A moose and her calf casually stroll by as I am grilling outside our cabin, we spot a brown bear ambling along by the side of the road quite unfazed by the few cars that went by and we drive for an hour without any cars passing by either side of the road, these are some of the snapshots of our road trip on the Alaska Loop which we did in the summer of ’24.
The ‘Alaska Loop’ takes one through Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks, Tok and back, one can either start and end in Anchorage or Fairbanks which is where the major airports are. After some debate we decided to start our trip Anchorage, with Denali as the next stop and then on to Fairbanks before looping our way back to Anchorage via the town of Copper Center. Anchorage is a rather expensive city, with mid range hotels starting at around $400, this is perhaps due the fact that a lot of cruise ships stop here. There are a few interesting places to see and a good food scene, however one day is more than enough to check out the town and I would recommend starting the trip in Fairbanks which is less costly and there are many touristy things to do in and around town. The drive from Anchorage to Denali is very pleasant and scenic, it takes around 4 to 5 hours to get to one of the towns one can make a base to explore Denali National Park (DNP). Coming from the south there are two view points for the majestic Mt. Denali. We had rented a cabin at the Tri-Valley cabins in the town of Healy a few miles north of the entrance to the DNP. Another option is to stay in Cantwell about 30 min south of the main entrance and there are plenty of accommodations in both these towns.
To explore Denali National Park one has to use one of the official bus lines as private cars are restricted to the first 16 of the 90 odd miles of the ‘Denali Park Road‘. There are guided and unguided tours available, it is best to make reservations in advance although tickets can be bought on site subject to availability. We chose the ‘unguided’ green tour bus as this allows one to get on and off at designated points and explore. The Denali road has been closed past mile 43 since 2021 due to landslides and it seems that it will not open at least till 2026. We decided to stay on board the bus till mile 43, the east fork river, where we got off for a longish hike along the river bank. On the way there were few wildlife sightings, and the foliage seemed a little dry, and altogether it wasn’t an exciting trip, however on the way back our luck changed, we saw several moose, Dall sheep and a brown bear, all in their natural habitat. In retrospect Denali did not really live up to its marketing, I think Yellowstone NP is a much better value for the effort spent in getting there. Although there were some spectacular views and the wildlife sightings were not too bad either, underwhelming was the one word I could think of regarding our experience so far. This would change over the course of the next two days as we drove to Fairbanks and then to Wrangell National Park on the way back.
After spending 3 days near Denali we headed out towards Fairbanks. We made a pit stop in Nenana, a town famous for being the end point of the Alaska railroad (there is a railroad museum in town). Its a typical Alaskan small town, with a few shops and a restaurant. We made it to Fairbanks around noon and checked into the River’s Edge Resort. There is an ice museum in town, where you can see artists carve ice sculptures and see their work displayed. It takes about an hour or ninety minutes to explore the place, it is pretty cold and proper clothing is essential, the museum does provide some jackets if needed. Another interesting place to visit is the Pioneer park, with its early settler prospector themed shops. A short drive from the city lies the Santa Claus house, a must visit for all your Christmas related shopping needs and of course to meet Mr. Claus in person (who is as expected very sociable and loquacious) and his reindeers. During Christmas season one can see Santa’s elves hard at work in their workshop located on site. Although we did not have time to visit, another nearby activity are the Chena hot springs. Hopefully we will be able to make it there the next time around.
From Fairbanks we took the Richardson Highway on the loop back towards Anchorage. This is the oldest highway in Alaska, connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. Alaska is a beautiful state but the scenery on this route was just breathtaking. From glaciers and rapids to majestic mountains, if you love the outdoors you must travel this route. From views of the White Mountains, Granite Mountains and the Alaska Range, to the Castner Glacier and the many rivers (which are also prime Salman fishing spots) on the way, the longish drive from Fairbanks to Copper Center was not tiring at all. Midway we stopped at Meir’s Lake Roadhouse for some freshly baked sourdough Cinnamon rolls and coffee (both were wonderful). We made it to Copper Center late afternoon and checked in Klutina Kate’s B&B, this is a kitschy unique place to stay with a great breakfast in the morning. There are few restaurants in the area, we had a nice meal at Nummy’s a local favorite. The next day we headed back to Anchorage for our flight back to Seattle. This last leg of our journey was also very scenic, on way we stopped for lunch at the Sheep Mountain Lodge and got into Anchorage in the afternoon. It had been a wonderful week of exploring Alaska, I think the state lived up to its moniker: it truly is the last frontier. I am sure we will be back for more exploration soon!
The Open Roads 