Great Alaska Self Drive Tour

with its beautiful setting between Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mountains, Anchorage is home to more than forty percent of Alaska’s population, a sprawling city on the edge of one of the world’s great wildernesses.

It is a picturesque town surrounded by rugged mountains and overlooking Resurrection Bay, rich in salmon. Born at the beginning of the last century as a ice-free port at the southern end of the Alaska Railroad, it has become famous as a starting point for gold seekers heading to Nome.

Deep in the heart of Prince William Sound and surrounded by some of the world’s tallest coastal mountains is Valdez, a city of 5,000 residents in a remarkably picturesque setting, a 305-mile road trip east of Anchorage and 364-mile drive south of Fairbanks. The heart of Valdez is its small boat harbor clustered along its waterfront. From there, the town stretches about a dozen walkable blocks back toward the mountains and Mineral Creek Canyon while nearby Egan Drive, Valdez’s equivalent to Main Street, turns into the Richardson Highway and heads north for Thompson Pass. Scattered through the downtown area is a wide range of restaurants, accommodations, museums. Visible across the inlet from town is the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline Terminal with its massive storage tanks each holding nine million barrels of oil. Valdez’s location in Prince William Sound makes it an outdoor paradise. It lies less than 25 miles east of Columbia Glacier, a popular day-cruise destination, and all around are glaciers galore, stunning mountain scenery, an abundance of marine wildlife and opportunities for outdoor adventure, from catching giant halibut and salmon to kayaking among icebergs and seals. Within a few blocks of the downtown area Mineral Creek Trail heads to mining ruins in the mountains and Shoup Bay Trail skirts Port Valdez to views of glaciers. Kayaks can be rented in town and drop-off services can be arranged for overnight paddles in calm inlets and fjords nearby. Anglers arrange charter fishing trips in the Small Boat Harbor while others book tour boat cruises to see Meares Glacier and Columbia Glacier, the second-largest tidewater glacier in North America with a face as high as a football field. Thanks to those steep coastal mountains, daredevil enthusiasts can go whitewater rafting on the Lowe River through the impressive Keystone Canyon in the summer and heli-skiing and ice climbing in the winter. Valdez’s darkest moment was the Good Friday Earthquake in 1964. The tsunami that followed the earthquake destroyed the entire historic town site of Valdez. The community was rebuilt on more stable bedrock four miles to the west and flourished during the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Terminal in the 1970s.

Early in the morning departure for Fairbanks following the Richardson Highway, passing through Keystone Canyon and Thompson Pass again. In Delta Junction, there will be a stop to visit Rika's Roadhouse, a historic inn that provided shelter and refreshment to gold prospectors and adventurers. Fairbanks is located in the geographic heart of the state. It is the second largest city in Alaska and is situated on a plain near the Yukon River, close to the foothills that border the White Mountains glaciers. It was founded in 1902 after the discovery of a large gold deposit by Felice Pedroni, an Italian immigrant. During World War II, it became an important military base and later served as a base for the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

We recommend taking advantage of your free time to enjoy a walk within the park or visit the Visitor Center, where you can learn more about the wildlife of Denali National Park, and take in the beauty of the surrounding landscape.

The drive from Denali National Park to Anchorage follows the scenic Parks Highway (Alaska Route 3) south for about 240–250 miles (380–400 km) and typically takes around 4 to 5 hours without long stops. The road is fully paved and well-maintained, winding through classic Alaskan landscapes of dense forests, wide river valleys, and towering mountain ranges. Along the way you pass small towns such as Cantwell, Talkeetna, Willow, and Wasilla, and you’ll have frequent opportunities for scenic views of the Alaska Range and possibly wildlife along the roadside. The route is straightforward and one of the most beautiful highway drives in Alaska, making the journey itself an enjoyable part of the overall experience. If you want a more scenic detour or photo stops, there are viewpoints and small nature areas along the highway, making the return trip both relaxing and visually rewarding.