Day 1 (of motorhome rental after previous one night hotel stay upon arrival)
Collect your Cruise America motorhome from the Anchorage depot and drive northeast on the Glenn Highway. You’ll pass the townships of Eagle River and Chugiak and continue on towards Palmer, which is about a 45 mile hours drive from Anchorage. As you head through the Eklutna Flats, enjoy the towering vistas of the Chugach and Talkeetna Mountains, and catch a glimpse of Pioneer Peak, the closest peak in the distance.
★ For a closer view of Knick Glacier take an airboat tour by taking the Old Glenn Highway exit and driving to Knick Glacier Adventures about 20 miles from Palmer.
DAY 2 & 3
Today you head from Palmer to Denali National Park continuing on the Parks Highway you drive through the Matanuska-Susitna Valley and Denali State Park. If time permits take a side trip to the small community of Talkeetna.
✪ 200 miles
★ Denali is six million acres of wildland, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travellers along it see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America’s tallest peak, 20,320′ Denali. Wild animals large and small roam unfenced lands. Solitude, tranquillity and wilderness awaits.
DAYS 4 & 5
Before leaving Denali National Park to head for Fairbanks we suggest you enjoy a 7-hour Tundra Wildlife Tour into Denali National Park. The park is inhabited by lots of different animal species. Denali can be seen if the weather is clear that day and a snack lunch is included. In the afternoon continue on the Parks Highway north to Fairbanks. Accompanied by incredible forest and mountain landscape you drive through the communities of Healy, Nenana and by the community of Ester, an old gold mining camp.
✪ 125 miles
★ Enjoy the wildlife tour with some luck you may see bears, caribou, moose, sheep, wolves and a variety of birds.
DAY 6
Today you head to Paxson/Glennallen, following the Richardson until Delta Junction. Just outside of Fairbanks you drive by North Pole, the home of North America’s Santa Claus. In Delta Junction take the Richardson Highway and drive south towards Paxson/Glennallen
✪ 180 miles
★ The Copper River has world class salmon fishing, if you don’t feel like fishing there is hiking, rafting and even flightseeing.
DAY 7
Today you head to Valdez, enjoy the spectacular drive on the Richardson Highway, part of the route parallels the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Weather permitting stop and enjoy incredible views of the Wrangell Mountains. Drive by Worthington Glacier and through Keystone Canyon with its waterfalls.
✪ 185 miles
★ Valdez is a must see on your Alaska itinerary. The crashing glaciers and towering Chugach mountains rising from the sea make Valdez absolutely picturesque.
DAY 8
This morning it is all aboard the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry to Whittier travelling through beautiful Prince William Sound. Upon arrival in Whittier drive through the Whittier-Portage Tunnel (one-lane tunnel, open to traffic during certain hours only). Then drive the Seward Highway through scenic landscape to Seward.
✪ 85 miles
★ Portage Glacier and the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center is an interesting stop thanks to exhibits that let visitors walk through a simulated ice cave, view live ice worms or touch an iceberg. For a closer look at Portage Glacier, there are hour-long sightseeing boat cruises on Portage Lake or you can hike a number of foot trails that wind near the frozen monument.
DAYS 9 & 10
Today you are heading back on the Seward Highway to Anchorage but before you do visit Kenai Fjords National Park home to some of most pristine, rugged, breath-taking glacial vistas in North America. The massive Harding Icefield feeds the 38 glaciers of the park. These glaciers, in turn, have been sculpting the fjords making a home for the many species of marine life – mammals, fish and seabird alike.
✪ 130 miles
★ Enjoy a Wildlife & Glacier cruise into scenic Kenai Fjords National Park and maybe even spot a whale.
DAY 11
Return your motorhome to the depot and have a safe journey home.
