Thanks guys we’ve made a few adjustments off some of your advice to make each day about 5 hours of drive time (5 hours according to google maps without stops, we’ll see how accurate that is??)

First night in Palmer, then Valdez, then Delta Junction, then zip through FBKS and stay at one of the lodges near Healy, then another lodge outside of Wasilla, then the last night in Anchorage for the early flight home.

I don’t want to ride the bus into Denali, is it worth driving into Savage River or wherever the road closure starts?

The Stampede Trail bus was popular, but has been relocated, so can't recommend that one.
Bag the Kenai. Listen to the above suggestions, and you will have a great trip.

When you get on the road check….511.Alaska.gov….for road conditions and it also shows points of interest. I would recommend the 20 miles or so of paved Denali Highway from Paxton to Tangle Lakes. In September the colors will be worth it IMO.
The road goes through the Alaska Range so after Summit Lake stop and scan the mountain sides and sheep, caribou, bear, moose can be seen if you spend scanning with Binoculars. Lots of pullouts to do viewing. Being hunting season might effect seeing game.
Heading south on the Parks Highway after Healy the same viewing of the mountain sides the same game can be seen. Cantwell can have Caribou along the road.
Parks Highway is high speed travel so viewing is not as good as the Richardson which is a little more layed back.
The best sections of your trip you have planned is Glennallen to Valdez and if you drive into Tangle Lakes are our favorite.
The Richardson will have mostly travelers returning from Valdez to Delta and Fairbanks towing boats and hunters. Not much truck traffic. Parks has all the truck traffic and travelers both ways between Fairbanks and Anchorage.

I agree with Oh Snap about the short trip to Tangle Lakes. I would do that before I made the trip to Savage River. To me, the drive into Denali isn't worth it until you get as far as the Toklat River. Then the geology gets interesting. I would NEVER ride the bus into the park. Maybe in the future you can put in for the road lottery that allows private vehicles all the way to Wonder Lake or even Kantishna.

It isn't hard to draw a pass if you do some planning. The downside is all the flatlanders gawking at a squirrel.


A good read.......if you are interested in Denali is.......The Wilderness of Denali by Charles Sheldon. It's out of print but you can buy an electronic copy from Amazon I believe. Or hit your local library

Thanks for the info White and Snap, I’ve never had a good experience with a national park, between the traffic, tourists and uppity Park Service staff. I haven’t been to one that i thoroughly enjoyed and I know I won’t enjoy a bus ride with those same people so I think I’ll skip Savage River.

On another subject, my wife just encouraged me to look into bird hunting while we’re there, nothing serious just bring a shotgun and try to find some ptarmigan when we are exploring around. I’ve been reading ADFG site all morning. Could one expect to have an opportunity at a ptarmigan in the areas we will be traveling? The F&G website makes it sound like they are pretty widespread depending on which type of ptarmigan.

I'm not real familiar with that part of the state for bird hunting but I would not be at all surprised to find ptarmigan in that country between Paxson and Tangle Lakes. Be prepared to hike though !!

In fact..........I think Gulo has written on here about shooting them in that area.

There will likely be moose and caribou hunters along there also

I have hunted Ptarmigan quite a bit between Donley Dome just south of Delta to Sourdough Creek as well as out of Paxton on the Denali and on good years did well. I usually hunted in the winter on snow shoes though.

Oh Snap mentioned the good ptarmigan areas. I usually find them in those areas during September, early mornings and late evenings seem to be the best time for me and I also tend to find them along creek drainage's or up in the berries. Its always above treeline in the alders and willows or the tundra. From Paxson lodge to Tangle Lakes and around Summit Lake are usually the most productive that time of year.

You might bring a light tackle fly or spinning rod. All of the creeks along the road from Valdez area have trout and from Glennallen to Summit Lake have greyling usually the culverts hold fish. Fresh greyling and ptarmigan over a fire with blueberries for desert is killer!

