Your road-trip guide to Alaska's natural wonders

By Stanton H. Patty
Special to The Seattle Times

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Other links Sign up for Travel e-mail NWsource: Travel

ANCHORAGE — Incongruous as it may seem, given its vast, rugged, unpopulated wilds, Alaska is a land of honored highways, yielding some of the most spectacular scenery in the United States to those who venture forth.

In fact, the state has three National Scenic Byways — described by the U.S. Transportation Department as exceptional.

They are the:

• Seward Highway — 127 miles from Anchorage to the port of Seward.

• The entire, 8,834-mile-long route of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system.

Haines Museums: Four museums have joined to offer visitors a $15 pass to all, a saving of about 15 percent from regular admission fees. The museums: the Hammer Museum, the Tsirku Canning Co., the Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center (featuring Haines-area history and Tlingit Indian culture) and the American Bald Eagle Foundation (featuring information about the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve). Children under age 12 are admitted free. Hammer Museum: Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays from May 1-Oct. 1. Admission, $2. Phone: 907-766-2374. E-mail: pahlfam@aptalaska.net. There is no Web site. Tsirku Canning Co.: Open for tours Mondays-Saturdays from mid-May to mid-October. Depending on the number of visitors, tours usually begin at 1:30 p.m. Admission, $10. Phone: 907-766-3474. Internet: www.cannerytour.com Sheldon Museum and Cultural Center: Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 2-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from mid-May to mid-September. Also open from 1-4 p.m. Mondays-Fridays during the rest of the year. Admission, $3. Phone: 907-766-2366. Internet: www.sheldonmuseum.org American Bald Eagle Foundation: Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from mid-May to mid-September, Also open 1-4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday the rest of the year. The museum includes a dramatic diorama of Alaskan wildlife specimens. Admission, $3. Phone: 907-766-3094. Internet: www.baldeagles.org Weeping Trout Sports Resort: Facilities include overnight accommodations for 12 guests, a nine-hole golf course and sport fishing. Package rates begin at $270 a person for two-days and one night, including lodging, boat transportation, four meals, golf and fishing. Depending on snow conditions, the lodge generally is open from mid-May to late September. Phone: 907-766-2827. Internet: www.kcd.com/weepingt Additional information: Haines Convention & Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 530, Haines, AK 99827. Phones: 800-458-3579 or 907-766-2234. E-mail: hcvb@haines.ak.us.

• 135 miles of the Glenn Highway that connects Anchorage with Alaska's heartland at Glennallen and Tok.

The Alaska Marine Highway is America's only water route to win the national award.

The state of Alaska ferries journey northward from terminals in Bellingham and Prince Rupert, B.C., to Prince William Sound and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. Along the way, the nine-ferry fleet serves more than 30 ports, mostly communities without surface-highway links to the rest of Alaska.

Alaska's remarkable roads (and one extra):

Seward Highway

Geography: The two mountain ranges that frame most of the highway are the Chugach (CHOO-gatch) and Kenai (KEY-nye). The fjord that parallels the highway is Turnagain Arm, a branch of the North Pacific's Cook Inlet. Capt. James Cook, the British explorer, was forced to "turn again" in 1778, when he sailed into Turnagain Arm. He hoped to find the Northwest Passage, but instead encountered the dead-end fjord. Seward (pop. 3,010), at the end of the highway, is a major port for Alaska's fleet of summertime cruise ships.

Highlights: Mile 9.2 from Anchorage — Potter Marsh, a nesting area for trumpeter swans, Arctic terns, Canada geese and other birds.

Mile 16.6 — Beluga Point, a turnout where visitors can watch beluga whales in Turnagain Arm.

Mile 37 — a junction with the three-mile-long Alyeska Highway that leads to the little town of Girdwood and the Alyeska Resort, where skiers and snowboarders schuss from high-elevation glaciers to sea-level bunny hills.

Mile 48.1 — turnoff to Portage Glacier and the port of Whittier. There's an excellent U.S. Forest Service visitor center on the way to Portage Glacier, but travelers must board a tour boat there to view the fast-retreating glacier. A toll road to the Prince William Sound port of Whittier branches from the Portage Glacier access road. The road to Whittier includes a 2.5-mile-long tunnel shared — at separate times — by vehicles and Alaska Railroad trains.

Mile 58.5 — Turnagain Pass, emerald green in summer, snowscapes in winter, a favorite recreation area for cross-country skiers and snowmobilers.

Mile 79.3 — Summit Lake, photogenic vistas, bright wildflowers and a year-round restaurant and lodge. Seward — fresh halibut and salmon on restaurant menus and the Alaska SeaLife Center. Driving conditions: The Seward Highway is open year-round, but there are occasional avalanche warnings in winter.

