Budget Road Trips are for those who don’t want to sleep in free roadside pullouts every night, yet also would rather not be pampered at fancy resorts. The solution is balance: primitive versus posh; cash versus comfort; and seafood versus sandwiches. Do it right and you’ll capture the best of everything without feeling like a dirtbag or breaking the bank.
Sample Trip: Alaska Panhandle and the Klondike Trail
Travel: 7–10 days
Mileage: 680 miles (1,100 kilometers)
Highlights: Paddling amongst glaciers and icebergs in Tracy Arm; life-list wildlife viewing including brown bears on Admiralty Island and humpback whales in Glacier Bay National Park; sprawling lakes and alpine hiking in Kluane National Park; and the empty roads of the infamous gold-miners’ route on the Klondike Trail.
Stop-offs & Detours: In Juneau, you’ll want to paddle right away. It’s an easy four-hour trip to Oliver’s Inlet on Admiralty Island, an overnight backcountry destination and gateway to some of the best bear-watching on the planet. Take the ferry to Skagway and drive the Klondike Highway into British Columbia. Cross into Canada and take your pick of the many deserted alpine lakes, including Summit, Bernard and Tutshi. The largest, Taigish Lake, straddles the Yukon border. At the village of Taigish, make a side trip to spectacular Atlin Lake, a B.C. provincial park. After overnighting in Whitehorse, take the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction and Kluane National Park. With its surrounding glaciers and endless possibilities for hiking, you could spend a week exploring the emerald waters of Kluane Lake.
Best Digs: You can paddle to the toe of a glacier on a freshwater lake from the U.S. Forest Service’s Mendenhall Campground in Juneau. Bonus: hot showers, flush toilets and RV hook-ups.
Budget Tip: The Alaskan ferry service is called the Marine Highway for a reason: It’s the best way to get around the panhandle and will take you to all the prime coastal paddling destinations. Save money by parking your car in Seattle, Vancouver or Prince Rupert. Walk on the ferry with your kayak and make it a “road” trip
This article originally appeared in Adventure Kayak Magazine, Spring 2013 as part of a Trips feature. Download our free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch App or Android App or read it here.
