Alaska by Road: Valdez, McCarthy, Wrangell-St Elias and Denali

1. Day 1: Arrive in Anchorage

   Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to your hotel in central Anchorage

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Anchorage
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), about 10 km from downtown, and a driver meets you for the short ride to your central hotel. Plan to land by about 4 pm to meet the group; the exact time is confirmed with your final itinerary. Anchorage sits between two arms of Cook Inlet with the Chugach Mountains straight behind it, and in summer the evenings stay light until very late. If you arrive early, the Anchorage Museum downtown covers the state's art, history and Alaska Native cultures, or you can walk a stretch of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail along the shore. In the evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the road ahead: which days are long, how the gravel roads work, what to pack in your day bag for McCarthy, and what to wear on the boat and the ice. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner in town.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Anchorage Museum

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Day 2: The Glenn Highway and the Matanuska Glacier

   Anchorage to Palmer, the Matanuska Glacier, then Glennallen

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Glennallen
   Day 2 details

   We leave Anchorage after breakfast and drive north-east on the Glenn Highway, past the farms of the Matanuska valley at Palmer, then up the river into a narrowing valley between the Chugach and Talkeetna mountains. After about two hours and 160 km we reach the access site at mile 102, where the Matanuska Glacier spills out of the Chugach to within walking distance of the road. Here a local glacier guide fits us with helmets and traction and leads a walk of about two hours onto the ice: blue pools, meltwater channels and ridges you can climb with care. Lunch is nearby, looking at the glacier. In the afternoon the road climbs over Tahneta Pass and out onto the high plateau of the Copper River basin, with the Wrangell volcanoes on the eastern skyline if the cloud is high: Mount Drum, Mount Wrangell and Mount Sanford. We reach Glennallen, at the crossroads of the Glenn and Richardson highways, in the late afternoon, and have dinner together.

   Included

   • Guided Matanuska Glacier walk, with the access fee, helmets and traction
   • Lunch near the glacier
   • Dinner together in Glennallen

   Easier option: Walk only the first part onto the ice, or stay at the viewpoint above the glacier with a hot drink.

   More active option: Go further up the ice with the glacier guide, on rougher ground.

   Activity: About 2 hours on the glacier, on uneven, sometimes muddy ice. Boots with good grip, please.

   

3. Day 3: Over Thompson Pass to Valdez

   Glennallen to Copper Center, then the Richardson Highway over Thompson Pass and through Keystone Canyon to Valdez

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Valdez
   Day 3 details

   A short morning drive south to the Wrangell-St Elias National Park visitor centre at Copper Center, where rangers and a film introduce the largest national park in the United States, which we enter properly on day 5. From the bluff behind the centre the Wrangell Mountains fill the eastern view on a clear day. Then we follow the Richardson Highway and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline south, climbing into the Chugach. At Worthington Glacier we stop to walk the short trail to the viewpoint over the ice, then cross Thompson Pass at about 816 m, one of the snowiest places in Alaska, and drop steeply into Keystone Canyon, where Bridal Veil and Horsetail falls pour off the canyon walls beside the road. Valdez sits at the head of a deep fjord ringed by mountains; we arrive in the early afternoon after about 185 km and under three hours of driving, with lunch on the way. The afternoon and evening are free on the harbour.

   Included

   • Wrangell-St Elias National Park visitor centre, Copper Center
   • Worthington Glacier viewpoint walk
   • Thompson Pass and Keystone Canyon waterfalls
   • Lunch on the way

   Optional experiences

   • Valdez Museum

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in Valdez

   

4. Day 4: Prince William Sound by boat

   Valdez, Valdez Arm and Prince William Sound to a tidewater glacier

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Valdez
   Day 4 details

   A slow breakfast, then a short walk to the harbour for a full-day cruise into Prince William Sound. The boat runs down Port Valdez and through the Valdez Narrows into the open sound, past forested islands and seabird cliffs, to the ice of a tidewater glacier: the Columbia Glacier, one of the fastest-retreating in Alaska, whose fjord is often full of icebergs, or the Meares Glacier on the longer route. Which one we see depends on the season's route and the ice, and we confirm it with your final itinerary. The captain stops for sea otters floating on their backs, Steller sea lions hauled out on the rocks, puffins, Dall's porpoises and, on good days, humpback whales or orcas. Lunch is on board. Back in Valdez in the late afternoon, there is time to walk the harbour before dinner together, where halibut and salmon landed in Valdez are usually on the menu.

   Included

   • Full-day Prince William Sound glacier and wildlife cruise from Valdez
   • Lunch on board
   • Dinner together in Valdez

   Optional experiences

   • Sea kayaking on Valdez Glacier Lake (instead of the cruise, at extra cost)

   Free time: Late afternoon free before dinner

   Activity: About 7 hours on the boat, with indoor seating and open decks. Bring a warm hat, gloves and seasickness tablets if you need them.