Planning ahead: There is only one fuel stop between Anchorage and Seward — at the mile 37 junction with the Alyeska Highway to Girdwood and the Alyeska Resort. Don't count on using cell phones along most of the Seward Highway. The mounts block signals.

Alaska Marine Highway

Geography: Mainline ferries meander through the Inside Passage, the sheltered waters of British Columbia and Southeastern Alaska on the way to Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Sitka, Haines and Skagway. Other Marine Highway vessels commute between the Prince William Sound communities of Whittier, Valdez and Cordova. And in summer, there are monthly runs westward from Homer and Kodiak to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor in the Aleutians.

	STANTON H. PATTY A solo traveler drives the Haines Highway, an international highway that includes sections of Alaska, British Columbia and Canada's Yukon Territory.

Another summertime special: ferry runs from Juneau across the Gulf of Alaska to Seward. From Seward, visitors can drive the All-American Seward Highway to Anchorage or ride the Alaska Railroad to Anchorage, Denali National Park (Mount McKinley) and Fairbanks.

Highlights: Ketchikan — sport fishing, sea kayaking and Indian totems.

Wrangell — ancient petroglyphs, totems and a glimpse of small-town Alaska.

Petersburg — Alaska's "Little Norway," with a Scandinavian heritage and a picturesque commercial-fishing fleet.

Juneau — Alaska's scenic capital, with Mendenhall Glacier, a massive "drive-in" glacier near the Juneau airport.

Sitka — totems and St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral, reminders of the time when Sitka was the capital of Russian America.

Skagway — gold-rush history and the White Pass & Yukon Route narrow-gauge railroad.

Haines — mountain scenery and a road connection to the Alaska Highway and Canada's Yukon Territory.

Whittier — day cruises to glacier-rimmed College Fjord plus highway and railroad connections to Anchorage.

Valdez — access to the Richardson Highway that leads north to Fairbanks, the Alaska Highway and a junction with the Glenn Highway.

Cordova — the lightly visited Copper River Delta, a flyway stopover point for trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes and other birds, then close encounters with 400-foot-high Childs Glacier as it tosses house-size slabs of ice into the Copper River.

Seward — gateway to Kenai Fiords National Park, with whales, sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters and other wildlife.

Homer — bountiful sport fishing for halibut on the tip of the Kenai Peninsula.

Kodiak — an island in the storm-tossed Gulf of Alaska with a Russian heritage.

Unalaska/Dutch Harbor — Unalaska, an ancient village of Aleut natives; Dutch Harbor, one of America's most important fishing ports.

Fares: Walk-on passengers can find bargains along the ferry routes. The walk-on fare is $27 for the 4½ -hour trip between Juneau and Haines, $296 for the full mainline trip through Southeastern Alaska from Bellingham to Skagway.

Glenn Highway

Geography: The Glenn Highway combines with the lesser known Tok Cutoff to connect Anchorage with both the Richardson Highway (Valdez to Fairbanks) and the famed Alaska Highway. The Glenn meets the Richardson at Glennallen, (pop. 554), in Alaska's interior. From Glennallen, motorists drive north for 14 miles to Gakona Junction, there to begin the Tok Cutoff which leads to the Alaska Highway at the crossroads community of Tok (pop. 1,393).

Distance between Anchorage and Tok is 328 miles.

Highlights: It is a 135-mile-long section of the Glenn Highway — from Anchorage to Eureka Summit — that has been designated a National Scenic Byway. Visitors describe the byway as a spectacular drive as the Glenn loops through river canyons with views of two mountain ranges and giant Matanuska Glacier.

Driving conditions: The Glenn Highway and the Tok Cutoff are paved and open year-round. Highway construction can cause delays in several sections of the Glenn during summer months.

Planning ahead: Fill fuel tanks at Glennallen or Gakona Junction before driving the Tok Cutoff. Buy picnic supplies and sport-fishing licenses at Glennallen.

Haines Highway

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has recognized this road as a State Scenic Byway, but it hasn't been rated yet by federal agencies.

The Haines Highway rambles from Haines, Alaska (pop. 2,800), through a corner of British Columbia and into Canada's Yukon Territory. End point is the town of Haines Junction (pop. 811), Yukon Territory. There it intersects the Alaska Highway.

Turn left (north) on the Alaska Highway at Haines Junction for Fairbanks and Anchorage. Turn right (south) for Whitehorse, the Yukon capital.

Highlight: Just 10 miles or so north of Haines, the highway threads through the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, destination for thousands of bald eagles that fly in to feast on the Chilkat River's annual salmon run.

Ferries of Alaska's Marine Highway System — a National Scenic Byway — deliver travelers to the Haines Highway.

Stanton H. Patty, born and reared in Alaska, is the retired assistant travel editor of The Seattle Times.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More travel/outdoors headlines...