Things to do in Valdez
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
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 mor…
reviewed
-
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 j…
reviewed
-
A
H20 Heli-Guides
To a certain set of unhinged individuals, Valdez is legendary not for its oil spill or its earthquake, but for being the place to strap on skis, slip from a helicopter and plunge into the snowy abyss. This is the Holy Land of extreme skiing.
H20 Heli-Guides has three-day heli-skiing packages - including lodging. Alas, the ski season lasts only from February to the end of April; after that, extremists will have to settle for H20's mellower summer offerings - for instance, spending a day with crampons and ice-axes, scaling a sheer blue-ice cliff on Worthington Glacier.
reviewed
-
B
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.
reviewed
-
Pangaea Adventures
Pangaea Adventures has received great reader recommendations for its guided tours, ranging from a three-hour trip on Duck Flats to a day trip to Columbia Glacier. It also does longer custom tours and rents kayaks.
Valdez is a kayaker's paradise, though folks sticking to the bay will be rewarded with views of seagulls fighting over cannery offal for the first hour or so. Independent kayakers should be aware of no-go zones around the pipeline terminal and moving tankers.
reviewed
-
Valdez Heli-Ski Guides
Since extreme skiing exploded here a decade ago, numerous companies have cropped up to capitalize. Valdez Heli-Ski Guides offers a day of heli-skiing (usually six runs).
To a certain set of unhinged individuals, Valdez is legendary not for its oil spill or its earthquake, but for being the place to strap on skis, slip from a helicopter and plunge into the snowy abyss. This is the Holy Land of extreme skiing.
reviewed
-
C
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.
reviewed
-
D
Pipeline Club
Valdez' favorite drinkery, this swanky lounge has occasional live music, plus karaoke, darts, pool and virtual golf. It's the watering hole where Captain Hazelwood had his famous scotch-on-the-rocks before running the Exxon Valdez aground. If only he'd played virtual golf instead…
reviewed
-
E
Lu-Lu Belle Glacier Wildlife Cruises
Takes the dainty and ornately appointed MV Lu-Lu Belle into Columbia Bay where, unless winds have cleared away the ice, wildlife is more the attraction than glacier-calving. The tour departs during the afternoon.
reviewed
-
F
Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises
Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises runs seven-hour boat tours to Columbia Glacier (adult/child $112/56) and a nine-hour tour that also includes Meares Glacier (adult/child $147/73).
reviewed
Advertisement
-
G
Valdez Museum
The Valdez Museum is packed with displays, including the first barrel of oil to flow from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and photos of Valdez being shaken by the 1964 Good Friday earthquake.
reviewed
-
Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum
The Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum is devoted to Alaska Native culture and Alaskan wildlife, and features ivory and baleen artwork and natural-history displays.
reviewed
-
H
Fu Kung
In a structure that wonderfully fuses Asian and Alaskan themes, this restaurant has fantastic Chinese food and lunch specials including egg roll and quality wonton soup.
reviewed
-
I
Mike's Palace
This dingy little waterfront diner has a menu that spans the continents, with everything from Rueben on rye to chicken cacciatore.
reviewed
-
J
Anadyr Adventures
Anadyr Adventures offers kayak rentals (single/double per day $45/65), water-taxi service and guided day trips.
reviewed
-
Keystone Raft & Kayak Adventures
For white-water enthusiasts, Keystone Raft & Kayak Adventures runs raft trips on the Class IV Tsaina River.
reviewed
-
K
Bad Ass Coffee
This coffee shop, in a cheery harbor-view location, pours good-ass coffee and serves fish tacos and deli sandwiches.
reviewed
-
L
Ernesto's Taqueria
Locally loved, this place serves large portions of serviceable Mexican food with a selection of Mexican beer.
reviewed
-
M
Eagle Quality Center
With its fine sandwich and salad bar, this grocery store is among Valdez' best places for a bite.
reviewed
-
N
Egan Street Pub
This pub, at Glacier Sound Inn, keeps at least three microbrews on tap at all times.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
O
Alaska Halibut House
Frying up delicious local fish, this place is what every fast-food joint should be.
reviewed
-
P
Valdez Club Bar
Fisherfolk swap stories of the sea at this smoky waterfront saloon.
reviewed
