11-Day Alaska Road Trip Itinerary Sanity Check
My wife and I are doing an 11-day road trip in Alaska in late June. I'd like to get an opinion on our proposed itinerary. Here are a few things to consider when giving commentary:
- My wife has a goal of going to all 63 national parks. She's currently over half way there. Part of our motivation on this trip is to knock off 3 more national parks in one trip (Kenai, Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias), so there is a bit more driving than we'd otherwise do.
- We like going on road trips. We take turns driving, drive slowly, and stop a lot to take pictures, look at scenery, and possibly do a brief hike.
- I grew up driving over mountain passes in CO and am very used to driving mountainous 2-lane roads. I realize there are no multi-lane highways in Alaska.
- The two flightseeing flights will be subject to weather. If it's very cloudy or rainy, we'll skip those and substitute in something else.
Here is the itinerary. Our plan is to rent a vehicle we can take on the Denali Highway:
Day 1 – Fly into Anchorage & pickup car (stay in Anchorage)
Day 2 – Drive to Seward, sightseeing, and do a hike / activity round Seward (stay in Seward)
Day 3 – Full day Kenai boat tour (stay in Seward)
Day 4 – Drive to Talkeetna, sightseeing, walk around town (stay in Talkeetna)
Day 5 – Flightseeing over Denali from Talkeetna & drive to Denali (stay in Denali)
Day 6 – Bus tour in Denali + hike if feeling up to it (stay in Denali)
Day 7 – Drive Denali Highway, sightseeing, hike (stay at lodge on Denali Highway)
Day 8 – Hike, canoe, etc around Denali Highway (stay at same lodge on Denali Highway)
Day 9 – Drive to Copper Center, sightseeing, walk around town (stay in Copper Center)
Day 10 – Flightseeing over Wrangell-St. Elias park from Gulkana airport. Sightseeing drive to Thompson pass and back. Is it worth doing the drive to Thompson pass and back? (stay at same place in Copper Center)
Day 11 – Drive to Anchorage and fly home. Flight is 2pm. Plan would be to leave Copper Center 7:30am - 8am. Can leave earlier if people recommend that.
Thanks in advance, and feel free to make any suggested changes!