Our only plan on our first full day in Alaska was to drive from Anchorage to Denali; however, since it’s only a 4 hour drive and we couldn’t check in till late afternoon, it was the perfect recipe for exploring.

We decided to check out the town of Talkeetna – about 2 hours from Anchorage – it seemed like the perfect pit stop on our drive.

Our first stop at the Willow Creek state recreation area was away from the tourist crowds and a our first chance to see the Susitna river. We parked at the campground, which was less than 2 miles off the main road (see the linked map) & walked down to the river where we saw people fishing. It was super low key, so I wouldn’t say it was a necessary stop if you don’t have the time or energy, but I enjoyed the quiet before the chaos of Talkeetna.

Just before reaching the town, we started to see this large snow covered mountain in the distance. As the driver, I started to look for places to pull over and enjoy the view. An about 5 minutes before we reached the Talkeetna, we found the perfect spot. Called The Overlook on Google maps (see attached map), this turn off is on the left side of the road. By the time we reached this area, I realized that the mountain we were seeing in the distance was probably Denali.

It wasn’t until the next day that we would realize that we were in the lucky 30% club: because Denali is so high, it is usually covered by clouds, thus only visible to about 30% of the people who visit. We somehow lucked out in seeing it on our whole drive up to Denali & halfway on our drive back down a few days later.

Alaska doesn’t have a lot of quaint small towns with walkable main streets, and from what we experienced, the only ones they have are also frequented by the cruise/bus tour crowds. For the most part, we lucked on on our timing not coinciding with the large crowds, so that was nice.

While Talkeetna has a handful of the classic tourist shops, they are all a little different from each other, which I appreciated. There also seemed to be a local population whose playful banter in the market felt genuinely Alaskan. Lastly, we enjoyed some of our best food here – healthy, interesting, and reasonably priced.

The highlight of the town was walking down to the river to take in an unobstructed view of Denali as well as watching the salmon fishermen in the foreground.

We also came upon the Historical Walking Tour of Talkeetna when we were heading towards the river & decided to seek out Talkeetna Historical Society to get the full map to learn a little more about the town behind the crowds. The Talkeetna Historical Society also has a museum that you can check out for a small fee, but we were a little drained of energy & ready to continue our drive, so we didn’t check that out.

On the way back from Talkeetna, we stopped at the Alaska Birch Syrup & Wild Harvest shop and stayed for a video and talk of the history & process of their product. As New Englanders familar with maple syrup, it was interesting it hear about the difference & similarities between the two. In the end, I learned that the people of Alaska have a lot of grit.

This next stop was just for me & my love for local quirks. Wal-Mikes is a catch all stop that from the outside looks like a junk shop, but seems to have anything & everything inside. There was a lot to take in, though I will note that it all felt a little grimy. The owner & the shop definitely has a vibe – there’s a hand in a bottle at the register that I wasn’t able to get a story for – but it was an interesting quick stop on our way. I ended up purchasing (cash only) a Ulu knife that I found for almost double the price at other stops on our trip.

Our last stop on our way was another view of Denali (#3 for the day) at a roadside cafe: McKinley View Lodge. This place had a small gift shop, a billboard giving at yearly stats of the successful climbs of the mountain, and a small cafe which boasts impressive views. We ended up stopping here on the way back from Denali as well for breakfast because the owners/workers were welcoming and down to earth.

While Denali is the mountain everyone talks about, I was awestruck by the beauty of all the mountains. All along the drive, the Alaskan range flanks the side of the road, and it was hard not to keep stopping to take pictures.

Google Map of places mentioned in this post.