Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Recommendations for June Trip?

Work responsibilities caused me to cancel an April trip so I�m trying to �short� plan a trip to Alaska for June for the wife and me. Probably 7-10 days. Would fly to Anchorage and rent a car. Thinking we want to see Denali and visit south of Anchorage around Soldotna, Homer, Cooper Landing or Kenai. We been on the inside passage cruise and I�ve hunted a few times out of Kotzebue, but that�s it.

What would you recommend for a place to say up by Denali? I understand you have to take buses into the park? How many days to allow there? Should we go on up to Fairbanks?

What about down south, is there a best location to stay and do a couple of day trips in the area?

Recommendations on places to stay and things to �not miss� would be appreciated.

Going south to the places you mention depends on what you want to do. Outdoor type of things; fishing, hiking or just sightseeing type activities? What are you into?

fish head

Maybe fish one day, mostly sightseeing with outdoor stuff.

OK. Going south definately go to Seward and Homer. As far a central home base you'd be better off spending a couple a of days/nights in Seward and a night in Homer. The fishing out out Seward is probably the better plan as it's far more scenic than Homer. A day fishing trip would be a great combo sightseeing and fishing adventure. The towns and places in between Seward and Homer are nice but there aren't as many things to do or see in one place.

In Seward splurge for a nice dinner at Ray's at the harbor. I've had many outstanding meals there. Great appetizers. You can drive to the glacier and there's also the Sea Life Center.

In Homer, if budget isn't an issue, stay at the Land's Inn. Very scenic. Or look into a bed and breakfast or one of the places outside of town that offer cabins. The Duncan House was my favorite place for breakfast or lunch. The reviews online mention poor service but it's a very busy diner. Nothing fancy, but real good food every time I ate there.

Drive from Seward to Homer and you will see everything south of Anchorage.

In case you are wondering I lived in Anchorage for 14 years before moving to Colorado a couple of years ago.

fish head

with only 10 days I'd skip Fairbanks and not go any farther north than Denali

lots of hotels in Glitter Gulch, but not my bag, though an occasional shower and bed can be a good thing


would be cool if you drove up to Denali via the Parks Hiway then went across the Denali Hiway (prolly prohibited by your rental agreement) and back to Anchorage via the Rich Higway to the Glenn Hiway. ime&o you'd see a lot of what our state has to offer in a short duration trip and never have to backtrack.

have fun, you won't see it all 30+ years later I'm still trying

Sightseeing to a woman translates into gift shopping and more gift shopping. BT/DT. Maybe book a few days for fishing...(grin).....and as FH said seward fishing would be my first choice, tho I hear it's better in Kodiak, if you were lookin to venture.

+ 1 on the Denali highway if you can do it. You will see the real Alaska. A night at the Maclaren River Lodge would be a very unique, very rustic place to stay on the way. Don't expect anything fancy. Real nice folks that own it too. It's an easy drive from there to Anchorage through Glenallen with enough time to stop along the way and see some of wilderness sights.

Depends on your scehdule though.

fish head

+1

Kodiak's a nice place, but you can't get there from anywhere. Well, you can but you can't drive there. It's a short plane ride from from Anchorage or a long ferry trip from Homer. It would add a couple of days to a trip to south central Alaska.

Plenty o' gifts to be had in Seward and Homer.

Anchorage is a very nice city. Lots of things to do and see at the begining and end of your trip.

fish head

My last trip was in 2005. We flew into Anchorage and drove the rental to the Denali Visitor Center and were met by friends. They had a fifth wheel in one of the park's campgrounds. The following day we boarded the tour bus (only way into the interior) and enjoyed the 6-hour roundtrip to Mirror Lake. We were fortunate to have clear skies and could see the peaks clearly. We also saw moose, bear, ptarmigan, and a lone wolf.

We left the park and headed to the Kenai Peninsula with a stop outside Wasilla and the Little Susitna River. Had a day of King fishing on the Little Su.

We stayed at Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula and launched day trips from there (Seward, Homer, Russian River and a flyout from Soldotna across Cook Inlet).

As far as fishing is concerned, timing is everything. I would recommend the hike up the Russian River (get bear advisory first from Rangers), the SeaLife Center in Seward, and the exit Glacier walk. We chose Cooper Landing because it was central to about everything on the peninsula and we didn't want to be moving every day.

