Southcentral Alaska Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

• Kenai Peninsula
• Matanuska-Susitna Valley - Also known as the Mat-Su Valley

0°0′0″N 0°0′0″E

Map of Southcentral Alaska

• 61.216667-149.8936111 Anchorage - Alaska's largest city and seaport, located on the north end of Cook Inlet, between Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm.
• 59.777468-151.770222 Anchor Point
• 60.543944-145.7589173 Cordova
• 60.490529-149.7945194 Cooper Landing
• 61.3214-149.5685 Eagle River - Mostly residential area 10 mi (16 km) north of Anchorage.
• 60.9425-149.1663896 Girdwood - Home of Alaska's largest downhill ski area at Alyeska, and the 2007 US Alpine Ski Championships.
• 62.109722-145.5572227 Glennallen
• 59.6431-151.5268 Homer - A very popular fishing town at the end of the Sterling Highway, on Kachemak Bay.
• 60.554444-151.2583339 Kenai
• 61.4328-142.91110 McCarthy - A ghost town that lies within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. It was the town that served the workers at the Kennecott Copper Mines in the early 1900s.
• 60.4878-149.37111 Moose Pass - A two street town that hasn't changed much in the last 40 years. It's on the highway about 29 mi (47 km) north of Seward.
• 60.7078-151.26312 Nikiski
• 61.601944-149.11722213 Palmer - Alaska's first major farming community and lies in the Matanuska Valley about 40 mi (64 km) north of Anchorage.
• 60.124444-149.43333314 Seward - One of Alaska's major seaports that was used during World War II to protect its country. Major cruise lines stop here and the Alaska Railroad starts here.
• 60.486667-151.07527815 Soldotna
• 62.320833-150.10833316 Talkeetna - The closest major town to Denali, a 2.5 hour drive north of Anchorage and jump-off point for Denali mountain climbers & flight-seeing.
• 61.130833-146.34833317 Valdez - Farthest north ice-free port in the US and is at the beginning of the Richardson Highway. The terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (formerly Alyeska Pipeline).
• 61.582417-149.44255618 Wasilla - originally was a stop on the highway at Teeland's General store, but started developing in the 1970s after the Parks Highway was built, and has become a well-established town.
• 61.7694-149.99119 Willow - This town is now the beginning of the famous Iditarod Race, after its official start in Anchorage.
• 61.7969-145.18620 Willow Creek

• 59.917778-149.98751 Kenai Fjords National Park - at Kenai Fjords, glaciers, earthquakes, and ocean storms are the architects.
• 61.435-142.9536112 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve - the continent's largest assemblage of glaciers and greatest collection of peaks above 16,000 ft (4,900 m)
• 60.461389-149.1261113 Chugach National Forest - the second largest forest in the country and home to a network of trails for hiking and mt. biking.

Visitors will most likely arrive at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage (ANC ^IATA) with Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines. From Anchorage, the highway goes in two directions, either south to the Kenai Peninsula or north to the MatSu Valley (Palmer and Wasilla), where the road splits into either the Parks Highway (Denali, Fairbanks) or the Glenn Highway (Glennallen, Canada).

• Homer Airport (HOM  ^IATA) has flights from Anchorage with Ravn Alaska.
• Kenai Municipal Airport (ENA ^IATA) has flights from Anchorage.

• Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport (Cordova) (CDV ^IATA): Alaska Airlines has flights from Anchorage, Juneau, Seattle, and Yakutat as it is part of the 'milk run.' Ravn Alaska has flights to Anchorage.
• Valdez Airport (VDZ  ^IATA) has flights from Anchorage with Ravn Alaska.

The Alaska Railroad runs passenger trains to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula in the summer and north to Fairbanks year round.

There are plenty of rental car agencies in Anchorage, but it is important to book ahead in the high season.

Another way of getting here is the Alaska Marine Highway

There is a bus service south to the Kenai year round.

There is public transportation in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

• Iditarod Trail

Stay away from moose! Feeding them is dangerous and people have been killed by angered moose - they are much faster than they look!