5. Day 5: The McCarthy Road into Wrangell-St Elias

   Valdez to the Edgerton Highway, Chitina, then the McCarthy Road to the Kennicott River footbridge and McCarthy

   • Drive about 5.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in McCarthy
   Day 5 details

   Today is the longest drive of the trip, about 285 km and five and a quarter hours at the wheel, because there is nowhere of our standard to stay between Valdez and McCarthy and the last 97 km are slow gravel. We break it into short pieces. We leave after breakfast, back over Thompson Pass and north on the Richardson Highway, then turn east on the Edgerton Highway to a picnic lunch at Liberty Falls. At Chitina, where the Chitina and Copper rivers meet, we look at the fish wheels and dip nets set for the summer salmon run. Then the McCarthy Road, built on the bed of the old copper railway, which we drive at van pace with stops: the Kuskulana Bridge, about 72 m above the river gorge, and the old Gilahina trestle. The road ends at a footbridge over the Kennicott River. We walk across with day bags and a shuttle takes us on to our lodge. Dinner together tonight.

   Included

   • Liberty Falls picnic lunch
   • Chitina and the Copper River fish wheels
   • Kuskulana Bridge and Gilahina trestle stops on the McCarthy Road
   • Shuttle from the Kennicott River footbridge
   • Dinner together

   Activity: A long day in the vehicle, with a stop about every hour. The McCarthy Road is gravel and can be bumpy and dusty.

6. Day 6: Kennecott mill and the Root Glacier

   Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark and the Root Glacier, with McCarthy in the evening

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in McCarthy
   Day 6 details

   The red wooden buildings of Kennecott cling to a moraine above the Kennicott Glacier. From 1911 to 1938 this was one of the richest copper mines in the world; the National Park Service now owns the mill town. In the morning a local guide takes us through the 14-storey concentration mill, which can only be entered on a guided tour, following the ore down the building from the tram terminal at the top to the leaching plant. Lunch is in Kennecott. In the afternoon you choose. The active option is a guided ice walk of three to four hours on the Root Glacier with crampons, among blue pools, moulins and meltwater streams. The easy option is the Root Glacier Trail to the edge of the ice with your guide, past the old mine buildings, and back at your own pace. The evening is free: the shuttle runs to McCarthy, a small town of a few dozen year-round residents, with a bar and a handful of places to eat.

   Included

   • Guided Kennecott mill tour, inside the concentration mill
   • Lunch in Kennecott
   • Guided Root Glacier ice walk with crampons, or the Root Glacier Trail with your guide
   • Kennecott to McCarthy shuttle

   Optional experiences

   • Flightseeing over Wrangell-St Elias National Park from the McCarthy airstrip, weather permitting

   Easier option: The Root Glacier Trail on foot to the edge of the ice, about 6.5 km return on a mostly flat, rocky path, with no crampons.

   More active option: A guided ice walk of 3 to 4 hours on the Root Glacier with crampons, led by a local glacier guide.

   Free time: Evening free in McCarthy or Kennecott

   Activity: The mill tour climbs many steep wooden stairs and uneven floors inside an unheated building; wear sturdy shoes and a warm layer.

   

7. Day 7: Up the Richardson Highway to Paxson

   McCarthy to Chitina on the McCarthy Road, then the Richardson Highway north through Copper Center and Glennallen to Paxson

   • Drive about 5.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Paxson
   Day 7 details

   Another long road day, about 315 km and five and a quarter hours of driving, which splits the way from McCarthy to Denali; without the Paxson night it would be one drive of more than ten hours. We cross the footbridge after breakfast and drive the McCarthy Road back to Chitina in the morning light, stopping wherever the clouds hid the view on the way in. From the Edgerton Highway we turn north up the Copper River valley, and lunch is a sit-down meal around Copper Center or Glennallen, about the halfway point. North of Glennallen the Richardson Highway follows the Gulkana River and the pipeline into emptier country, with the Alaska Range rising ahead. We reach Paxson, a roadhouse stop where the Denali Highway leaves the Richardson, in the late afternoon. Paxson has almost nothing else, so dinner is together at the lodge, and Summit Lake is a short drive north for an evening walk in the long light.

   Included

   • McCarthy Road viewpoints
   • Sit-down lunch in the Copper River valley
   • Trans-Alaska Pipeline viewpoint on the Richardson Highway
   • Dinner together in Paxson

   Free time: Evening free at Paxson

   Activity: A long day in the vehicle, with a stop about every hour. The first 97 km are gravel.

8. Day 8: The Denali Highway to Denali Park

   Paxson to Tangle Lakes, Maclaren Summit and Cantwell on the Denali Highway, then the Parks Highway to Denali Park

   • Drive about 5.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Denali Park
   Day 8 details

   The third long day, about 260 km and five and a half hours, mostly on the gravel Denali Highway, the only road across this stretch of the Alaska Range's southern flank. It is slow, so we leave after breakfast and stop often. The first stop is Tangle Lakes, a chain of lakes on open tundra, in an archaeological district where people have camped for thousands of years. Then the road climbs to Maclaren Summit, at about 1,245 m one of the highest road passes in Alaska, with glaciers on the peaks to the north. We eat a packed lunch at a viewpoint, crossing the wide Susitna River in the afternoon and watching for caribou, moose and swans in the kettle ponds. At Cantwell we join the paved Parks Highway for the last 45 km north to the hotel near the entrance to Denali National Park, arriving in the late afternoon. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Tangle Lakes
   • Maclaren Summit viewpoint
   • Packed lunch on the Denali Highway

   Free time: Evening free near the park entrance

   Activity: A long, dusty gravel road day, with a stop about every hour.

