Seward to Denali

[abxk40a]

Hoping to do a 7 day DIY tour before taking a Princess southbound cruise out of Whittier visiting Seward (Kenai Fjords, fishing), Talkeetna (flightseeing) and Denali (Wonder Lake). Is driving from Seward to Denali (Healy) with stopping for late afternoon flightseeing in Talkeetna doable in one day?

[mapleleaves]

it's do-able, but sure not recommended.

Under good conditions, it's about a 3 hr drive (125 miles ) from Seward to Anchorage, then about 5 hrs ( 240 miles) from Anchorage to Denali. And Talkeetna isn't just off the exit; it's about a 20 minute drive to town.

Keep in mind you're on a 2 lane hwy that can get bogged down with slow moving tourist vehicles and RV's that don't pull over. And if there's an accident, you're screwed because it then becomes a one-lane hwy for both directions.

Having said that .... I've driven from Seward to Denali in a day, about 15 yrs ago. Limited time, and places to go. We didn't make any stops tho, except for gas.

[Budget Queen]

And flightseeing? Picking up a car supplies?

 

Nope. Poor plan.

[SuperCrewBear]

Hoping to do a 7 day DIY tour before taking a Princess southbound cruise out of Whittier visiting Seward (Kenai Fjords, fishing), Talkeetna (flightseeing) and Denali (Wonder Lake). Is driving from Seward to Denali (Healy) with stopping for late afternoon flightseeing in Talkeetna doable in one day?

 

I think you're possibly planning in a way that's not efficient. You're most likely flying into Anchorage. Depending on what time of day you arrive in Anchorage, first head north towards Healy. If you can get an early start you could make it to Talkeetna for a flight seeing tour then continue on to Healy. If you arrive in the afternoon you could either spend the night in Anchorage proper or head on out to the Wasilla area for the night - once past Wasilla the hotels/motels will be slimmer pickings.

 

Once you get to Healy you really need to spend a minimum of two nights with the full day devoted to whatever type visit to Denali you want to do. You might could schedule the flight seeing for your return towards Anchorage - that somehow makes me nervous though.

 

 

Once you get all of your north of Anchorage touring taken care of head down to Seward. You really should devote an entire day to getting from the Denali area back to Anchorage - if you try to get all the way to Seward it will be a truly long and tiring day. During the summer tourist season you'll have plenty of daylight but you need to rest so you can enjoy yourself.

 

 

The distances in Alaska are pretty great and I've said quite a few times that your best bet is to allow TWICE the expected amount of time between points. We left Healy somewhere around 9 AM and didn't get to our hotel on the north edge of Anchorage until maybe 9 PM. We did make the side trip to Talkeetna (14 miles off the main highway) for about 2 hours. We also made a short tour of Cantwell - almost nothing there but we had to look. There are a lot of photo opportunities along the way - we weren't in any hurry so anything that caught our eyes, we stopped. If you can resist you'll make better time - but why hurry? Definitely factor in road construction and wrecks. We saw a wreck a little north of Wasilla that backed us up for an extra 30-45 minutes.

 

 

After you've done your touring at Seward it's about 90 miles to Whittier - normally a couple hour drive most places. Allow four hours! You've also got to consider the tunnel just before Whittier - it's one lane with the traffic reversed every 30 minutes. Traffic moves into Whittier on the half-hour from 5:30 AM until 10:30 PM. A train might muck up the timing...

 

I think you can get everything done in 7 days but you'll have to make your time count. Plan efficiently! Good luck!

[abxk40a]

Thanks for the answers that I was expecting but was hoping that I wasn't being too aggressive. I made some changes to the itinerary, which will result in returning the rental car to Whittier (something that I was trying to avoid). Are my driving times more realistic ?

 

 

Day 1 Newark to Anchorage to Wasilla 10-13 hr Flight & 1-2 hr drive Day 2 Wasilla to Talkeetna to Denali 2+ hr drive, 2-3 hr flightseeing & 3+ hr drive Day 3 Denali 11-13 hr bus tour Day 4 Denali to Matanuska to Anchorage 5+ hr drive, 4hr exploring & 1+ hr drive Day 5 Anchorage to Seward 9 hr drive w stops (Portage cruise, Exit Hike) Day 6 Seward 7 1/2 hr glacier/whale cruise Day 7 Seward 11 hr Halibut/Salmon Fishing Trip Day 8 Seward to Whittier 3+ hr drive & 5 hr glacier cruise Day 9 Hubbard Glacier 5 hr viewing Day 10 Glacier Bay 10 hr viewing Day 11 Skagway 8 1/2 hr bus/train tour Day 12 Juneau 5-6 hr whale/glacier tour w hiking Day 13 Ketchikan 4 hr crab ship Day 14 Sea Day Day 15 Vancouver to Newark 6-9 hr flight

[Budget Queen]

I don’t tightly plan flights. So I’d suggest allowing time for a flight on the return. I think you might do better with stepping back and continue fine tuning and not considering this fixed at this point. Especially with Talkeetna and you are completely missing the Mat Su. Which is loaded with activities.