Vacation In Alaska Non Hunting
General Topic
Hopefully it is ok to post this here, but the wife and I want to go to Alaska on a vacation. This will be a non- hunting adventure ( she does not really hunt, and I am ok with that!) Fishing for a day or two is definitely on the agenda. We would love to see Glacier Bay, and have shopping , dining and a few cool adventure spots available for us. Can any of you give me some suggestions on when to go, where to go, and any specific information I need to know? I am not opposed to using a travel agent, but I don't know any! Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
"EDIT" our budget can be between 5 and 10K depending on destination, where we stay (A decent place, but we don't need fancy) and what we do while we are there! our time frame is open so time of year doesn't matter. we will fly in, and back home. Driving is not really an option due to time constraints.
As Always, God Bless.
Scar.
We visited some friends in July and took a trip to Denali. While there, we took a helicopter flight and landed on a glacier. You definitely need to go halibut fishing one day as well. There used to be a dinner theater show in Anchorage that was absolutely hilarious, but I don’t think it’s around anymore. Worth checking into just in case.
We also went up in March when the Iditarod was going on (on the wife’s bucket list). We went to the ceremonial start in Anchorage as well as the actual start in Willow. There’s a big celebration at that time in Anchorage and the Alaska Trapper’s Association has a fur auction as well. I really enjoyed that and got a little carried away on buying a few furs. The Running of the Caribou is part of the celebration too.
I know someone who is going with a group to Alaska in an RV. An RV caravan type thing. Would be more than happy to get the info if you are interested.
How much time do you plan on taking?
I went to the attached link last year and it was fun. Fishing wasn't as good as it was years ago, but we had a crappy fishing team with kids and people who don't really like doing it that much. We went for a week. I'm sure you could call them and do a few days if that's all you want, the cost per day will be more for the charter plane. It's about 40 miles west of Juneau. It's a long day ride, but you can get to Glacier Bay from the lodge and it's very scenic. It's self guided too, so you use all their boats, gas, equipment if you want and then go fish as much or as little as you want. I don't really like doing the full guide thing as much because they want to go at 4 am or whatever and then it's 8 hrs so you're done at like 2pm.
Our time frame is 7 days or so, but we could do up to 10 days.
Scar- My wife and I did a similar trip last summer (Celebrate 25th anniversary). We did a cruise out of Vancouver (Bus from Seattle to Vancouver). Boat went to Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, tour into Glacier Bay with boat ride ending in Seward. From Seward we took a bus to Denali. A couple of days up there and train ride to Anchorage. (And then home) Best trip ever. Numerous side trips. I didn't fish (Which I regret but that provides incentive to return) Trip was within your price range. Booked through Costco. (Holland America Cruise lines) PM me for more details.
Note: Alaska is huge. You cannot drive to Juneau. (Only state capitol which you cannot drive to!)
Z Barebow,
Thanks for the info. Please PM me with any details. I must fish while I am there! But everything else is open. Thank you for your response.
Scar
Although, I have been on cruises and I actually prefer to go to a specific destination and see all I can see. I get bored very easily, and I am not a "Social Butterfly" by any means!
The white pass summit excursion should be on your list. We took a cruise but if I went again an RV, Bus, or train would be used. All three run pretty much the same route. I found the totem poles at Ketchikan very interesting and we had a guide. Skyway and the gold rush info was good also. Seen some critters at Denali and the top of the peak! In Juneau there is a tram ride and a restaurant up top with the best blueberry pie and ice cream. (Would like to back for some more) we also took a float trip on the chulitna river which was very relaxing and enjoyable. We didn't do any white water rafting. The helicopter ride to the glaciers was good also. We left July 1st, Daylight almost 20 hours a day. The northern lights is on a bucket list but on another trip.
Go to Homer/Seward and rent a place on VRBO.
