Frommers Article on Alaska Scenic Drives

[GMoney]

I thought this might be helpful / interesting...

 

http://www.frommers.com/articles/4847.html

[Yukon]

I thought this might be helpful / interesting...

 

http://www.frommers.com/articles/4847.html

 

Yikes - do they ever need a pre-publication fact-checker at Frommer's! :(

[msmoger]

Yikes - do they ever need a pre-publication fact-checker at Frommer's! :(

 

We'll be doing some of those drives for the first time in July. I'm curious as to what some of the inaccuracies are :confused:

 

Thanks,

[Budget Queen]

We'll be doing some of those drives for the first time in July. I'm curious as to what some of the inaccuracies are :confused:

 

Thanks,

 

One big one, in my opinion -with the 6 hour drive Anchorage/Fairbanks. That would be in perfect conditions with no one on the road. :) No mention of Denali Park???

[Yukon]

We'll be doing some of those drives for the first time in July. I'm curious as to what some of the inaccuracies are :confused:

 

- "Alaska's Seward Highway is generally a one-lane road..." - it's mostly 2 lanes with lots of 4-lane sections. One-lane roads are what runs into small mines.

 

- "While the highway's southernmost point, the town of Seward, lies due south of Anchorage, the road winds its way down to the Kenai Peninsula." - I don't know what he's trying to say there.

 

- "The highway was surrounded by the Chugach Mountains and alpine meadows..." - the Chugach Mountains are on one side, not surrounding the highway, and the meadows are a long way above the highway along that section of it. Alpine meadows do surround the highway at Turnagain Pass, though.

 

- "...each side of the road became filled with purple wildflowers..." - any Alaskan could have told him about fireweed.

 

- "Seward and Resurrection Bay were flanked by mountains on all sides, with glacial islands and fjords appearing in the distance." - I don't know what a glcial island is, but Resurrection Bay is a glacial fjord so you don't have to look far.

 

- "...the Seward Highway is also known for the many Dall sheep that congregate up in the mountains..." - it's most known for the Dall sheep that congregate right beside the highway along Turnagain Arm.

 

- "The trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks takes nearly 6 hours..." - it's over 360 miles, much of it in traffic, so you figure it out. You'd be hard-pressed to do it in even 7 hours.

 

- "...passing by strip malls in Anchorage's northern suburb of the Matsuhana Valley..." - you pass the coastal end of the Matanuska Valley, but the strip malls start in the community of Wasilla, where residents hate being called an Anchorage suburb.

 

- "I rounded past the town of Willow and caught my first glimpse of Mount McKinley, which dominated the view even though it was still 200 miles away..." - it's "only" 100 miles from the first views at Kashwitna Lake.

 

- "Surprisingly, the terrain became almost desert-like, carved along sand-colored stone mountains and through open, dusty land. While driving through an isolated stretch, with treeless plains and nothing but a decaying gas station in the distance, I felt like I was in the American Southwest, not Alaska." - he's apparently mixed up notes from a trip somewhere else. That's the most bizarre description of Broad Pass I've ever heard.

 

- "While on the last leg of the trip, keep your eye out for the small river enclave of Nanana..." - you drive through Nenana (note the spelling) so if your eyes are open you won't miss it! It's a major shipping point for the barges that serve the no-road-access communities along the Tanana and Yukon Rivers.

 

- "The easy highlight of the trip came last, as the Parks Highway approached Fairbanks. The road was at a peak, and seemed suspended above the wide expanse of the Chena Valley,..." - the highway uses a high undulating ridge to stay out of the muskeg bogs down in the Tanana Valley - there is no peak.

 

- "From the glaciers along the Gulf coast, to Denali's vibrant wildlife, to the old abandoned gold-panning dregs around Fairbanks..." - I assume he means the glaciers along the Kenai Peninsula, and they're "gold dredges".

[dhmom99]

- "Alaska's Seward Highway is generally a one-lane road..." - it's mostly 2 lanes with lots of 4-lane sections. One-lane roads are what runs into small mines.

 

- "While the highway's southernmost point, the town of Seward, lies due south of Anchorage, the road winds its way down to the Kenai Peninsula." - I don't know what he's trying to say there.

 

- "The highway was surrounded by the Chugach Mountains and alpine meadows..." - the Chugach Mountains are on one side, not surrounding the highway, and the meadows are a long way above the highway along that section of it. Alpine meadows do surround the highway at Turnagain Pass, though.

 

- "...each side of the road became filled with purple wildflowers..." - any Alaskan could have told him about fireweed.

 

- "Seward and Resurrection Bay were flanked by mountains on all sides, with glacial islands and fjords appearing in the distance." - I don't know what a glcial island is, but Resurrection Bay is a glacial fjord so you don't have to look far.

 

- "...the Seward Highway is also known for the many Dall sheep that congregate up in the mountains..." - it's most known for the Dall sheep that congregate right beside the highway along Turnagain Arm.

 

- "The trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks takes nearly 6 hours..." - it's over 360 miles, much of it in traffic, so you figure it out. You'd be hard-pressed to do it in even 7 hours.

 

- "...passing by strip malls in Anchorage's northern suburb of the Matsuhana Valley..." - you pass the coastal end of the Matanuska Valley, but the strip malls start in the community of Wasilla, where residents hate being called an Anchorage suburb.

 

- "I rounded past the town of Willow and caught my first glimpse of Mount McKinley, which dominated the view even though it was still 200 miles away..." - it's "only" 100 miles from the first views at Kashwitna Lake.

 

- "Surprisingly, the terrain became almost desert-like, carved along sand-colored stone mountains and through open, dusty land. While driving through an isolated stretch, with treeless plains and nothing but a decaying gas station in the distance, I felt like I was in the American Southwest, not Alaska." - he's apparently mixed up notes from a trip somewhere else. That's the most bizarre description of Broad Pass I've ever heard.

 

- "While on the last leg of the trip, keep your eye out for the small river enclave of Nanana..." - you drive through Nenana (note the spelling) so if your eyes are open you won't miss it! It's a major shipping point for the barges that serve the no-road-access communities along the Tanana and Yukon Rivers.

 

- "The easy highlight of the trip came last, as the Parks Highway approached Fairbanks. The road was at a peak, and seemed suspended above the wide expanse of the Chena Valley,..." - the highway uses a high undulating ridge to stay out of the muskeg bogs down in the Tanana Valley - there is no peak.

 

- "From the glaciers along the Gulf coast, to Denali's vibrant wildlife, to the old abandoned gold-panning dregs around Fairbanks..." - I assume he means the glaciers along the Kenai Peninsula, and they're "gold dredges".

 

LOL. I showed this thread to DH and convinced him why CC board is the best place to research our trip. Thank you!