   

9. Day 9: Deep into Denali National Park

   The Denali park road by bus, then the park entrance area

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Denali Park
   Day 9 details

   We are on one of the first park buses of the morning, when animals are moving and the light is low, so it is an early start; we confirm the time with your final itinerary. Private cars may only drive the first 15 miles of the 92-mile park road, so the park's own buses are the way in. Our Tundra Wilderness Tour has a naturalist driver who stops for whatever shows: grizzly bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep high on the slopes and, now and then, wolves. The road soon turns to gravel and crosses open tundra and braided rivers, with the Alaska Range along the southern skyline. How far the buses go is confirmed per season: in 2026 they turned at East Fork, about mile 43, a tour of 5 to 5.5 hours, and from 2027 they may run further, which makes a longer day. A packed lunch rides with us. Back in the afternoon, choose the park's sled dog kennels or a hike. Dinner together tonight.

   Included

   • Denali National Park entrance fee
   • Tundra Wilderness Tour on the park road with a naturalist driver
   • Packed lunch on the bus
   • Sled dog kennels demonstration with a park ranger
   • Dinner together

   Optional experiences

   • Rafting on the Nenana River

   Easier option: The sled dog kennels demonstration, then a short walk on the Horseshoe Lake trail or a quiet afternoon at the hotel.

   More active option: Hike the Mount Healy Overlook trail with your guide: about 4.3 km each way and about 500 m of climb to a view over the Nenana valley.

   Activity: 5 to 5.5 hours on the bus on a gravel road in 2026, possibly longer from 2027 if the buses run further; we confirm the length per season. Bring binoculars and a warm layer.

   

10. Day 10: Down the Parks Highway to Talkeetna

    Denali Park to Talkeetna on the Parks Highway, through Broad Pass and Denali State Park

    • Drive about 3 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Talkeetna
    Day 10 details

    A slow morning after the early park day, then about 245 km and three hours south on the paved Parks Highway. We pass Cantwell again and cross Broad Pass, the low gap in the Alaska Range where the country opens into tundra and small lakes, then follow the Chulitna River down into Denali State Park. If the mountain is out, we stop at the Denali Viewpoint South pull-out, which faces Denali and its glaciers across the valley. Talkeetna sits at the end of a 14-mile spur road where the Susitna, Chulitna and Talkeetna rivers meet. We arrive for lunch, then your guide walks you through the old centre of log cabins and false-front stores, down to the river and past the ranger station where Denali climbers register before their expeditions. If the weather is clear, the afternoon suits an optional flightseeing trip over the mountain. The evening is free.

    Included

    • Denali Viewpoint South, when the mountain is out
    • Lunch in Talkeetna
    • Talkeetna town walk with your guide

    Optional experiences

    • Flightseeing over Denali from Talkeetna, with or without a glacier landing (about USD 220 to 630 per person on recent operator pages), weather permitting

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free after the town walk

11. Day 11: Alaska Native cultures and home

    Talkeetna to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, then Anchorage airport

    • Drive about 3 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 11 details

    We leave Talkeetna after breakfast and drive about two and a half hours south through Wasilla to the Alaska Native Heritage Center on Anchorage's eastern edge. After ten days on roads through Ahtna Athabascan country in the Copper River basin and Dena'ina and other Athabascan homelands around Denali, this is the place to hear Alaska Native hosts tell their own stories. Inside there are dance, song and craft; outside, a path around a small lake leads past full-size village sites, each built by and for a different group of Alaska's Indigenous peoples. We spend about two hours here, with time for lunch at the café on your own account. Then it is a drive of about 15 minutes, making about two and three-quarter hours on the road today, to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, arriving at about 2 pm, or downtown if you are staying on. Book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm. Your guide sees you to the airport before saying goodbye.

    Included

    • Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage
    • Drop-off at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) or downtown Anchorage

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 4:30 pm.

Wildlife and weather: Summer days are usually about 10 to 20 °C, with rain possible any day, cold air on the water and on the ice, and frost possible on Maclaren Summit. June has the longest light and the most mosquitoes; salmon run in Valdez and the Copper River in July and August, and the tundra on the Denali Highway turns red and gold from late August. Otters, sea lions and seabirds are seen on most cruises; whales, bears, moose and caribou are likely but never certain, and Denali itself is often in cloud.

• Anchorage1 night
• Glennallen1 night
• Valdez2 nights
• McCarthy2 nights
• Paxson1 night
• Denali Park2 nights
• Talkeetna1 night