Alaska's Best Roadside Adventure Lodges

Want to find out where Alaskans take their vis­i­tors? Vis­it McCarthy Lodge and the Ma John­son Hotel for an expe­ri­ence Nation­al Geo­graph­ic calls ​“authen­tic, sus­tain­able, mem­o­rable.” McCarthy offers small-town charm nes­tled among spec­tac­u­lar glac­i­ers and moun­tains – in a nation­al park twice the size of Denali. Equal­ly impres­sive is that it is the only accom­mo­da­tion and restau­rant rec­om­mend­ed by Miche­lin Guide for the McCarthy-Ken­ni­cott area. It’s  ...more

Com­fort­able year-round lodg­ing, fire­wood, airstrip, fish­ing licens­es, tav­ern, snacks, liquor store, show­ers, secure park­ing, local area infor­ma­tion, tire repair sup­plies, and emer­gency tele­phone ser­vice on the Nabesna Road inside Wrangell St. Elias Nation­al Park and Preserve

This 86-room lodge not only has end­less views over a vast val­ley, but it also sits on the banks of the Kenai Riv­er, which teems with fish. With vault­ed ceil­ings made of nat­u­ral­ly fin­ished wood, cozy sit­ting areas with wood-burn­ing stoves and pri­vate porch­es, it’s easy to feel like the whole place is yours. The area is famous for its fish­ing, but you also have easy access to Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park, a wild land filled with glac­i­ers, marine  ...more

The inti­mate, 8‑chalet Blue­Wa­ter Base­Camp immers­es you in the soli­tude of the Alaskan wilder­ness, yet lies just an hour from the Anchor­age air­port. Great for cou­ples and fam­i­lies look­ing for lodg­ing in a wilder­ness set­ting with­out being remote. Enjoy access to kayak­ing, hik­ing, bik­ing and win­ter recre­ation when the sea­sons change. Prop­er­ty is also avail­able for wed­ding, retreat, and fam­i­ly reunion buy-outs.

Locat­ed sev­en miles from the park entrance, the com­fort­able accom­mo­da­tions at Denali Park Vil­lage are far enough from the park’s hus­tle and bus­tle that you can focus on Alaska’s nat­ur­al treasures.

This pri­vate lodg­ing busi­ness may be the ulti­mate way for inde­pen­dent trav­el­ers to stay in the famous­ly just-off-the-grid McCarthy. They’re locat­ed just before the foot­bridge lead­ing into town, so you can park your car right by your pri­vate guest house —with­out the has­sle of park­ing and hav­ing your stuff schlepped over the bridge. A favorite among locals and vis­i­tors alike, the mod­ern guest hous­es have great views of the Wrangell St. Elias  ...more

The Seward Wind­song Lodge is a full-ser­vice lodge set in a glac­i­er val­ley, sur­round­ed by the for­est. Just eight miles from Exit Glac­i­er and four miles from Seward, the lodge offers a peace­ful retreat from the bus­tle of down­town; a free shut­tle pro­vides access to town, tours, and trans­porta­tion. Per­haps the best ameni­ty, though, is the sound of the gen­tle flow of the Res­ur­rec­tion Riv­er from your room. No sur­prise, many guests say their best night  ...more

Built atop a high bluff, the Tal­keet­na Alaskan Lodge over­looks the Susit­na Riv­er Val­ley and sur­veys the entire Alas­ka Range, with Mt. Denali right in the mid­dle. On a clear day, all of the com­mon rooms plus cer­tain guest rooms offer this same fab­u­lous panora­ma. Take in the view as you enjoy a meal and a selec­tion from the award-win­ning wine list.

Just 2.5 Hours from Fair­banks on the Richard­son High­way, The Lodge at Black Rapids is an undis­cov­ered gem.The peaks of the Alas­ka Range, trout-filled lakes, swift rivers, and alpine tun­dra sur­round the lodge, which is named for the Black Rapids glac­i­er. The own­ers built the Lodge over near­ly 10 years, design­ing it to fit into the land­scape. There are six rooms in addi­tion to the bunkhouse, with queen beds and pri­vate baths. Large windows  ...more

Look­ing for an inti­mate and acces­si­ble get­away with an authen­tic Alaskan feel? Alas­ka Wild­land Adven­ture’s Kenai River­side Lodge will fit the bill, with just 16 cab­ins set on the Kenai Riv­er, sur­round­ed by 3,000-foot snow-capped moun­tains. This easy-access river­side lodge has a remote feel, but is still right on the road sys­tem. Meals are served fam­i­ly-style, cre­at­ing a more inti­mate expe­ri­ence, and allow­ing you to min­gle with fel­low guests and  ...more

