SupercrewBear

We did a several day road trip to hit most of the high spots in Alaska about 2 years ago. We went the end of May/first of June - still plenty of snow on the mountains yet nice weather. We flew into Anchorage and rented a car at the airport. I would highly suggest doing things on your own - my feeling is you'll get cut short on a tour because you won't have the freedom to stop where you want if something catches your eye. In Alaska your eyes will be continuously caught.

1) Anchorage (early evening)
2) Anchorage (general touring around the area - Eagle River Nature Center, Flattop Mountain and Potter's Marsh)
3) Glennallen
4) Fairbanks (via Paxson & Delta Junction)
5) Fairbanks (drove to Coldfoot & back)
6) Healy
7) Healy (Denali Wilderness Tour)
8) Anchorage (side trip stop at Talkeetna for lunch)
9) Seward (side trip to Whittier)
10) Soldotna (day cruise at Seward then to Soldotna)
11) Soldotna (day trip to Homer)
12) Anchorage then home

We wish we had added a couple more days to the trip though we had plenty of time to do what we wanted. One thing I would have done with more nights would have been stay at least one in Homer - cool town.

Originally we were going to do the circle to Fairbanks in reverse of what we did but needed to get to Denali after June 1st when the road is open the entire distance into the park - something to keep in mind while planning a trip during that time period.

I *HIGHLY* recommend driving up the Dalton Highway to at least Coldfoot. It is a very interesting experience. We had to pick up a 2nd rental car as the regulars won't allow you to drive that highway in their cars. We rented a 4x4 Ford Escape equipped specifically for the Dalton from Arctic Outfitters - it had a CB radio, two spare tires, and tool box and first aid kit, both fully equipped. There was no radio or cellphone service, little other traffic but there was others if we'd needed help - our favorite day of them all. The scenery can be stark in places; mountains, creeks and ponds in other sections. There are a number of places to stop for picnics, photos and outhouses. There's fuel available at the Yukon River crossing store and again at Coldfoot - we filled up both places just to be on the safe side. A few miles past the Yukon River is a little eating joint called "The Hot Spot" that was excellent and the ladies who run the place were just a lot of fun - and pretty much in the middle of nowhere. At Coldfoot we ate something at the truckstop cafe before heading back - there is also a sort of museum/information center across the Dalton from the truckstop that was very nice. We left Fairbanks around 8:00 AM and were back about midnight - though it never got dark enough to need headlights. The next time we intend on driving all the way to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay.

Allow more time between destinations than you might normally allow. Time is weird in Alaska. It seems to move much slower - what sort of seems like a LONG time can really be a short time. Not in a boring way. The drive to Glennallen from Anchorage is only about 165 miles - it took ALL DAY LONG! There's so much to see that you may want to stop often, which is what we did. I tended to allow about twice the time between destinations - though we weren't really on a schedule at all. Most of the highways outside the larger cities are two lane and a wreck, road construction or simply slow moving traffic can also delay you if you haven't allowed extra time. Getting lost on the Alaska road system is probably not much of an issue as there are only a few main highways. I use my Garmin GPS mostly as a way of keeping track of how much further it is to a destination or the ETA.

I also suggest making your hotel/motel reservations well in advance. There aren't that many places to stay (like at Glennallen...) so they often sell out during tourist season. The same for rental cars - the earlier you book the cheaper it generally is. I have a benefit at work that I can use our company contract rate with one of the rental car companies that is very good - our contracted rate is anywhere from 1/3rd to half the regular rack rate plus it includes the extra damage insurance, roadside assistance (which could be very helpful in Alaska...I locked my keys in the car at Fairbanks this past February...) and extra drivers. One should check if they might have something similar through their company.

Another site I highly recommend is the Independence Mine at Hatcher Pass. Very, very cool and well worth the deviation from the main highway.

Good luck!