Scenic Drives

In the Tal­keet­na Moun­tains between the towns of Wil­low and Palmer, Hatch­er Pass is a local favorite for recre­ation or a scenic dri­ve. Hike in alpine tun­dra dot­ted with wild­flow­ers and ptarmi­gan, ski fresh, deep pow­der, or vis­it Inde­pen­dence Mine His­tor­i­cal State Park.

Portage Val­ley south­east of Anchor­age at the head of Tur­na­gain Arm offers so many poten­tial adven­tures that you might have to tow a trail­er loaded with gear to sam­ple them all. What will you find here? Bik­ing, hik­ing, pic­nick­ing, fish­ing, pad­dling, wildlife view­ing, poten­tial ice­berg sight­ings — plus a nat­ur­al his­to­ry vis­i­tor cen­ter packed with inter­ac­tive dis­plays about the ecosys­tem of the val­ley and Prince William Sound. It’s like an outdoor  ...more

The Seward High­way hugs the dra­mat­ic shore­lines of Tur­na­gain Arm. One of the most beau­ti­ful stretch­es of high­way in America

Not many tourists dri­ve down Nash Road, which is one of the rea­sons why it’s spe­cial. A few miles down the road, you’ll find a marked entrance to a sec­tion of the Idi­tar­od Trail, which makes for great walk­ing in the sum­mer and cross-coun­try ski­ing in the winter.

Under an hour from Anchor­age, this 22-mile dri­ve takes you away from Alaska’s towns and cities, and into Chugach State Park. The road is smooth with twists and turns, and runs along­side Eklut­na Riv­er, and the beau­ti­ful and glacial Eklut­na Lake. You can also see Twin Peaks over the trees.

To enjoy a scenic dri­ve just a few min­utes from down­town Anchor­age, head north to mile 6.1 on the Glenn High­way. From here, you can head up the steep and wind­ing, Arc­tic Val­ley Road. The dri­ve itself is only 45 min­utes, but once you get there, you’ll want to spend more time pho­tograph­ing and exploring.

The dri­ve from Anchor­age to the sea­side com­mu­ni­ty of Seward begins with two hours of spec­tac­u­lar views as you pass between the dra­mat­ic shore­lines of Tur­na­gain Arm and the jut­ting peaks of the Chugach Mountains.

Dri­ving north from Anchor­age isn’t as instant­ly dra­mat­ic as going south, but with­in an hour you’re immersed in stop-and-shoot scenery. The Glenn High­way runs north­east to agri­cul­tur­al Palmer, then twists east along the Matanus­ka Riv­er Val­ley, sand­wiched between coastal and inte­ri­or mountains.

To explore the road less trav­eled, take the Old Glenn High­way to Palmer, a back road that feels like old Alas­ka. This 19-mile coun­try road cuts through the heart of Alaska’s farm­land and is a scenic, qui­et alter­na­tive between Anchor­age and Palmer. The road access­es state parks and recre­ation areas, pet­ting zoos, and hik­ing trails and pass­es through pic­turesque ter­rain: pas­toral coun­try­side beneath the Chugach Moun­tains and Pio­neer Peak. The…  ...more

This 18-mile-long loop grav­el road is the pre­mier wildlife-view­ing area on the Kenai Penin­su­la, and you’ll get spec­tac­u­lar views of lakes and glac­i­ers. Don’t for­get to stop and explore all the nature and wildlife around you!

The scenic, essen­tial 323-mile-long Parks High­way con­nects Anchor­age and Fair­banks, thread­ing its way past some of Alaska’s most icon­ic Alaskan areas, includ­ing Denali Nation­al Park and Mt. McKin­ley. But we’ll take you far beyond what you can see from the road. We’ll also show you some of the hid­den gems you wouldn’t find on your own, like an old trapper’s cab­in that offers a glimpse into Alaska’s past. We’ll let you in on cool trails to…  ...more

The short­est road out of town, Rezanof Dri­ve becomes Monash­ka Bay Road and runs north­west of Kodi­ak for 12 miles. On this dri­ve, you’ll get great views of the Spe­cif­ic coast, hik­ing trails, tide pools, a white-sand beach, and a museum.

Head­ing south­west out of town and then curv­ing towards the north, this rel­a­tive­ly short road offers access to salmon streams, wildlife habi­tat, hik­ing, win­ter recre­ation, the Coast Guard golf course, and a pro­tect­ed bay that’s great for sea kayak­ing and beachcombing.

A 17 mile one-way jaunt from Chini­ak High­way, this road was com­plet­ed along­side the devel­op­ment of the Alas­ka Aero­space Cor­po­ra­tion launch site, which is at the end of the road. In addi­tion to access­ing the pri­vate site, the paved road offers recre­ation­al­ists and trav­el­ers access to great fish­ing beach­es and rivers, surf spots, state parks, and scenic views of alpine pass­es and ocean. There’s also a pri­vate ranch here, where semi-domesticated  ...more

A curvy road fol­low­ing the shore­line south from town, this 42-mile high­way will take you past the U.S. Coast Guard Sta­tion, salmon streams, long ocean inlets, and exposed surf beaches.

Nome — Coun­cil Road spans 72 miles (East) and takes 2 hours one-way with­out stops. For spec­tac­u­lar bird­ing, sweep­ing coastal views, and the famous ​“Last Train to Nowhere,” explore the Nome — Coun­cil Road. Addi­tion­al high­lights include the Safe­ty Road­house, which is the last stop on the Idi­tar­od Sled Dog Race, and the small com­mu­ni­ty of Coun­cil, which boast­ed a pop­u­la­tion of 15,000 in its heydey.

When locals want to see trees, they head north on The Nome — Tay­lor Road (also called Beam Rd. or Kougarok Rd.) The 85-mile grav­el road runs north-south and takes 2 hours one-way with­out stops. The route winds past many old min­ing claims, the pop­u­lar Salmon Lake, and offers a side trip to his­toric Pil­grim Hot Springs.

The Nome – Teller Road brings you with­in 55 miles of Rus­sia, and is as close as you can dri­ve to the Bering Strait Land Bridge. The road trav­els 73 miles north­west and takes about 2 hours one-way with­out stops. You end at Teller, an authen­tic Inu­pi­at vil­lage of few­er than 300 peo­ple who sur­vive on a sub­sis­tence lifestyle.