After our visit to Wrangell-St.Elias National Park, it was time to head to our next destination, the port town of Valdez, Alaska. The only land road into Valdez is Route 4, the Richardson Highway. This has been described as one of the most scenic in Alaska and we were not disappointed.
This route has all of the mountain splendor, glaciers, waterfalls and rivers you would expect. We stopped at a roadside pullout for lunch and found ourselves with fantastic views in all directions.
Views from every direction at our lunch stop
More lunch stop views
After lunch we drove past the Worthington Glacier. Shortly thereafter we reached Thompson Pass at 2,771 feet elevation. When you drive through the pass, you are rewarded with mountains in all directions.
Worthington Glacier
View at Thompson pass, note snow marker posts
As you descend from Thompson Pass, the Lowe River joins you and flows alongside. You both enter Keystone Canyon. In the canyon, you can stop to view both the Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls.
Bridal Veil Falls in Keystone Canyon
Horsetail Falls
Early in the 1900’s a railroad route was going to be built through the canyon and a tunnel was hand cut. Disputes ensued and the route was never finished but the old tunnel remains.
Mike checks out the hand cut tunnel
Finally we reached the town of Valdez. We were greeted with a sign flashing warnings about Brown Bears passing through town. The bears are waiting for the salmon to arrive and use town to travel between the rivers they will access.
Brown bears sign
Moving through town
Our RV park, Eagle’s Rest RV Park & Cabins is located near the entrance of town. Valdez itself is a relatively small town with a population of 3,976. It is also the southern terminus of the trans-Alaska pipeline, which was visible in several locations along the Richardson Highway. We will be exploring the area over the next several days.