The AK RR ride from Seward to Anch goes through some spectacular country.

Guys, as usual a wealth of information here. Thanks for all the recommendations. The wife likes to fish and we don't do much shopping on these trips. We like to view things of nature and beauty as well as historical sites. Any recommendations on the bus tours into Denali or are they all about the same?

Sounds like Cooper Landing may be a place to say on the Kenai and do day trips. Any recommendations on places to stay there?

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&so...ding&gs_rfai=&fp=bcdf8cbbf06dc4f

I don't know anything about any of these, but if it were me, I'd look for a B&B rather than a chain outfit like Princess - unless that's your thing.

Also, I'd not dally. Depending on dates, June is when the first run of reds hits that part of the Kenai and I suspect places have heavy booking. Reds typically open around the 21st - give or take.

We also had a good time at Coopers Landing. Took a short raft trip, not fishing, just looking. But it might be a good deal to book a fishing raft trip, since you'd like to fish anyhow.

Having driven into Denali a couple times (back before the lottery days) we chose to fly up to a glacier on Denali instead. Not going to see all the wildlife from the air, but it was a great ride. Those run out of Talkeenta, which is a worthwhile stop anyhow.

You don't have a choice on the Denali Tour Bus. All are run by the park service and use old school buses (unless it's changed since 2005). Contact their visitor center for schedules and pricing. Here's a link I just pulled up. We were camped in the Teklanika River campground and caught the bus from there. The link shows schedules and prices from the Visitor Center (they're contracted now to Aramark and have gotten pricey). We went all the way to Wonder Lake.

Denali Tour Bus

In Cooper Landing we stayed at Kenai Lake Cabins. They have since been sold, but the new owner has maintained it much like the original. Rustic Cabins are $95 per night and the rooms at the Inn are $150. I've stayed in both and the cabins provided everything we needed (comfort, warmth, clean linens, and a place to drop our stuff). Here's the link to their site. Let me know if you need a tour guide.

Kenai Lake Lodge

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/bus-travel.htm

Link to bus tours.. A company caleed Doyon/Aramark runs them.

I would recommend the 8 hr trip all the way out to Wonder Lake, if you are lucky you will get several good looks at the mountain.

I remember the old days when I was able to drive to Wonder Lake with a campground reservation. We would go 3-4 times each summer the first few years I was here. Have never been in the park and not seen the mountain.

Don't expect that though. McKinley makes it's own weather and is obscured something like 70% of the time.

Thanks for all the great input�knew I could count on this site! Here�s what I am thinking:
� Fly to Anchorage from Denver and overnight in Anchorage.
� Day 2 drive to Denali entrance and overnight there. Next day do the park bus tour, probably the 5-8 hour tour rather than the 11-12 hour tour. Twelve hours seems like a long time on a bus! (Will I miss anything I should see?) Stay again overnight at Denali.
� Day 3 drive back to Anchorage area and look at the alternate Denali highway route suggested by 1AKhunter. Is that route east of the main route?
� Day 4 drive to Seward and stay 2-3 nights there. Looks like lots of things to do in Seward area.
� Day 7 or 8 explore other regions of the Kenai. Maybe Kenai or Homer for a night or two?
� Day ? Drive back to Anchorage for a red-eye back to Denver.

Trying to decide whether to find one place on the Kenai to stay that is centrally located to see Seward and Homer or stay in Seward a couple of nights and then spend a night or two in Homer. Since I am not familiar with the roads and driving times I don�t know which would be better. Recommendations?

The short bus ride is adviseable, it is a gravel road so not only a long drive, a long bumpy ride. They do stop about every hour so plenty of opportunities to stretch your legs and take pit stops. During the later part of the bus ride McKinley is obscured by foothills.

One option on the return leg would be to take the Denali highway, if it is open and your rental allows it (long gravel road with potential for flats and no service), then head all the way down to Valdez and take the Alaska Marine Highway to Seward. That way you get to see Prince William Sound, and you get a reprieve from driving. Take a charter out of Seward for halibut and rockfish. Drive on down to Homer, then back to Anchorage.