If you like to be pushed around like cattle take a cruise. I would fly into Anchorage rent a car and go to Denali spend a few days then drive down to Homer and do some fishing and if you have time I would drive to Valdez or at least Seward .Being pushed into one Curio shop after another would not be that much fun
Fly into Anchorage. Catch a plane over to King Salmon and go to Katmai Park for 2 days. Check out the bears at Brooks Falls and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Fly back to Anchorage and either rent a car ir catch the Alaska Railroad down to the Kenai. Do the Kenai Fjords boat tour, fish as many days as you want and plan any other activities you care to. Katmai alone is worth the trip.
Forgot to add....if you go halibut fishing, bring back as much of it as you possibly can.
I didn’t know people did that... ( go to Alaska and not hunt) Either way enjoy
Around 2005, my wife and I.....along with my hunting buddy and his wife did a Holland America cruise in AK that was awesome. We flew into Fairbanks, took the train to Denali Park for a couple days.....down to Anchorage for a day again by train....then to Seward to get on the ship. We hit several ports and ended up in Vancouver, BC where we flew back home to MI.
Then in 2007, we flew back on our own to Anchorage and rented a car for a week. We hit a bunch of smaller towns and sites we missed on the cruise. Then we road a shuttle van down to Kenai, where we met up with resident friends and I bowhunted moose for for a week. Awesome place to visit.....I wish we had moved there when we were young.
Go to theHomer Spit and Halibut fishing then go to the salty dog bar for a drink then get tickets on the boat the Danny J $35 and go across kechimac bay to Halibut Cove for dinner (google it)Your wife will fall in love with you again !
For non-hunting out of Anchorage, I'd rent a car put a few pins on the map and talk to a transporter about fishing charters. Regal Air was good to me on a brown bear hunt a few years back.
No way I could take a cruise. The idea of seeing Alaska without "touching" Alaska would be a horror show for me. That stated, combining a road trip with a fishing trip would be phenomenally cool.
Wife and I went to seward and did all day boat tour to view glacier. Went to talkentna and flew up and landed on glacier on mt mckinley. Went to denali on all day tour. Flew out to remote lake and watched grizzlies catching salmon in streams. If you only drive around you dont see much, best parts were where we flew to different places. You can see how really vast alaska is when you fly.
Seward is easily visited from Anchorage. There you can fish and or take an all day boat tour with glaciers "calving" and plenty of wildlife with a salmon shore lunch included.
Gents,
Thanks for the suggestions, and please keep them coming if think of anything else.
SHUG... I Know Right!?!?!?!
Is June/ July the best time of year to go for fishing and the sights?
If you end up in Seward go to Sloan's bar and have a bucket of "but".
Must be intimidating to see so many 'go do this' ideas thrown out there. Probably the best thing to know up front is your absolute total budget and then plan within it. Otherwise you'll be stressed and frustrated by costs and having to cut corners. One way to save money and make best use of valuable time is to focus on one or two regions and avoid the temptation to see all of the state in ten days, which is impossible of course. Conversely, if seeing lots of the state is very important, you may need to sacrifice certain time-consuming activities in favor of time on the road and hundreds of miles. Personally, if I had 7 days (and had to fish) I would fly to Anchorage and spend all my time (and money) heading down the Kenai to activities around Seward, Homer, Soldotna and so on. Time is more precious than money, and you'll be dismayed at how fast the first 3-4 days disappear. I don't advise lots of road tripping (as in driving the Glenn Hwy, Richardson Hwy, Parks Hwy to further destinations) unless it's something you really WANT to do and have time for. No matter what you decide, I would advise you to purchase The Milepost (most current year edition) and study it. Bring it with you and use it. Lots of great information in there.
.
We've done our own independent vacations up there a couple times. Basically plan everything out at home. Map an itinerary. Book a vehicle at the airport. Book lodging at hotels, cabins, vrbo, etc. Make reservations for activities or other needs. It takes time and lots of study, but the end result is a vacation which is tailored for YOU...not a crowd of sheep toting 5 pound cameras. In other words, we love being independent and able to do whatever we want whenever we decide. It's the only way to see the real Alaska and not just the parts designed to milk money from tourists.
