We spent two nights in Valdez on 7/27 and 7/28 and stayed at the Best Western Valdez. It’s in the Toursaver book, and it was also the only hotel we stayed at during our Alaska trip that still had a few rooms available for that night on the day we were checking in. I’ll be posting a separate review on it, but we were very pleased with the hotel.
The drive from Fairbanks to Valdez is absolutely spectacular, and has just about every imaginable kind of scenery, from mile-wide river valleys, to lakes, to enormous mountains (I think Mt. Sanford, while at 16,000 feet not as tall as Denali, might be even more massive by volume), to waterfalls, to salmon runs, etc. The weather was partly cloudy for most of the day, allowing us to see the lower two-thirds of the mountains most of the time, but we did get occasional breaks where we were able to see the peaks in the Wrangell range.
The drive took us about 9 hours. Our major stops were for the Santa Claus house in North Pole (Santa is only there Tuesday – Saturday, and we stopped on a Monday, so no Santa), the Knotty Shop in Salcha where we picked up a couple of chain-saw-carved bears for the front porch, and for lunch at Poor Boy’s Restaurant in Delta Junction.
The restaurant has only one large U-shaped counter, with no tables or booths, and a number of customers rearranged themselves (without being asked) so our group of 6 could all sit together. That kind of spontaneous niceness is much appreciated. The food was very good too and reasonably priced.
The last few miles into Valdez are extremely picturesque – make sure to stop for pictures at the Bridal Falls, Horsetail Falls, and Worthington Glacier, all by the side of the road.
Our one major activity in Valdez was to take the Stan Stephens Columbia Glacier Cruise (using our Toursaver Coupon). This was one of the two truly sunny days we had on our two-week Alaska trip, and the weather made for a very pleasant cruise, even if we had not seen any wildlife or glaciers at all. Since we were entirely within the Sound, the waters never got very choppy, except through the Narrows (due to wind), and even then the waves were 2 or 3 feet tops.
The two main wildlife categories we saw on the cruise were Sea Lions – probably a couple hundred along one beach, and Sea Otters – probably 30 or so in various groupings. We also saw a fair number of sea birds, including puffins, but no whales. Comparing wildlife seen on the cruise versus our cruise from Seward, we saw a lot more Sea Lions and Otters from Valdez, but a few more birds from Seward, and three humpback whales from Seward versus none from Valdez.
Due to all the icebergs floating in front of the Columbia Glacier, we only got to within about 8 miles of the face of the glacier. The captain of the boat said that his morning cruise the day before did make it to the glacier, but his afternoon cruise did not, again due to icebergs. But seeing so much sea ice was very interesting in itself. Definitely dress warm – even on a bright sunny day I had on a medium weight winter coat, a ski cap, and gloves. Dressed like that I was very comfortable while in the sea ice, while at other times on the same cruise I was in shirtsleeves.
Lunch on the cruise was a plain bagel with cream cheese and a bowl of either clam chowder or minestrone soup. None of it was fantastic, but it was reasonably good. Coffee, tea and cups of water are free on the boat, other drinks are available for purchase (the hot cider is very good).
After returning to the dock, we spent nearly an hour following a pair of very playful otters. We had to move from dock to dock to keep up with them – it was maybe a 30 foot long swim for them between docks, but we had to walk all the way down one dock to come to land before crossing over to the next dock, but we kept following them until they finally fell asleep (in floating position). A lady on one of the boats told us that pair is nearly always around there, and that the City Dock is also a good place to find otters in the evening, but we never made it over there that night.
The morning after the cruise, Valdez was completely shrouded in thick fog. You couldn’t see more than a couple of hundred feet. We never did get a chance to do the sea kayaking, although we did see some kayakers out through the fog on the Duck Flats.
Two dinners and a lunch were at Mike’s Palace – yes we did enjoy it. We had excellent pizza, good fried halibut, good steak, good salads – nothing was bad, and the prices were reasonable (for Alaska).
Valdez doesn’t always make it onto people’s list of things to do in Alaska, especially if they only have one week before or after a cruise. My recommendation: make it a part of your itinerary if at all possible. The scenery on the way in and out is spectacular, it’s not super crowded, the prices aren’t bad (for Alaska), and there is plenty to do. So do it.