Icon­ic and remote Alaskan adven­ture lodge in the Tal­keet­na Moun­tains, acces­si­ble by road just 60 miles north of Anchor­age. Open year-round, you’ll stay in rus­tic, com­fort­able cab­ins with access to some of the best hik­ing and ski­ing in the world, just out­side your door. The lodge and cab­ins sit dra­mat­i­cal­ly above tree­line, offer­ing breath­tak­ing moun­tain views and end­less adven­ture opportunities.

12-room, local­ly owned lodge 30 min­utes south of Denali Nation­al Park at the inter­sec­tion of the Parks and Denali High­ways. This year-round accom­mo­da­tion pro­vides sim­ple but well-appoint­ed rooms away from the main activ­i­ty of the park entrance.

Immerse your pri­vate group in this lux­u­ry year-round lodge, sur­round­ed by the beau­ty of the Alaskan wilder­ness just south­east of Denali Nation­al Park. Sit­ting on a pri­vate 75-acre plot on Yogi Lake, it offers the remote feel­ing of a fly-in lodge — even though it’s acces­si­ble by road in sum­mer. Hire pri­vate guides for cus­tom adven­tures, like hik­ing, pack raft­ing, canoe­ing, flight­see­ing, fish­ing, and bird watch­ing. Or in win­ter, go cross-country  ...more

Alas­ka Heav­en­ly Lodge offers the best of both worlds: all the seclu­sion and lux­u­ry nor­mal­ly asso­ci­at­ed with fly-in lodges, as well as the afford­abil­i­ty and con­ve­nience of being on the road sys­tem. You’ll find three hand-hewn log cab­ins, com­plete with a trail sys­tem and pic­turesque views of the Chugach Range and Kenai Riv­er. The loca­tion makes it easy to soak up the soli­tude of Alas­ka, as well as near­by adven­tures like fish­ing, raft­ing, and more.  ...more

Dis­cov­er cozy cab­ins, great food, and big Alaskan adven­tures at this inti­mate lodge that sits on the edge of the wilder­ness yet is super-acces­si­ble from Anchor­age. It lies tucked in at the back of the Knik Riv­er Val­ley and at the end of Knik Riv­er Road, where Alaska’s real wilder­ness opens up, with moun­tain and riv­er views — but with­out a flight or long dri­ve. It’s the per­fect place to escape for a few days, with lots of activ­i­ties avail­able from  ...more

The Alaskan Ken­ni­cott Glac­i­er Lodge is a repli­ca of one of the his­toric cop­per-min­ing build­ings. It’s a lux­u­ri­ous prop­er­ty that sits in the heart of the ghost town and the cen­ter of Wrangell-St. Elias Nation­al Park and Pre­serve, sur­round­ed by spruce and moun­tains. Curl up by the fire­place with a book, enjoy the home-cooked meals, and linger with a glass of wine on the deck that near­ly juts out over the Ken­ni­cott Glac­i­er. Choose from either the  ...more

This inti­mate, 85-room lodge with amaz­ing views is the per­fect place to stay on the way to Amer­i­ca’s largest nation­al park, Wrangell-St. Elias. Look out your win­dow to the junc­tion of the Kluti­na and Cop­per Rivers, 200 acres of wilder­ness, and the park’s awe-inspir­ing mountains.

Just 60 miles north of Anchor­age, in the heart of the Hatch­er Pass Recre­ation Area of the Tal­keet­na Moun­tains, you can expe­ri­ence amaz­ing tours, com­fort­able lodg­ing, and hearty meals at Snowhook Adven­tures’ Lodge and Cab­ins. Whether you’re here in win­ter, spring, sum­mer or fall, you can enjoy all-inclu­sive overnight expe­ri­ences. Depend­ing on the sea­son, these tours include ATV/UTV rid­ing, dog sled­ding, snow­mo­bil­ing, ice fish­ing, north­ern lights  ...more

An exclu­sive lake­side oasis with hide­away cab­ins acces­si­ble by car and only 7 miles south of Denali Nation­al Park entrance. In addi­tion to lux­u­ri­ous accom­mo­da­tions, you can enjoy the art gallery, arti­san bak­ery, and spa­cious lawn with a camp­fire cir­cle and a love­ly view of the Alas­ka Range.