Coast to Coast Self-Drive from Whitehorse to Anchorage or v.v: 14 days,

Discover the highlights of Alaska and Yukon on our 14 day, mostly self drive itinerary which features six different national parks and a variety of means of travel. You’ll experience the awe inspiring scenery of Glacier Bay, the majesty of Kluane National Park, the grandeur of Denali National Park and the Fjords of the Kenai Peninsula.

Day 1 - Arrival in Whitehorse, Yukon

Situated on the Yukon River, the capital Whitehorse, known as the ‘wilderness city’, is home to just 22,000 people. Specific attractions include the SS Klondike, one of the few remaining paddlewheel ships that used to travel the river to Dawson City, and the MacBride Museum. You’ll stay at the Inn on the Lake, 30miles from downtown.

Day 2 - Whitehorse – Skagway 112miles/181km

Your route will include the Southern Lakes, the headwaters of the Yukon River drainage, and old mining sites. The road climbs to the high tundra and crosses into British Columbia. At Fraser you’ll board the 19th century gold railway, an engineering marvel, which climbs to the 873m White Pass.

Skagway, located at the top of the Lynn Channel, owes its history to the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s when the town was a vibrant, ruthless and wild place, those heady days recorded in local museums. Accommodation is at the Skagway Inn.

3 and 4 - Glacier Bay

A short and scenic flight along the Lynn Channel will take you over massive icefields to the seaside town of Gustavus, the gateway to Glacier Bay National Park and only reachable by air or sea. Included in the holiday is a trip around the Bay, accompanied by a Park naturalist, revealing sixteen immense glaciers as well as a variety of marine life (sea birds, Humpback and Orca whales, otters…). You’ll stay for two nights at Gustavus Inn in beautiful Bartlett Cove.

Day 5 Haines

You’ll fly to Haines located on the west arm of the Lynn Channel, collect your hire car and drive into town. Haines’ economy is based on fisheries and logging rather than tourism and is a place where the local Chilkat and Chilkoot Indians traded fur with both Russians and Americans. It’s also renowned for its Bald Eagles who line the Chilkat River. Accommodation is at the Bear Lodge.

Day 6 and 7 - Haines Junction

This 160 mile route links the ‘lower 48’ states of the US with Alaska and takes in the magnificently scenic Coastal Mountains, icefields, glaciers and a wide range of wildlife as you travel above the tree line and into the high tundra. Close to Haines Junction you will pass along the base of the St. Elias Range and the gateway to Kluane National Park. Your accommodation at the Dalton Trail Lodge is located on the shores of Dezadeash Lake.
During your stay several outfitting companies can arrange activities ranging from the cultural (a guided First Nations tour for example) to the high adrenaline (whitewater rafting on the Tatshenshini River). We will also include your choice of a private guided hike along the trails of Kluane National Park, or a scenic flight above the glaciers, river and icefields of Kluane. 

Day 8 -  Tok

A long day’s driving (300 miles) along the Alaska Highway, allowing for stops for wildlife, hikes, snacks etc. You will be driving parallel to the Kluane Range which contains 14 of the 17 highest mountains in North America and the largest non-polar icefields in the world, with Kluane Lake, the largest in the Yukon, lying to the east of the highway. You’ll spend the night at the unique Log Cabin Wilderness Lodge nestled in a secluded valley at the edge of the great Copper Basin.

Day 9 - Fairbanks

Follow the Tanacross River valley to Delta Junction, the terminus for the Alaska Highway and where you can see the great Alaska Pipeline. Towards Fairbanks the valley broadens along the Tanana River. Fairbanks, 200 miles from Tok and Alaska’s second largest city, is situated at the confluence of the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Accommodation is at the Pikes Waterfront Resort.

Day 10 and 11 - Denali National Park

Leave your car and travel for 4 hours aboard the Alaska Railway, with its domed cars and exterior viewing platforms, to Denali and its majestic Mt. McKinley. For the last leg of the journey – some 95 miles – you’ll transfer to a bus which will take you deep into the heart of the Park accompanied by a naturalist.
Stay at the Denali Backcountry Lodge in the abandoned gold mining district of Kantishna.

Day 12 – Anchorage

You’ll leave the lodge by plane, with great views of the mountains, and continue by train to Anchorage, the commercial and financial hub of the state situated on Cook Inlet. Your hotel for the night is the Captain Cook.

Day 13 - Seward

Cross the width of the Kenai Peninsula by the dramatic Seward highway, which showcases an outstanding assortment of scenic, natural, historic and cultural attractions. From Seward there’s a boat tour of the pristine Kenai Fjords National Park in the afternoon, including a visit to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. You’ll spend the night at Windsong Lodge in a woodland setting in a spectacular glacier river valley.


Day 14 -Anchorage

From Seward you will travel north on the Richardson Highway back to the Kenai Peninsula across Turnagain Arm with time to stop for a coastal hike at Potter. Accommodation is again at the Hotel Captain Cook.

Departures from May to August.

This itinerary is also offered in reverse, please ask your consultant for more details.