Headed to Alaska-Advice needed

[220swift]

The wife and I booked a vacation to Alaska for late July, early August.

We land in Anchorage late on July 27th and cannot check into the fishing lodge until Friday afternoon. We are using Tower Rock lodge on the Kenai River. It is about a 3 hour drive from Anchorage to the lodge.

We have 2 1/2 days to kill and wanted ideas from the Green Screen. We were considering doing the Denali area, but it is a bout a 9 hour drive from there down to the lodge, so we have ruled that out. We are thinking about Homer.

Any thoughts?

[hgiles]

Go do a wildlife and glacier cruise out of Seward. Go pan for gold on the way down to Seward at Cow Creek.

Hike Flattop in Anchorage, have a drink at Humpy's, eat at Simon and Seafort's in Anchorage. Go check out the Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla.

[diamond10x]

Lots and lots to do on the peninsula. The drive from anchorage down to the lodge is absolutely beautiful with numerous places to see and check out along the way, Hope, Russian river ferry, Russian river fish platform you can watch the bears catch salmon as they jump up over the rapids to migrate to spawn in the lake, tons of fishing all along the road, etc. If you go down to Homer, you have to go down to the spit. IMO Seward has a little more in the way of things to do and see.

What are y’all interests? There’s so much to do in so little time you will go back.

[WhiplashTX]

If you have never been Denali it is worth the trip and the drive there is absolutely breath taking. Two and a half days there and back really is pushing it but you could relax by taking the train both ways. Homer, Seward, and the valley leading into Whittier have a lot of options. One of my highlights of the trip was flying over to Lake Clark to see the bears. I think I enjoyed the bush flight more than anything else as it was a clear day and our pilot took us though some narrow passes.

[220swift]

What are y’all interests? There’s so much to do in so little time you will go back.[/QUOTE]

We might like to hike some. When we travel, we prefer not doing all the touristy stuff all the time. Getting off the beaten track would be a plus. Seeing as much scenery and wildlife as possible would be great too.

[Brett A]

Take your fishing rods. The Kenai is an awesome fishery. You can catch huge rainbows,
big Dolly Varden, and maybe some King Salmon that time of year. My wife didn't see me much when we were there.

[rdorsett]

Go do a wildlife and glacier cruise out of Seward. Go pan for gold on the way down to Seward at Cow Creek.

Hike Flattop in Anchorage, have a drink at Humpy's, eat at Simon and Seafort's in Anchorage. Go check out the Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla.

Agree with all of these recs. To be specific, have the halibut cheeks and stuffed Halibut at Simon’s. I also really enjoy Moose’s Tooth for a beer and good pizza (get the Buffalo chicken salad as an app).

We did the drive to Seward and the glacier cruise. Saw multiple wales, bears, etc. Was great.

[blackfoot1]

Head to Seward, you can do glacier/whale tours there. Plenty of places to hike. Summer dog sledding....Coopers landing you can fish, white water rafting, gold panning. In Homer you can hit the spit, take the Seldovia tour... Bear viewing out of Ninilchik. I live in Soldotna, if you want to PM me with any questions. Should be a great year!

[220swift]

Head to Seward, you can do glacier/whale tours there. Plenty of places to hike. Summer dog sledding....Coopers landing you can fish, white water rafting, gold panning. In Homer you can hit the spit, take the Seldovia tour... Bear viewing out of Ninilchik. I live in Soldotna, if you want to PM me with any questions. Should be a great year!

Thanks!!

[Greenheadless]

Tagged

[deerwatcher51]

The first time I went, we fished out of Soldotna on the Kenai. We did a tour of the bars of Alaska. We would fish in the morning and then go to a bar, drink one beer and then go to the next bar and so on. Homer is not so far from Soldotna, you absolutely have to go to “The Salty Dawg”. It is well worth the trip.

[crumrw]

Go do a wildlife and glacier cruise out of Seward. Go pan for gold on the way down to Seward at Cow Creek.

Hike Flattop in Anchorage, have a drink at Humpy's, eat at Simon and Seafort's in Anchorage. Go check out the Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla.

All of this...good advice

[meltingfeather]

2nd Simon & Seafort's-- the baked Alaska is where it's at!
Anchorage Brewing Company also worth a stop.
We were only there a night after an inside passage cruise, so that's all I got.
Enjoy! Amazing country.

[C-dubyah]

I will be in either Anchorage or Juneau at the end of April for a licensing exam. Which location is better? Im following for tips as well.

[dustoffer]

Long drive for Denali---but IMO worth every mile.