Getaway to Valdez, AK

One thing we quickly noticed upon arriving in Valdez is that it's really the best of both worlds when it comes to Alaska. It has beautiful, scenic mountains, glaciers, and good fishing. This means that if part of the group wants to sight-see and the other part wants to fish, both groups can find something to do. Valdez is home to five glaciers that can be accessed by cruising, flying, walking, driving, glacier trekking, and even ice repelling. Other activities include rafting, hiking, back country skiing, and of course, fishing!

Quick Tips:

Before heading to Valdez, check out "The Milepost" Guide. It includes an indispensable amount of information - particularly if you are driving to Valdez. In addition, the Valdez Visitor's Bureau has a good website. Check it out at http://www.valdezalaska.org/. As far as coupons go, they are a little tough to find for just Valdez. If you have affiliations with the military (are active duty, a dependent, or a military retiree), check out the Tickets and Tours on any of the local bases before making your reservations. You can typically save about 10 to 15% on tours. Otherwise, if you're going on a tour of Alaska in general and plan on doing sightseeing, cruises, and other higher priced activities, you might consider purchasing the Alaska toursaver coupon book (http://www.toursaver.com/). It runs about for the book.

Best Way To Get Around:

To get to Valdez, you can fly, ride the ferry (the Alaska Marine Highway System), or drive—or, do a combination of these. While there are a few taxis, the area is spread out enough that it's probably best to have a car. The town of Valdez has a very nice, paved running/jogging trail that surrounds a good portion of the town.

The Copper River Princess Lodge is a first class hotel. We really enjoyed staying there. It's especially luxurious when you compare it to all of the other accommodations that are located within the area. The furnishings are modern and have the "Alaska copper mining" theme to them. We had great service while we were there, and we found the staff to be very helpful and informative. They also have booking agents there to help you find flight-seeing, hiking, fishing, rafting, and other types of tours. The Copper Princess has been running specials for $99/night (which is a super deal for this part of the country), so check their website for details. Our experience has been that the $99/night deals tend to run during the weekdays, and the weekends tend to be higher priced. The Copper Princess also has walking trails on-site and also has a few computers with Internet for guest use. Free wireless connections are hit and miss throughout the hotel. That was our only complaint. We couldn't get Wi-Fi in our room.

The Halibut House is a great place to go for fish and chips. A regular basket of fried halibut with french fries runs about $9, or you can get a half order for $6. The halibut is local, and it's wonderful! If you're not a fish lover you can find regular fast food standbys, such as burgers and salads. The thing we enjoyed the most about going to the Halibut House is that you can get a real taste of the local culture there. The people who eat there are a mix of locals and tourists, and you definitely don't need to dress up to feel right at home there. The only "chain restaurant" you'll find in Valdez is Subway. The Halibut House provides a budget-priced, much tastier alternative.

The Stan Stephens company runs a first class tour. Although it seems a little pricey (it runs around $130/person to go on the Columbia/Meares Glacier Tour that we went on), we felt like we got our money's worth and more. The boat itself is a large catamaran—we went on the Spirit of Valdez, which was just built in 2004, so it's a brand new boat. The captain is multi-talented—he manages to give a narrated tour while steering around ice chunks and pointing out wildlife—we were truly amazed by that. You begin in the small boat harbor in downtown Valdez, and then you're taken out to the Prince William Sound.

On this tour, you see 2 glaciers—the Columbia and the Meares, and it runs about 9.5 hours. However, while we were there, our tour ran about 10.5 because we kept seeing so many animals. As you travel towards the glaciers, the staff will point out animals along the way, and normally the captain will stop and try to get closer. We saw quite a few animals, including 4 black bears, bald eagles, sea otters, sea lions, mountain goats, and dall porpoises. This cruise comes with lunch and a snack—at lunch, you get chicken alfredo on rice with a breadstick and cookies. At around dinner time, they feed you a snack of clam chowder and crackers.

Throughout the trip, they serve complimentary coffee, tea, lemonade, and hot water. I highly recommend bringing packets of hot chocolate or cider if you aren't a coffee/tea drinker—they charge 50¢ for each packet of hot chocolate, cider, etc. In addition, you can bring snacks along with you, or they do have a few for sale along the way. At least in early June, it was still pretty cold out near the glaciers. It's a good idea to wear lots of layers and bring along a warm coat, hat, and gloves.

The Dock Point Trail is a pretty short hike, but it's quite pretty. It's a great time killer if you're looking for a little something to do in between larger activities, such as a glacier or wildlife cruise or an after dinner walk. Close up views of grass and wildflower meadow from the boardwalks, along with spruce trees and ground dogwood. An eagle's nest located on one of the nearby islands can be seen from the north side of the trail. To find it, the parking area is located off Kobuk Drive across from the boat launch ramp. After going past the gate, the hillside trail takes off to the right up a steep hill. The track then drops down to a small meadow from which two boardwalks lead to the East and West overlook viewing platforms. The trail then gradually descends curving around to meet the road from the gate. As the trail is circular, from the hillside trail sign one can go either clockwise or counterclockwise to avoid the first steep climb.

To find this trail, you have to drive to the upper end of Mineral Creek Drive. As mentioned above, once you get to the end of this road, you'll find a really narrow bridge. We weren't able to get our 4-wheel-drive pickup truck over the bridge. It's more of an ATV-sized bridge. At any rate, you have to cross this bridge and drive about 5.5 miles before you come to the trail. Since we didn't have an ATV, we weren't able to do this.

But, supposedly once you do get to the trail, you can expect to see mountains rising to over 5,000 feet and beautiful waterfalls on each side. In addition, about halfway up the road, the road forks. If you take the right hand fork, it leads to the water where a small tram was used years ago to service the McIntosh Road House (1912 era), which was located on the other side of Mineral Creek. The left fork continues up the valley. The W.L. Smith Stamp Mill is located at the end of the Mineral Creek Trail. This mill was built in 1913 and used in conjunction with the Mountain King Mine, which was located about 3,000 feet above sea level on the east side of Mineral Creek.

These two waterfalls are located alongside the Richardson Highway just outside of Valdez. They are truly worth taking the time to stop off and see. While I'm not sure how high the waterfalls are, they are impressive, and you will be glad you stopped. It provides some great photographic opportunities.

Near Bridal Veil Falls is a trailhead for the Valdez Goat Trail. This is a restored section of the Trans-Alaska Military Packtrain Trail through Keystone Canyon that led to the first glacier-free land route to the Interior.