Sights in Southcentral Alaska
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Bear Creek Winery
Wineries are scarcer than vineyards in Alaska, but this impressive family-run operation bottles some fine berry-based wines, plus fireweed mead and rhubarb vino. It conducts tours and tastings daily in the summer and sells its product on-site.
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Trans-Alaska Pipeline Terminal
Across the inlet from town, Valdez' ever-pumping heart once welcomed visitors, but since September 11, 2001, stricter security protocols have closed it to the public. From the end of Dayville Rd you can still get a peek at the facility, including the storage tanks holding nine million barrels of oil apiece. But heed the dire warnings: plenty of septuagenarian RVers have been pulled over and interrogated for getting too close.
Those truly interested in the terminal can learn more about it at Prince William Sound Community College, which for a fee offers a pipeline exhibit and thrice-daily 'video tour', featuring great photography and a narrative that amounts to little…
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Kennicott
In 1900 miners 'Tarantula Jack' Smith and Clarence Warner reconnoitered Kennicott Glacier's east side until they arrived at a creek and found traces of copper. They named the creek Bonanza, and was it ever - the entire mountainside turned out to hold some of the richest copper deposits ever uncovered. In the Lower 48, mines were digging up ore that contained 2% copper. Here, the veins would average almost 13%, while some contained as much as 70%.
Eventually, a group of investors bought the existing stakes and formed the Kennecott Copper Corporation, named when a clerical worker misspelled Kennicott (which is why, nowadays, the town is spelled with an 'e' while the river,…
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Kuskulana River Bridge
At Mile 17 of McCarthy Rd sits the one-lane, 525ft-long Kuskulana River Bridge, long known as 'the biggest thrill on the road to McCarthy.' Built in 1910, this historic railroad span is a vertigo-inducing 238ft above the bottom of the gorge. Though the state has added guard rails and new planks and thus taken some of the thrill out of the crossing, the view of the steep-sided canyon and rushing river from the bridge is awesome, and well worth the time to park at one end and walk back across it.
After rattling through another 43 miles of scrubby brush and thick forest - with few good mountain vistas and not many diversions en route - the road ends at the Kennicott River.…
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Homer Spit
- Homer, USA
- Sights › Waterfront
This long needle of land - a 4½-mile sand bar stretching into Kachemak Bay - is viewed by some folks as the most fun place in Alaska. Others wish another earthquake would come along and sink the thing. The Spit throbs all summer with tourist masses in unimaginable density, gobbling fish-and-chips, quaffing specialty coffees, getting chair massages, buying alpaca sweaters, arranging bear-watching trips, watching theatrical performances, and - oh yeah - going fishing in search of 300lb halibut.
The hub of all this activity is the small-boat harbor, one of the best facilities in Southcentral Alaska and home to more than 700 boats. Close by is the Seafarer's Memorial,…
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Exit Glacier
The marquee attraction of Kenai Fjords National Park and one of Alaska's most accessible glaciers, Exit Glacier was named by explorers crossing the Harding Ice Field who found the glacier a suitable way to 'exit' the ice and mountains. Now 3 miles long, it's believed the river of ice once extended all the way to Seward.
From the Exit Glacier Nature Center, the Outwash Plain Trail is an easy half-mile walk to the glacier's alluvial plain - a flat expanse of pulverized silt and gravel, cut through by braids of grey meltwater. The Overlook Loop Trail departs the first loop and climbs steeply to an overlook at the side of the glacier before returning; don't skip the short…
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Chitina
The end of Edgerton Hwy is 10 miles beyond Liberty Falls State Recreation Site, at little Chitina, the last place you can purchase gas. There's a grocery store here too, and a café, an art gallery and a ranger station. Backpackers can camp along the 3-mile road south to O'Brien Creek or beside Town Lake.
At Chitina, the McCarthy Rd begins, auspiciously enough, by passing through a single-lane notch blasted through a granite outcrop. From here 60 miles eastward you'll be tracing the abandoned Copper River & Northwest Railroad bed that was used to transport copper from the mines to Cordova. Though your around US$40-a-day rental car can usually travel this stretch during…
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McCarthy
Most local services are in the hamlet of McCarthy, an erstwhile ghost town so funky and cool you'll want to haunt the place yourself. Facing the Kennicott Glacier's terminal moraine and just a stone's throw from the river, the tiny community is a car-free idyll, where the handful of gravel roads wind past rotting cabins and lovingly restored boomtown-era buildings.
