Alaska Highlights
Alaska Highlights is one of the best U.S. road trips for epic drives. Start in Anchorage, Alaska’s biggest city before heading up to cute Talkeetna, a laid-back base for those climbing Mount Denali. Consider taking a flight over Denali where you’ll have the chance to land on a glacier. Then head to Denali National Park where the towns of Healy, McKinley Park, and Cantwell are good bases with plenty of amenities. Spend some days exploring the park, including hiking, river rafting, kayaking, and spotting wildlife. For many, this is the highlight of an Alaska trip. The Denali Highway is a particularly scenic drive but is only open in summer.
From here, head to the village of McCarthy and the mining ruins at Kennecott before going to Valdez where you can take a glacier boat tour. A fun detour is to go on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Cordova where you can explore Prince William Sound’s most pretty town and do some spectacular bird watching around the Copper River Delta. From there, take a ferry to Whittier and drive to Seward via the scenic Turnagain Pass. While in Seward, visit Resurrection Bay and take a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park to see the sea lions, sea otters, and whales.
Distance: 1698km
Duration: 8 days
Things to do:
- Hiking in Denali National Park
- Taking a boat trip or helicopter ride to explore a glacier
- Seeing whales and other wildlife at Kenai Fjords National Park
- Exploring the scenery and wildlife of the Prince William Sound
