Drive 368 miles • 7 hours, 40 minutes

Mammoth glacier and robust veggies greet travelers on this trip from the heart of Alaska to one of its most famous waterways. Get ready for the quirky sights and commanding vistas as you motor along the state’s famed Richardson Highway. 

1. Fairbanks

Starting Point • History, Quirky, Sports

Unpretentious and offbeat Fairbanks takes its frontier history very seriously. The city’s premier site, the Museum of the North, takes visitors on a whirlwind tour of 11,000 years of human history with a compelling collection of Alaska Native, Russian and gold rush–era artifacts. Don’t miss the city’s Midnight Sun Game, a festive annual summertime baseball game that draws huge crowds and lots of fun.

2. Delta Junction

95.3 miles, 1 hour, 59 minutes • Entertainment, Food, History

With jaw-dropping panoramas of the Alaska Range and the Delta River, Delta Junction offers spectacular views of the Last Frontier. It’s also a prodigious land of farm-fresh produce. The best place to sample the region’s sensational bounty is at Highway’s End Farmers Market (across from the visitor’s center at the Triangle) or during the Deltana Fair and Music Festival, held in August. For a historical view of farming, visit the Alaska Homestead and Historical Museum.

3. Glennallen

153.2 miles, 3 hours, 14 minutes • Nature, Outdoor Recreation

Glennallen embraces its role as the launch pad for the expansive Wrangell-St-Elias National Park, which boasts a size that’s 25 percent larger than Switzerland. Outfitters and tour companies carve epic routes deep into the park’s recesses, where you can leave behind civilization as you know it. Tours include rafting, wildlife viewing and world-class fishing. Glennallen nudges the storied Copper River, where anglers cast for the mother of all Alaskan fish: the delectable Copper River red salmon.

4. Valdez

119.5 miles, 2 hours, 27 minutes • Nature, Outdoor Recreation

In the likable former gold rush town of Valdez, small but well-conceived attractions and landmarks evoke in gripping detail the region’s rich past. With five breathtaking contiguous glaciers—including Alaska’s largest tidewater glacier, Columbia Glacier—and snow-capped peaks rising sheer in every direction, visitors won’t feel deprived of stellar scenery. Equally spectacular is the wildlife in the area, which includes sea otters, horned and tufted puffins, cormorants, humpback whales and bald eagles.

RECOMMENDED STOPOVERS

Eagle’s Rest RV Park & Cabins – Valdez, AK – (800) 553-7275

Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises – Valdez, AK – (907) 835-4731