Trip Review %26ndash; Valdez %26ndash; July 2006
I am glad that you wrote up your trip report. I too visited Valdez about a month ago, and it was spectacular. If you don%26#39;t mind, I am going to piggy-back my trip on yours. We started out in Wasilla which is about 40 miles from Anchorage.
We took my father-in-law with us who was visiting from Florida. Our first stop on the Glenn Hwy was The Musk Ox Farm in Palmer. It was very interesting 45 minute tour of the farm and history of the re-introduction of the musk ox into Alaska. The kids really got a kick out of the little musk ox and how much they love dandelions. I highly recommend this short side trip.
Next, we stopped at the Mantanuska Glacier. There are two great view points of the glaicer from the Glenn Hwy. But, you can also get out and walk to the glacier itself for a fee. The access is across private property. Again, this would be a great stop with time to stretch out those legs.
In Glennallen, there are two places to stop, shop or re-supply. The first in at the intersection of the Glenn and Richardson Hwys (The Hub Tesoro. It is more than a gas and convenience store. I have seen some of the nicest Alaskan type gifts and souveniers. The second place is a few miles down the Richardson Hwy at the Tazlina River Trading Post and Tru Value. If you need any kind of supply, you can find it here.
Our next stop in Copper Center, was the Historic Copper Center Lodge. There is not much in Copper Center, but it was worth the quick stop. It was very hot so we also stopped at The Fisherman%26#39;s Widow? espresso for Smoothies. They have a nice porch to sit and relax on. We also took at look at the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. This would be a great place to stop and eat. The view of the Wrangell-St. Elias Mtns was beautiful. The food was good and inexpensive. You can also see the pipeline from their viewpoint.
If you are coming from the Glenn Hwy, this will be your first opportunity to see the pipeline, so I recommend stopping along the Richardson for some pictures. The drive from here to Valdez is breathtaking. I also suggest stopping at Worthington Glacier. We actually hiked out to the glacier. My father-in-law could manage this hike with his bad knees. I took the hike that goes above the visitors center, and was the only one out there. Fantastic!
I would recommend anyone stopping and hiking the alpine meadows at Thompson Pass. It is so beautiful, and by now the berries will be blooming. You will have a view nearly to Valdez.
Other than what the original poster mentioned, we went to both of the museums (both for one price - $5). They were definitely worth it and provided great information about the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the 1964 earthquake, the building of the Alaska Hwy, The construction of the pipeline and much more. This was a nice diversion for a lazy afternoon. You can%26#39;t tour the pipeline terminus, so we went to the Sugar Shack gift shop where they have a free movie of the pipeline. It%26#39;s a great gift shop too.
We also stopped at the Visitor%26#39;s Center and got some information about hiking in the area. There are a number of hikes ranging from novice to experience.
Finally, we went fishing at Allison Point. We caught our limit of Pinks in 20 minutes. It was fun to see all those fish, and if you are not fishing, I%26#39;d suggest going over there just to see the fish if they are ';in';. We are returning in September for the silver salmon and will hopefully have the same luck. There were many visitors over there taking in the activity just watching from their RVs and lawn chairs. I convinced one of the ladies that she needs to get out there are fish, so she went into town and got here license. I saw her out there the next day having a blast.
At this point, I would recommend taking the ferry over to Whittier rather than backtracking the highways to Anchorage (if you are coming from that direction). I think it would be a wonderful way to complete this trip and I heartily recommend visiting Valdez.
Trip Review %26ndash; Valdez %26ndash; July 2006
By all means, inluvwithAK, join right in.
One thing you can definitely take from reading both my post along with yours is that there are plenty of different things to do in Valdez (and almost anywhere in Alaska, for that matter).
Sounds like you had a really good time. On the cruise coming back in to port, we saw a few fishing vessels pulling in their nets, and watched the silvers flopping as they were hauled into the boats. Just one more new thing we experienced for the first time in Alaska. And while we were all watching the otters, my brother-in-law (the only avid fisherman in our group) was watching the guys cleaning their catch. Something for everybody!
We went kayaking out of Valdez with Anadyr Adventures. They have great equipment and guides. Kayaking the Columbia Glacier icefield is a quite an experience! We stayed in a very comfortable lodge in Ellamar. You should go back and do the kayaking!!
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