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 the summer, the route is rugged and ill-maintained, is a lane-and-a-half wide at best, and often seems intent on shaking your teeth loose. If you average 30mph, you're flying.

The first few miles offer spectacular views of the Chugach Mountains, the east-west range that separates the Chitina Valley lowlands from the Gulf of Alaska. Peaks average 7000ft to 8000ft. You'll also cross the mighty Copper River, where it's possible to see a dozen fish wheels or, if your timing is right, hordes of dipnetters who descend in July and August to scoop up red and king salmon. To accommodate these hordes, a small, free campground with eight sites sits next to the east side of the Copper River Bridge. There are countless informal campsites on the riverbanks.