Alas, in the past few years the place has been 'discovered,' but the summer population still hits only about 200, and just a quarter stick it out for the winter.
Once you've crossed the Kennicott River on the footbridge, follow the road across another footbridge and about half a mile further to the unstaffed…
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Iditarod Trail Headquarters
Near Wasilla, Knik boasts a rich sled-dog history, since it's the home of many Alaskan mushers and checkpoint 4 on the route. For more information about this uniquely Alaskan race, stop in at Iditarod Trail Headquarters. The log-cabin museum's most unusual exhibit is Togo, the famous sled dog that led his team across trackless Norton Sound to deliver serum to diphtheria-threatened Nome in 1925 - a journey that gave rise to today's Iditarod.
He's been stuffed and is now on display. Outside, you can get a short sled-dog ride (around US$10, from 09:00 to 17:00) on a wheeled dogsled. The Iditarod, a famous 1100-mile dogsled race to Nome, begins in Anchorage - but only for the…
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Earthquake Memorial
Valdez has been unduly blessed by nature, but 17:46, March 27, 1964, was payback time. Some 45 miles west of town and 14 miles underground, a fault ruptured, triggering a magnitude-9.2 earthquake - the most powerful in American history. The land rippled like water as Valdez slid into the harbor; tsunamis destroyed what was left. Thirty-seven people died.
After the quake, survivors labored to relocate and rebuild Valdez at its present site. But if you drive out the Richardson Hwy you can still see the ghostly and overgrown foundations of Old Valdez. The Earthquake Memorial, listing the names of the dead, is reached by turning off the highway onto the unsigned gravel road…
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Earthquake Park
The gargantuan shaker of 1964 caused, among other things, 130ac (53ha) of land on the city's west side to slip 2000ft (610m) seaward. Part of that slipped strip was a neighbourhood that suffered 75 demolished homes and three deaths. The other end, fortunately undeveloped at the time, is today the site of Earthquake Park.
An interpretive walkway includes displays describing the effects of the quake and the tsunamis that followed.
The last stop on the display circuit is a series of benches from which panoramic views can be had of Anchorage's skyline set against the Chugach Mountains. On a clear day, you can see Mt McKinley and Mt Foraker, from the park's Tony Knowles Coast…
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Halibut Cove
Halibut Cove, an absurdly quaint village of 30 year-round residents, is the kind of place you'll wish you grew up in. In the early 1920s the cove supported 42 herring salteries and had a population of over 1000. Today it's home to the noted Saltry restaurant, a handful of art galleries, a warren of boardwalks - but no roads.
The Danny J travels to the cove twice daily. It departs Homer at 12:00, swings past Gull Island and arrives at 13:30. There, you have 2½ hours to explore and have lunch. The ferry returns to the Spit by 17:00 and then makes an evening run to the cove for dinner, returning to Homer at 22:00. The noon tour is dearer than the evening trip. Book through…
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Small-Boat Harbor
In Cordova, the standard greeting among locals is 'Been fishing?' Unsurprisingly, the harbor is the community's heart, humming throughout the season as fishers frantically try to meet their quota before the runs are closed. The fishing fleet is composed primarily of seiners and gillnetters, with the method used by the fishers determining the species of salmon they pursue. The former primarily target pink salmon, while the latter, generally one-person operations, go for kings and reds early in the season and silvers later on.
Watching over the hubbub is the Cordova Fisherman's Memorial, a quiet place dominated by artist Joan Bugbee Jackson's sculpture The Southeasterly…
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Homer Council of the Arts
The cold, dark season of unemployment has inspired a saying in these parts: 'If you're starving, you might as well be an artist.' Just browsing these great galleries is a treat, and on the first Friday of the month, many break out the wine and cheese, and stay open late for a series of openings all over town.
This is just the tip of the iceberg - grab a free Downtown Homer Art Galleries flyer at the visitors center with many more gallery listings, or stop by the Homer Council of the Arts, with its own awesome gallery and information on various tours.
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Remembering Old Valdez Annex
Operated by the Valdez Museum, the Remembering Old Valdez Annex is dominated by a scale model of the Old Valdez township. Each home destroyed in the Good Friday Earthquake has been painstakingly restored in miniature, with the family's name in front. Other exhibits on the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis and fires are moving, but none are as heart-wrenching as the recordings of ham-radio operators communicating across the Sound as the quake wore on.