One little money-saving tip: In town, go to Walmart or Fred Meyer and buy a medium/small cheap cooler. Buy groceries for the road (think things like breakfast foods, snacks, lunches, drinks, etc) and put the perishables on ice. If you're eating 3 meals a day at restaurants you'll burn through money like crazy. Carry some food and save some money. Give the cooler away at the end, or use it to bring home something tasty.
Wife, I and teen age kids went many years ago. Flew into Anchorage, and spent couple days there. Drove to Denali and took bus tour, which was great. Drove back to anchorage. Drove to Kenai and did a halibut charter. Also did a glacier tour along the way. We did this in 7/8 days. Allow more time, as things are very far apart.
View from my daughter's backyard in Kenai. Mount Redoubt across Cook's Inlet in the background
View from my daughter's backyard in Kenai. Mount Redoubt across Cook's Inlet in the background
Somewhere on the river.
Somewhere on the river.
Gotta have bear pictures in Alaska
Gotta have bear pictures in Alaska
On the way back to Anchorage
On the way back to Anchorage
I was up there last July to marry my daughter off. Fishing was terrible, (it was the worst salmon run in years), but still loads of fun. And yes, the groom and I went fishing the morning of the wedding. He's a pretty good boy. ;) Fishing should be better this year as we can't go back. Pay close attention to the regulations if you do fish, they are very confusing to me. What is legal to salmon fish with in one spot, may not be 200 yards away.
We didn't get to do as much sightseeing as I would have liked but what we saw was amazing. We flew into Anchorage and my son-in-law picked us up and drove us to Kenai where he (now they), live. We got in at midnight. so couldn't see much on the trip out there but the trip from Kenai back to Anchorage was amazing. Food etc is expensive, we managed to eat in most days and had free meals at a restaurant in Soldatna, (My daughter was working there for awhile). Kevin's advice to buy a cooler and stock up is a good one. You can buy one to ship fish home in that would work real well for that.
Don't stress out about what to see. A week to ten days in AK is like going on a one day elk hunt. You aren't going to see much. Alaska is a huge place, ALL of it is fantastic, and much of it is not easy/quick to get to. You can try to see too much, and not really see anything. Most tours/cruises are like that. Pick some place, almost any place, and spend a little time there. I'm not much of a salt water fisherman, so halibut doesn't interest me much. I've also heard from many in Seward and Homer, that's it's not nearly as good as it used to be. Different salmon runs occur throughout the summer and early fall. The better/easier streams to get to are CROWDED. It's worth flying out somewhere to fish, and that often includes bear viewing. Inland waters have great fly fishing for grayling, and you often won't see anyone else fishing for them. Jet ski tours are starting to spring up in some places. Last year we took one out of Whittier (an easy drive from Anchorage) to several tidewater glaciers in Blackstone Bay. They provide dry suits, and it's about 50 miles round trip. And, of course, there are hiking trails everywhere.
Over the years I've had many layovers in Anchorage (flying for United), we've hunted up there 4 times, taking time before and after the hunts to fish and look around, and have done 3 road trips with a camper that were 2+ months long from Colorado spending at least a month each time in Alaska. While going there to hunt is great, we can't wait to go back and explore some more. The Kenai Peninsula (Seward and Homer are there) is to Anchorage, what the mountains are to Denver - one road in and out and everyone in town going there on weekends. We had been avoiding it 'til last summer, and I couldn't believe how built up it was since the early '90s.
Wife and I are planning to go up this summer as well. She has time in June or August and has never been.
She suggested that I could combine that trip with hunting and I laughed! Might get a tag for black bear and take a bow, but that will likely eat up too much time so it will probably be just sightseeing and some fishing.
We haven’t decided whether to go early or later, yet. August might get in the way of hunting down here but might be the better option for silvers being in.
Will have to make the rounds and see a few buddies up there so it will be fun.
My 2cents, Denali, halibut fishing, flight to glacier. In the summer there is a flea market in Anchorage on Sundays I think.
