Alaska 4night/5day itinery help

We have a few days pre cruise in Alaska at the very beginning of June. We arrive on the morning 1st June %26amp; have untill the evening of 5th June when we have to be in Seward. Do we go to Denali or Kenai Peninsular area or both? We are happy to hire a car %26amp; travel long distance as long ss there is something to see at the end. Is very early June a good time to go to Denali? This will be the only time we go to Alaska so we need to see/do as much as is sensible. Suggested itineries (%26amp; why) please

Alaska 4night/5day itinery help

Hi mischief0, welcome to TA.

You can definitely do both Denali and Seward, albeit briefly. Your best chance to see wildlife will be in Denali, not to mention the closest views of McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. Yes, June will get you a shuttle to Eielson (8 hrs), with good chances to see wildlife. Nothing is guaranteed of course, but the more time you spend in the park, the more opportunity to see wildlife (and the closer you get to McKinley, great view at Eielson if The Mountain is “out”, though it’s often shrouded with clouds so don’t get your hopes too high. For many people, flightseeing is the only way they get to see it.)

This would be my suggestion:

June 1 – arrive Anch. Pick up rental car, then get supplies/snacks for Denali (not much available near the park, so be sure to stop either Anchorage, Eagle River, or Wasilla). Drive to Denali (5 hrs), stopping at Talkeetna for flightseeing if desired. Possible activities at Denali: visitor center displays %26amp; film, whitewater rafting, free Ranger sled dog demo at 10, 2 or 4, drive the 14 miles into the park that cars are allowed to see if you can spot any animals and maybe do a short hike from there, hike an entrance trail, dinner theatre. You’ll have oodles of daylight at that time of year. Overnight at nearby Healy or Carlo Creek (15 min. north and south of the park respectively) for much cheaper and a bigger selection of accommodations than you’ll find at the entrance area.

June 2 – shuttle to Eielson (8 hrs). Either at Eielson or on the way back, get off the shuttle to hike/take pictures/walk along the road, then catch another shuttle to resume your trip. Must bring your own food and beverages, rain gear, bug spray if hiking, and binoculars for everyone in your group since most wildlife is seen only at a distance. Late afternoon/evening: activities you didn’t have time for yesterday. Overnight Healy.

June 3 – drive back to Anchorage (5 hrs). Light sightseeing of that city, such as Native Heritage Center, zoo (will be your only chance to see a polar bear, likely wolves as well since wolves aren%26#39;t seen too often in Denali), Earthquake Park, hike/bike part of Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, watch the fishermen at Ship Creek, watch the floatplanes at Lake Hood, Air Museum, etc. Overnight Anchorage (or if you’re looking for cheaper accommodation, try Eagle River Motel a few minutes north of the city).

June 4 – very scenic drive to Seward (2.5 to 3 hrs), lots of stops to take pictures. Also stop at Potter Marsh, Beluga Pt., Windy Pt., Portage Glacier visitor center (maybe do the 1 hour roundtrip walk from that parking lot to actually walk on Byron Glacier and look for iceworms), Wildlife Conservation Center, etc.: http://alaska.org/driving/seward-drive.htm . Maybe 6 pm Ididaride sled dog tour %26amp; wheeled cart tride near Seward. Either before or after (depending when you get there), walk to the face of Exit Glacier (1 hr). Overnight Seward.

June 5 – Return rental car. SeaLife Center and at least a 6 hr. Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise (shorter ones don’t get out of the bay). Store luggage either at where you stayed, or at tour office. Board cruise ship for dinner.

Be sure to book accommodations, car rental and Denali shuttle as soon as your plans are firm. If you intend to keep the car throughout, be aware the only rental agency in Seward is Hertz, so that’s where you’d have to rent in Anchorage. Also, there will be a hefty drop off fee to leave the car in a city other than where you rented it, though that is offset by not having to pay train tickets plus the convenience of being able to stop whenever you want on the drive to Seward. Up to you if you’d rather take the train down and rely on taxis and your feet to get around Seward. You can easily manage there without a car, it is a very tiny place (population 3000). All depends on how important the various stops along the way are to you. To me, the added expense would be well worth it.

Alaska 4night/5day itinery help

Thanks for all the information. We are now trying to choose between 2 itineries that we think might be possible:

1 - arrive 9.00am 1st June, pick up rental car %26amp; drive to Denali.

2nd June - day at Denali hopefully to Eilson visitor Centre then drive to Trapper Creek/Talkeena area to stay the night

3rd June - finish journey to Anchorage, hopefully arriving early. Carry on to Girdwood/Alyska tram, then onto Portage %26amp; back to Anchorage for night (?would it be possible to include going as far as Coopers Landing in this trip?). If time cycle Tony Knowles Trail.

4th June - train to Seward %26amp; Kenai Penisular boat trip

5th June - Exit glacier (? could go as far as Coopers Landing as well?)

Itinery 2 is to replace the Denali trip with 2 nights at Homer/exploring the Kenai Peninsular returning to Anchorage on 3rd June. The last 2 days would be the same as above.

I would be interested to have advice on the above. I have also posted this itinery as a seperate posting to get some feedback

Welcome to TA.

Just a tip - I think you are best off to leave all your postings about the same trip in one thread - you end up getting more feedback since people see the history of your trip and how it develops.