This is a fitting memorial to the lives and countless memories lost on Valdez' darkest day.
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Harbormaster's Office
The interesting small-boat harbor, at the northern end of 4th Ave, hums during the summer with fishing boats, charter vessels, cruise ships and a number of sailboats. At its heart is the Harbormaster's Office. Look for the huge anchors outside. Radiating outward from the docks are seasonal restaurants, espresso bars, tourist offices, hotels and almost any other service the visitor might want. There are also picnic tables and a free sighting scope overlooking the harbor and the bay. A paved bike trail leads to the (other) city center.
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Benny Benson Memorial
This humble monument at the corner of the Seward Hwy and Dairy Hill Ln honors Seward's favorite son, Benny Benson. In 1926 the orphaned 13-year-old Alaska Native boy submitted his design for the Alaska state flag, arguably the loveliest in the Union. His stellar design (you can see one of his first at the library) includes the North Star, symbolizing the northernmost state, the Great Bear constellation for strength, and a blue background for both the sky and the forget-me-not, Alaska's state flower. Seward will never forget.
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Musk Ox Farm
The Musk Ox Farm is the only domestic herd of these big, shaggy beasts in the world. These Ice-Age critters are intelligent enough to have evolved a complex social structure that allows survival under incredibly harsh conditions. Yes, you'll probably get to pet them, too. Qiviut, the incredibly warm, soft and pricey (around US$60 per ounce) material made from the musk ox's soft undercoat, is harvested here; fine sweaters and hats are for sale in the gift shop. Tours are given every half-hour.
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Prime Select Seafoods
Every summer, Cordova's population swells with youths hoping to make a mint canning salmon on 30-hour shifts. Whether you're curious about the effects of sleep deprivation on adventurous teenagers or just want to see how some of the finest salmon in the world is processed, ask at the chamber of commerce about canneries offering tours. You can watch your own catch get processed at Prime Select Seafoods, a smaller-scale operation that packs salmon and ships it to your home.
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St Nicholas Orthodox Church
Seldovia's most popular attraction by far is this onion-domed church, St Nicholas Orthodox Church, which overlooks the town from a hill just off Main St. Built in 1891 and restored in the 1970s, the church is open on weekday afternoons, when you can go inside to view the exquisite icons. Also notice the chandelier, made from old barrel staves. Although there's no resident clergyman, every so often the priest from Nanwalek travels here to conduct services.
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bore tide
Try to catch the bore tide, a neat trick of geography that concentrates the incoming tide into a wall of water up to 6ft tall, which rushes along Turnagain Arm at 15mph daily. Schedules are available at any Anchorage visitors center; note that the most intense waves occur around a new or full moon. Top spots for viewing this satisfyingly loud phenomenon include Beluga Point (Mile 110) and Bird Point (Mile 96).
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Small-Boat Harbor
Valdez' harbor is a classic: raucous with gulls and eagles, reeking of fish guts and sea salt and creosote, and home to all manner of vessels - even a Chinese junk. The benches and long boardwalk are ideal for watching lucky anglers weighing in 100lb or 200lb halibut, and for taking in the fairytale mountainscape in the background. Nearby is the civic center, which has more picnic tables and panoramic vistas.
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Beluga Point
Try to catch the bore tide, a neat trick of geography that concentrates the incoming tide into a wall of water up to 6ft tall, which rushes along Turnagain Arm at 15mph daily. Schedules are available at any Anchorage visitors center; note that the most intense waves occur around a new or full moon. Top spots for viewing this satisfyingly loud phenomenon include Beluga Point.
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Bird Point
Try to catch the bore tide, a neat trick of geography that concentrates the incoming tide into a wall of water up to 6ft tall, which rushes along Turnagain Arm at 15mph daily. Schedules are available at any Anchorage visitors center; note that the most intense waves occur around a new or full moon. Top spots for viewing this satisfyingly loud phenomenon include Bird Point.
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Crow Creek Mine
Girdwood was named for James Girdwood, who staked the first claim on Crow Creek in 1896. Two years later the Crow Creek Mine was built and today you can still see some original buildings and sluices at this working mine. You can even learn how to pan for gold and then give it a try yourself (adult/child around US$5/around US$4) or pitch the tent and spend the night ($5).
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