I did a fly in Salmon fishing trip out of Skagway that was fantastic and also did a drift boat fishing on the Kenai river. You have to do the tour trip through the Denali wildlife area.
I spend summers in Southeast working on commercial boats, so my experience is primarily limited to there. But my advice for friends and family when they ask is to set up your own “poor man’s” cruise. Fly to Juneau or Ketchikan and use the ferry system to town hop up or down Southeast. Hit Sitka, Petersburg, and Wrangell en route from one end to the other and spend a couple days in each. Good fishing out of Sitka and Ketchikan for silvers, kings and halibut late summer. Do a flight tour out of Petersburg and/or river trip up the Stikine from Wrangell. Plenty of shopping in each. And if time permits, get to POW and rent a vehicle to tour the island for a couple days. Will be fish and bears everywhere you look that time of year.
flying up around Denali
flying up around Denali
Ok I understand the aversion to cruises in general. However, in 2003 I took my wife and our parents on a 10 day cruise from Seward to Vancouver which exposed us to an amazing amount of scenic wilderness. Before that we rented a car in Anchorage drove to Telketna flew around Denali, and trained it to Seward over the Kenai. That pre-cruise trip in itself was amazing. On the cruise I opted to go with two fishing excursions: fly fishing Admiralty Island by float plane from Juneau and Silver salmon from a boat out of Ketchikan. Both were great days. In addition we did other excursions at various stops which my wife and parents enjoyed and did on their own. The stops from Seward were College Fiord (Glaciers), Sitka (one cool town), Skagway, Juneau, Ketchikan then Vancouver. For 12 days we saw a lot of country but that just scratches the surface as everyone said. Salt water Fishing from Homer is a good bet for Halibut, lingcod, and various rock fish. August is the most popular month and warmest. We luckily had perfect weather the whole time. If you go to Denali, You must do a flight to tour the area. Most spectacular thing ever. Bring your fly rod and Mosquito/bear spray!
QUESTION for you all... IF ... I could squeeze in a 5 day bear hunt, is there a place near Anchorage or Denali that I could do that? Say for 3 grand or so for the hunt? I do not need a trophy hunt, just a decent bear. Also I wouldn't do a rug or shoulder mount either way, I don't have the room. Just a Euro for the skull.
(EDIT) I have more time available than my wife does so the hunt would not be part of the original time frame nor budget. This would be on top of the time and budget listed above. Is this even possible for that time of year. Also we would probably go in 2020, not this year.
What are your thoughts please!
Perhaps send some meat home, my kids would be at my house to receive it, same for fish unless I take it home on the plain...
Black bears are everywhere up there. I’ll probably end up taking my bow along and might shoot one if I feel like it. Wouldn’t consider spending more for a guide.
Hope to catch some halibut to send home so would just roll up the hide and head and bear meat in a separate cooler. It would have to be an easy one because I wouldn’t want to take away from the sightseeing with the wife.
Big country, 7 days will cut you short unless you are planning to behind the wheel. Pick either South of Anchorage or North of Anchorage and go from there, a month would be better to see some of the country but not all. Lived there in the early 80s and friends that came up for 7 days really wish they had more time.
We are headed up for 8 days this summer, flying into Anchorage, renting a car and heading to homer. 2 nights in a cabin on an island In Kechimak Bay, one night in homer then some salmon/halibut fishing, then up to Cooper Landing for a 3 day wilderness horsepack trip/trout fishing. Should be fun!
If you hunt bears in july or aug they mite be hair less I don't think the season is open in them months on pow the season was sept 1 to end of june
Thanks Bigdan,
We are pretty open for time of year, so we may coordinate for when the weather will be nice, and I can bear hunt.
In May of 2017 my girlfriend and I flew direct from Chicago to Anchorage, rented a car and drove to a house we had rented in Cooper Landing. We fished in Seward on a halibut charter, took a tour of Glacier Bay and did some shopping. We also drove to Homer for a day. We had a great horseback trip out of Cooper Landing and in all a fantastic time. We were there for a wedding in Moose Pass. We had a bunch of halibut shipped home. Awesome tasting fish. Good luck with your plans.
