!

Tyler

 

[Trapper50cal]

Halibut fishing out of Homer...
Coho & King Salmon fishing on the Kenai...
Trout and Steelhead fishing on Lake Skilak...
Surf the tidal bore in the Cook inlet...
Flightseeing tour by airplane from Soldatna across the
Cook Inlet to go see Brown bears, including beach landing
and takeoff with tundra tires.