I hunted ptarmigan dozens of times (maybe hundreds) along the Denali back in the 80s. However, there are tremendous ups-and-downs in their populations, and I'm not sure what the populations are like right now. A couple miles east of Tangle River up on Rock Creek is one of the very few places I've ever found where a long day of hunting can be rewarded with finding all three species of ptarmigan. Willow ptarmigan are most common, and are usually right alongside the road. More rocky, open, and higher elevation country has a few rock ptarmigan. On tops of the range of foothills before the Alaska Range, we infrequently could find a few white-tailed ptarmigan. I know of very few hunters that can claim all three species in a single day's hunt. Used to be a daily bag limit of 20 birds, but I know that has diminished considerably since that time. Along with the good chances of seeing moose, caribou, and Dall sheep along the Denali, I've seen grizzlies commonly, wolves, and surprisingly, quite a few wolverine. Also, Rock Creek, right along the road, has some of the biggest grayling I've ever caught, up to 22" and supremely beautiful. Far as I'm concerned, however, I'd rather east a stack of soggy paper towels.

Back in the 80s, too, I could usually find spruce grouse and periodically a sharp-tailed grouse along the road between Paxson and Gakona.



Best of Luck on your trip, sir.

Jack

Gulo, Snap, White, Bronco,

Thanks for all the info! I’m thinking the day driving the Richardson will be our longest day due to all the stops and especially now with all this added info. I wasn’t even planning on trying to hunt something on our anniversary trip but my wife encouraged it so why not.

One final annoying lower 48er question! It appears a lot of the waterfowl seasons open on September 1 in at least the southern areas, I don’t really care to shoot any ducks I can shoot at home but the ultimate prize for me would would be a Harlequin, how common are those in those southern zones? Or do most people hunt waterfowl on the coast out of boats? Ie, a guy jump shooting little creeks and what not would have a tough time finding a Harlequin?

Yeah RockCrick, the harlequins spend a bit of time on little mountain creeks during breeding, but the males return to the ocean soon after breeding. The females, of course, stay with the nests and the brooding through the summer, and then they too return to the ocean. I've shot a lot of harley's around Kodiak and Prince William Sound, and a few in SE around Sitka, but your chances of finding a fall or winter harley away from the coast are just about zip. Sorry for the bad news... There is a slight chance for long-tailed ducks (oldsquaws) on some of the bigger interior lakes, but I've never shot 'em except on the ocean.

Jack

Thanks for the insight. I mostly only interested in a drake to take home to the taxidermist, try to not shoot hens of anything anyways. I think it’s only a $10 state duck stamp on top of the license I’ll be buying already and I’ll have the federal stamp for this fall anyways. Worst that can happen is I get a souvenir state duck stamp from Alaska, I suppose. We will be in Valdez for a night so who, knows maybe I’ll get lucky. $10 isn’t anything when compared to the money we’re already spending for the entire trip.

Gulo, you continue to amaze me with ALL your knowledge. It is a gift to me from you that you haven't been thanked enough for. THANKS

I saw that same photo hanging in the post office !!

I agree Paul, having the chance to pick Gulo's brain is a real gift !

I hunt around the Denali Hwy each fall, and the Ptarmigan numbers have been dismal for several years now. Not sure why. I'd rather spend money on a fishing license and bring a light spinning rod. You could catch anything from a Silver (Coho) Salmon in Valdez harbor, stream trout and Grayling almost anywhere. Have fun!

Have a great trip and enjoy Alaska, Rock Crick!!!!!

Moosetrot

30 ought, thanks for the info.

Moose, thanks as well. I’m pretty dang excited to say the least. Been waiting for this for a long time.

The best place I know to see dall sheep pretty close is just south of ANC along Turnagain Arm. Not sure of the milepost but google it and I'm sure there are photos galore on the web. Sometimes they are right on the side of the road. White mentioned the ferry ride from Whittier to Valdez. Good Idea. Others said the Kenai not worth it. I would say the drive from ANC to Seward is well worth the time, very scenic, then you can check the Kenai off your list. Then backtrack to Whittier for the ferry ride to Valdez. Might even at least see some harlequins. Then Valdez to Paxson, Paxson to Cantwell via Denali Highway. Panorama Mountain just outside Cantwell holds Dall Sheep. Then to Fairbanks, fly home out of Fairbankas.

Wait, no southeast? Sea ducks galore! Rafts of Scoters numbering in the thousands! The sound of a huge raft taking off can't be described.
Bears are a constant problem, and whales are abundant, to say the least. At times, (now), they are in the harbors.
This part of Alaska requires it's own visit, to be sure. If Harlequins are on your list, this is the place.