Alaska Road Trip in the Summer—10 Day Itinerary

If you have always wanted to explore Alaska by car, this is a must read. My friend, Cayla, recently took a breath-taking road trip through Alaska that made me want to immediately board a plane to follow in her footsteps. She graciously mapped out everything you need to know for a gorgeous drive/hike/camp through Alaska.

Check out her guest post below for all of her travel tips and a full itinerary for your 10 day road trip through Alaska.

Guest post by: Cayla Platt, Season 33 Contestant on The Amazing Race

Travel Prep

This trip is best for Alaska’s summer season. I can’t give you much insight on how these hikes/driving would be in the winter. Beautiful, I’m sure, but I don’t know how accessible.

We did it in the beginning of shoulder season so we got a discount on the van because it’s a very slow time for Alaska and typically rainy, but we only ran into rain twice so we got very lucky with weather.

A lot of the typical tourist stuff is closed especially in Homer. We mostly wanted to hike and camp this trip so it was awesome timing for us… we rarely saw anyone on all of our hikes (which we loved) and only ran into an issue with two campsites being full. 

Rent a Van

We booked our van through Get Lost Vans about 1.5 months in advance. We had originally planned to do 14 days but the van was only available for 10 so the itinerary below was originally for 14 days but we made it happen in 10!

  • Kettle $10
  • Coffee press $10
  • 24/7 roadside assistance $90
  • Windshield and tire insurance $8/day (highly recommend because if you drive around Alaska you’ll see almost everyone’s windshield is cracked and that could save you like $300)

Van Highlights

  • It has running water which was a huge surprise for us. You can dump the water at most campsites and to refill we used the hose at Chevron gas stations, but my recommendation would be to ask the Get Lost Van people ahead of time for water refill stations that they know of at each location/town you plan on going because that would have saved us a lot of time, ha. (I don’t know if they have a list but it’s worth a shot)
  • Fridge
  • Separate battery for lights and power ports so you don’t drain the car battery when you are parked camping!
  • The grill came with all the utensils and cookware you need and propane (maybe get an extra bottle if you plan on cooking most of your meals)! 

Tips for the Sleep Nest on the Top of the Van

  • Make sure when you pop it you keep both zippers closed for the window because one is for bugs but the other one keeps it insulated and warm. We slept so amazing up there!
  • We brought a lantern for up there which was super helpful.
  • Also, if it does rain, when you go to close the nest before driving, close it from the front first and then quickly step away…. otherwise you will get drenched.. I learned the hard way ☺

Packing Tips

  • Bring cash for all campgrounds – all were $15 – $30
  • Bring your own kindling if you want to have a campfire (most campsites didn’t sell wood but you can collect your own)
  • If you can come in a day early to do all your grocery shopping for your camping meals that would be ideal for time purposes.
  • Make sure you bring bear spray and have it on ALL hikes
  • It’s a pretty packed itinerary so if you only have 10 days, do a little research beforehand on how early you need to get moving each morning for the drive/hikes to fit it all in! You can purchase an Alaska Milepost, which is great to have for road tripping Alaska!

Alaska Travel Tips

  • If you stop for coffee/breakfast I HIGHLY recommend the tiny drive-thru coffee shacks (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you get there!)
  • My brother-in-law took us up in his plane, but there are a ton of companies that will take you up for like an hour. Not sure on the cost, but if you want to do that I recommend going over a glacier specifically so check before hand!
  • There are a lot of driving stretches with NO gas stations! I recommend filling up every time you see a gas station if you are around half a tank just in case! We were never in a bind because we did this!

10 Day Hiking Alaska Road Trip Itinerary

Day 1 and 2 I’m giving you two options because depending on Denali campground availability you can do either. Option 1 was our original plan but we didn’t make a reservation in time so we actually did option 2 but it was still amazing!

OPTION 1

Day 1: 

  • Scoop van at Get Lost Vans in Anchorage (9am)
  • Drive to Denali
  • Savage River Loop Hike (easy) Recommend going past the bridge a little ways before looping back! Wish we had binoculars because a lot of people were seeing mountain sheep up in the rocks past the bridge but we couldn’t see them without binoculars.

Day 2

OPTION 2

Day 1: 

Day 2

Day 3

  • Granite Tors Hike 15 miles (hard but VERY worth it- when you get to the rocks and areas at the top look for stacked rocks to guide your path or tent poles, we also extremely recommend using the AllTrails app to help make sure you’re on the right path). Give yourself 8-10 hours to fully enjoy it and take a lunch break towards the top (we did it in 7 hours but hustled because we got a very late start lol) Pack lots of water and lunch.
  • We brought hiking poles for this hike but to be honest the trail is very narrow most of the time and the trees/branches are very tight at spots which made it hard to use them so it was kind of a hassle.

