So you've flown into Anchorage, seen a few glaciers, eaten some halibut and salmon, and if the weather's clear and it's dark enough, maybe seen the Northern Lights. And maybe you've even seen some wildlife. But unless you've gotten off the main highways and away from the main tourist areas, chances are you have not yet seen a real Alaskan community. Fortunately I have good news. There is a great little village that you can easily get to in your rental car, and it's just over an hour's drive from Anchorage. That place is Hope, and old gold mining town located on the south side of Turnagain Arm and only 17 miles from the Seward Highway.
So what makes Hope so special? Well to start, not a lot of visitors make their way to the town. Even though Hope is not like the many villages in western, northern, and interior areas of the state that require flying with a bush pilot to get to, relatively few tourists make the short drive down the Hope Highway to see this place. This has preserved the town's character and charm for those who do make the effort to get here. For visitors there are a few attractions, most notably the Hope-Sunrise Mining Museum, fishing, and some nearby hiking trails. Additionally, it is worth stopping in one of the local cafes for a meal. By doing so, you'll get a feel for the laid back atmosphere of the community, where restaurant waitresses know all of the regular customers well enough to write up their orders as soon as they walk through the door, and customers feel comfortable enough to pop behind the counter and help themselves to a refill of coffee or tea.
In the Gold Rush days of the late 1890s, Hope and the nearby Sunrise community were boomtowns with populations of about 3,000. However, after the big gold claims had all been made, the towns started to slowly decline. Today the old Sunrise town site (located a few miles down the Hope Highway from Hope toward the Seward Highway) is nothing but a few building foundations on some private land. Hope still has about 130 residents, despite much of the original town site being destroyed by the coastline sinking several feet during the 1964 Good Friday earthquake. The people who live here are very friendly and welcome the relatively few visitors who make the effort to visit their town. If you wish to stay overnight, there are a number of campsite areas, including some with RV hookups, and the Hope Gold Rush B&B, housed in a log cabin originally built in 1916 (and added on to in the early 21st century). Or, if you just want a short side trip off the Seward Highway, visit Hope for a good, affordable meal, a visit to the local museum, and a stroll through the old downtown area where several Gold Rush-era buildings still stand. You'll be glad you took the time to visit.