My folks went up there pulling their fifth wheel camper and were gone for almost two months. My wife worked extra hours and surprised me for my birthday in July with a fishing trip out of Homer. I flew into Anchorage and my folks picked me up. My brother flew into Anchorage the next day and we loaded up the fifth wheel and headed to Homer. Stayed a couple of nights in a campground on The Spit. Went back to Anchorage and actually stayed in a campground close to Eagle River. My brother flew out the next morning and I did later that night. Fantastic trip but way, way too short. I loved seeing the moose and bears right off the road and watched a few bear hunters stalk some bears up on the mountain. Spotting Dall Sheep from the highway was a real treat!
Next time will be much longer with my wife and with some fly in fishing.
I want to do a trip like this in a couple years. Will take notes. Have fun Scar!
Thanks Heat, and all others! Its a tough decision to make on what to do and how much time/ cash to spend! But I appreciate all the info and experience!
Hi Scar-
If you want more info to think over, email me. I grew up in Anchorage and spent tons of time on the Kenai Peninisula. I made a 3 page email of different things to do up there for a hunting buddy about a year ago and would be happy to share it with you.
[email protected]
lived in Wasilla for years. One of the things to consider is that our rainy season typically starts around July 4th. Just came back from a visit and they had a warm winter with lots of snow. Many of the rivers may be unfishable for quite a while.
You can go visit Denali at the wrong time and not see much except clouds.
We stayed at Gwin's Lodge in Cooper Landing. Very nice place and affordable. Gwinslodge.com.
Travis at Fishem.net operates out of Cooper Landing. He will definitely put you on fish and offers 1/2 day and full day float trips on the Kenai River.
Wow, great thread. I hope all that are going this summer have a wonderful trip!
Alaska Newbie here. I'm looking for advice on what to do with the below criteria for a 7-8 day family trip to AK this summer:
1. Need to fly into AK 2 Have 7-8 days to spend in AK 3. Want to fish some rivers for salmon and to bring back to US some filets. (bush flights no problem) 4. Want to do an off shore trip for halibut and to bring back to US some filets. 5. Squeeze in 1-2 days of wife enjoyable sight seeing along with nice accommodations.
I understand that the salmon fishing may take a few days with bush plane charter as opposed to the halibut fishing which may be only a drive away from airport. Looking for good accommodations as the whole family would go. Anything special for the wife is always appreciated and usually well rewarded. :)
Budget <10K?
I'm renting an RV 23 July - 6 Aug out of Anchorage.
Heading to the kenia pennisula.
Reds and halibut are my target fish.
It's my 5+ trip. Pm me if you want details.
A train ride from Anchorage or Fairbanks to Denali then a bus ride to the furthest backcountry lodge in the park. The bus ride is a nail biter. Once at the lodge you can take hikes, view the mountain etc. Then I highly recommend a small plane ride over and around the mountain. I’ve seen some cool stuff in my life and this plane ride blew my mind. We saw climbers on a razor back ridge making their summit run and it gave me chills. A little internet research starting with Denali Backcountry Lodge should lead you in the right direction to set it up.
My family goes to AK every year for a week long church mission trip to native villages. After that, we rented a RV in Anchorage and drove all over the state for 8 days, first heading north to Denali, then east to Valdez, then south to the Kenai Peninsula to visit Seward and then Homer. Along the way we fished, rafted the Kenai River, climbed glaciers, and saw Eagles, bears, moose, caribou, sheep and goats. Best family vacation ever!
Ps - we did really well fishing at the tiny village of Hope.
Pss - make SURE that you get the extra insurance the RV rental places offer. You may be sorry if you don't. Don't ask me how I learned that important lesson.....
Fly into anchorage in June. Get a rental car or motor home and head south to Homer. Several outstanding rivers to fish for king salmon along the way. Charters available. Then get on another charter in homer for some great halibut fishing. Save a day or two on the end and visit Seward for more halibut fishing. Several Glaciers to visit along that route. Have fun.