Day 4

  • Angel Rock hike (easy/moderate)
    • Camp at Chena Hot Springs Campground/Resort (depending on time of visit may want to book a reservation, you can stay in the van at the campground or they have cute little cabins to rent)
    • Visit/relax in the Hot Springs $15 good all day/night (bring your own towel)
    • Ice Museum on property $15 (we did it mostly for the Appletini they serve in an ice cocktail glass $15)
  • Ask the front desk about the glass cabin up the hill behind the hot springs because a staff told us it’s the best place to see the Aurora lights! We didn’t see them but we did bring wine, weed, and games up there to chill haha. If you stay in the cabin you can ask for an Aurora call and they will call you in the middle of the night to wake you up if the Aurora lights are visible! 
  • There is plenty to do at Chena Hot Springs Resort/Campground so if you are beat from the day before Granite Tors hike you can skip the Angel Rocks hike and do one of the excursions Chena Hot Springs offers.

Day 5

  • Driving day. Drive towards Delta Junction then take the Richardson Highway south towards Glenallen. 
    • Camp at this Google location: ALASCOM Access Road, Palmer, AK 99645

Day 6

  • Drive to Hatchers Pass
  • Hike April Bowl (easy/moderate) in the AM
  • Check out Independence Mine
  • Hike Gold Cord Lake (easy) (if it’s the summer time you can swim)
    • Camp at Eklutna Lake Campground (very busy spot we got lucky, not sure if you can make reservations ahead of time but if so I recommend) If this spot is full then camp on Knik River.

Day 7

  • Drive to Homer (want to get there by noon at the latest so you will have to leave earlyyyy)
  • Take Mako Water Taxi  ($85) across the Kachemak Bay to do the Grewingk Glacier Hike (easy) Make sure you do all parts of the trail to get to the tram!
  • Salty Dog Saloon – where all the Deadliest Catch fishers go – hole in the wall very salty!
    • Camp at Ninilchik Deep Creek Campground (on the water)
    • There is also another RV/campground called Whiskey Point in Whiskey Gulch that has 2 cute little cabins on the cliff/water for $150 if you wanted to stay there one night if they are vacant instead of the van.

Day 8

  • Drive to Seward
  • Stop at Brew@602 for coffee and breakfast!
  • Harding Icefield Trail and Exit Glacier (hard) – we started at 2pm and made it back in time before dark but if you aren’t much of a hiker or are sore from previous days I would start this hike no later than 11am so you can take your time, it is verrrry steep. We did the Harding Icefield Trail first then hit Exit Glacier viewpoint at the end! I recommend poles and layers of clothes because it gets significantly colder the closer you get to the top/glacier.

Day 9

  • Drive to Whittier (check weather, “Whittier is always Shittier” but on a non rainy day it will NOT disappoint)
  • Whittier tunnel (check tunnel times so you aren’t sitting waiting too long)
  • Portage Pass hike (moderate)
  • Girdwood Brewery
  • Spoonline for dinner!!
    • Treat yourselves and stay at Alyeska Resort & Hotel. Otherwise just google what campground is open in Whittier or Girdwood.

Day 10

  • Head back to Anchorage; free day to do touristy stuff in Anchorage
  • 49th State Brewery is a must – request rooftop seating 
  • Anchorage has some awesome Gin distilleries if they are open I recommend checking those out 
  • Return van in Anchorage (we did the latest time which was 6pm)

Other Things to Do and See in Alaska

Outside of this itinerary, if you have more time (or want to alter it), I suggest spending more time in the general Seward area. On a previous trip I took to Alaska, I did a boat tour to go whale watching, which was awesome. I can’t remember the company I used but there are a ton in Seward.

Moose Pass, Coopers Landing, and Hope are all amazing spots! If it’s summer, they have river kayaking and tubing, which I really want to do, (the water is SO BLUE).

There is a hike we really wanted to do off the Sterling Hwy (along your drive between Homer and Seward) but didn’t have time. It is called Skyline Trail (highly recommended if you have time). I have heard Fishing Halibut charters are also awesome there.

Enjoy Alaska and safe travels!

Editor’s Note: Feel free to email Cayla at cplatt17@hotmail.com with any questions if you are planning a trip to Alaska soon (oh…and…bring me with you!!) Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Cayla!

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