Apparently it is really important for you to go to Portage area though for me I would not choose either itinerary. I would spend the afternoon of June 2nd at Denali and not drive back to Denali until June 3rd. If you go to Eielson on June 2, that means an early start and not back to the entrance until late afternoon even without getting off the bus. Then add 3 hours to get from Denali to Trapper Creek/Talkeetna and it is a very long day, not to mention dinner somewhere. I pretty much guarantee you that you won%26#39;t be up for going to Girdwood and Portage that day next day.

I would spend the night of 2 June at Denali, 3 June to Anchorage, maybe one activity in Anchorage or if you really want to go to Girdwood, do that for dinner, taking the tram up.

Then the early morning train on 4 June to Seward, Kenai Fjords boat tour, 5 June Exit Glacier and Sealife Center, board boat.

I enjoyed Homer but I would go to Denali over Homer for sure.

I know you are trying to cram everything you can into your short time but - my opinion only - you are trying to cram in too much.

Note you will see on the train the same scenery as far as Portage that you would see when you drive so it seems to me the only issues are Girdwood and Portage Visitor Center - slow down and spend an extra night at Denali. You won%26#39;t regret it.

John

Thanks John - i suspected I was trying to cram in too much. Portage isn%26#39;t an essential, but I would like to do the Alyska tram if possible but want to have a realistic itinery. Interestingly i have just read some posts on Fodors %26amp; they all seem to say in a short time frame to forget Denali %26amp; tour the Kenai Peninsular instead.

Ah, as predicted by John, I%26#39;ve replied to your other post and it%26#39;s probably more useful in here.

Homer is nice and later in the year offers bear watching trips, but (correcting my post on the other thread) early June is going to be too early for the bears.

It depends on your interests. You can have a fully satisfying experience just on the Kenai Peninsula. Homer offers kayaking, boat rides over the bay to visit places like Seldovia, halibut fishing (not sure on the season dates though) and interesting arty/crafty shops. And of course beautiful views.

Coopers Landing has horse trekking, canoeing, river rafting (white water), river floats (no white water), chances to see moose and more moose (the bears aren%26#39;t likely to be around much that early), river fishing. Nice hiking trails along rivers and up hills and so on.

Around Seward there%26#39;s Ididaride dog kennels (visit the sled dogs and ride around on a dog pulled cart), Exit Glacier, kayaking, the cruises of course, the sea life centre and again nice views and hiking.

You could take a train down to Seward, rent a car there and explore the Kenai, returning the car in Seward before you board your cruise. Or rent a car in Anchorage, do a loop including Girdwood and then return the car and train down to Seward for the cruise (if you really want to do Alyeska and a train ride).

Denali is a great option too, I just thought I%26#39;d put an alternative out there for you.

';Interestingly i have just read some posts on Fodors %26amp; they all seem to say in a short time frame to forget Denali %26amp; tour the Kenai Peninsular instead.';

Your best chance to see a variety of wildlife is Denali, as well as your best chance to see McKinley. Totally up to you if you%26#39;d prefer to go to Homer. There is no ';right'; answer, every person%26#39;s priorities will be different. It might help if you mention more what yours are. If this is the one time you can come to Alaska, you don%26#39;t want to leave with later regrets that something you really wanted to do, didn%26#39;t get done.

Not sure why you twice mentioned going to Cooper Landing? Was there something special you wanted to do there?

As for Alyeska tram, you%26#39;d have time to do that on June 3 in late afternoon or evening (it runs until 9:30 pm). Girdwood is about 40 miles south of Anchorage. However, keep in mind that if the weather is not clear, you%26#39;d have little or no view from the top. No point in going up if you can%26#39;t see anything, unless you just want to experience a tram (you could maybe have supper at the top as John suggested, though it%26#39;s very expensive).

Also, here is another idea for you to ponder: you can do Denali in a single day from Anchorage by taking the Talkeetna Aero combo which includes flightseeing the park plus the Tundra Wilderness Tour (6 to 8 hrs depending on whether McKinley is ';out'; or not--if it is, the bus goes further into the park to a great viewpoint). Now, that%26#39;s not a shuttle so you can%26#39;t get off to hike, and it doesn%26#39;t go quite as far into the park as Eielson. As well, it%26#39;s expensive (though not so much if you already intended to flightsee Denali). But something for you to consider, anyway, and it would free up nearly 2 days to do other things.

John - I have certainly learnt a lesson about having two posts going on the same subject, won%26#39;t make that mistake again. Unfortunately I have just replied on the other post as I didn%26#39;t realise there had ben any posts here -another lesson learnt, tick the email notification box every time!

I think what I was looking for from my original question was why people would choose Denali or Kenai for widllife viewing at this time of year (very early June). If we go to Denali it would be for the wildlife,not to see Mt Mckinley (though it would be an added bonus). We would like to do a boat tour to get closer to the glaciers - our cruise only goes to Hubbard glacier %26amp; I gather that you don%26#39;t get that close to it. I have seen that the Kenai boat trip can be rough so would prefer not to do it on the same day we set off on our cruise.

Any opinions on whether the train trip or by road is the better/more scenic/more photo opportunities way to go between Seward %26amp; Anchorage?