TWO WEEKS is just the beginning of what you'll need to take in Alaska. If you go for just 7 days you'll leave already planning your return trip...because you simply can't see enough of it in 7 days to do it justice.
South,
That is what I am hearing... :( I don't think my wife could do more than 10 days... She doesn't have that luxury with work.
Wife and I did a combo land/sea vacation, was great, I think about 2 weeks. Flew into Anchorage, train up to Denali, couple of days there hiking, took the bus into Denali (if you do this upgrade to the longer ride in, well worth it!), visited an Iditarod sled dog camp, played with puppies, bus back to Seward, get on a 7 day cruise to Vancouver. Stops in several places where you could fish, see glaciers, play tourist. Was a great trip.
I’ll say it again... go see Katmai. I spent two weeks up there everywhere from Denali to Seward and it was hands down the highlight of the trip.
You can also look at getting on the Alaska marine hwy and travel up the inside passage
Mule Power,
That looks really cool, I will put it on my to see list.
Thanks!
Get in touch with DrLongbeard. He helped my wife and I on our trip years ago when we didn't have a lot of time or much of a budget, but still wanted to get a taste of Alaska.
Like everyone has said, it's big and you can feel rushed at times, but you can still see a lot in 7 days if that's what you want to do. We did spend a lot of time in the car, but we were still able to take in a day of salmon fishing in Soldotna, were supposed to have a day of halibut fishing out of Ninilchik but the seas were too rough that day, toured around Homer (a drink at the Salty Dawg is a must; you'll know why when you walk in), did a day cruise on Prince William Sound out of Whittier (shorter drive than Seward or Valdez), lunch at Gwins in Cooper Landing specifically for the smoked salmon chowder, spent a 1/2 day exploring Anchorage, and spent a day in Denali National Park. We took the sightseeing bus tour to the very end of the road in the park and saw plenty of game, including 9 grizzlies with one only being 75 yards off of the road as well as the summit of Mt. McKinley (sorry, I guess the PC name is Mt. Denali now!) We went in the middle of July and at Denali, 10:00 pm was just as bright outside as 10:00 am!
We flew into Fairbanks on July 3 and it was sorta dim at 1:30 a.m. While there flew above the circle to Coldfoot and drove up to Wiseman, worth the trip. Only downer was we had to get above 9,000 ft. to get our of the smoke.
I've done two cruise ships to Alaska and loved both. Each had 4 stops for most of a day at places you can't drive to, such as Juneau, Sitka, Ketchican. Have also taken other trips for hunting or fishing, primarily, plus a 3 month drive up thru the US and Canada and Akaska. I suggest you rent a pickup with camper, so you have transportation and sleeping arrangements anywhere and anytime you want. Lodging is very expensive and requires advance planning that dicatate what you will do, as opposed to stopping where you want. My favorite two destinations are Denali and Kenai Fjords by Seward (take an all day tour boat ). If you are near Seward at 4'th of July they have a race up Mt. Marathon starting and finishing in Seward. Something like 3000' gain and 3 miles- winners can do it under 45 minutes. Will try to attach link. https://www.outsideonline.com/2231791/mount-marathon-toughest-5k
The Alaska Marine Highway ferry is a great way to get from Seattle to Skagway (3 day trip). It's not an impersonal cruise but you can tour the Inside Passage on the ferry. You can stop at any port along the way and spend as much time as you want, then get back on another ferry to continue. The Ferry boats accommodate vehicles if you want or you can take the ferry without a vehicle. The ferry we took (The Columbia) had rooms to rent, but you can also pitch a tent on the deck...there were a dozen other tents on our trip. You can also throw a sleeping pad on the floor and sleep almost anywhere you'd like. There is a restaurant, cafeteria, and other basic stuff on board. We loved the ferry and plan to do it again in 2020. And if you get to Skagway, backpack the Chilkoot trail and return to Skagway via the White Pass railroad. FANTASTIC backpack trip. Very interesting to see all the artifacts along the trail from the gold rush.
Great info guys, great thread
