If you’re interested in getting into Alaska’s back country, consider touring the back roads by Jeep. Though Jeep tours are a relatively new opportunity in Alaska, four-wheel, off-road safaris are becoming quite popular.
Alaska Travel Adventures’ Backcountry Jeep Safaris are the only Jeep tours in Alaska. The company has a variety of Jeep-led tours into remote Alaska land, most of which are in Southeast Alaska. New to the 2003 season is a 90-mile round-trip outing that takes place under the shadow of Mount McKinley in Interior Alaska.
“We started the first tour in Ketchikan during the 2001 season,” said Gary Odle, vice president of marketing and sales for Alaska Travel Adventures. “It far exceeded our expectations, so we’ve added new destinations to meet the demand.”
Bouncing along a dirt road that snakes through the Alaska wilderness is the ultimate adventure for many travelers, Odle said. “Visitors are going anywhere nowadays,” he said. “They like a more active type of vacation that they can get involved in. Lots of people have never been behind the wheel of a Jeep, and it conjures up in their mind a wild feeling of adventure. (The appeal) is as much being in the Jeep as it is going over the bumps and crossing the streams.”
Participants in Alaska Travel Adventures’ Jeep tours get the opportunity to drive their own Jeep Wrangler for the day. Travelers under 25 years old are welcome, but may only participate as passengers. The Jeeps come in snazzy bright colors like red, yellow and green, and all are equipped with two-way radios for talking to the group’s guide.
“The one thing that invariably happens is that you start off and most of the communication is initially with the guide,” Odle said. “And as these people get more comfortable with each other, many of them name their Jeeps and they start talking with each other over the radio. It’s one thing that happens often, and they get a kick out of it.”
Odle said he is curious to see what travelers think of the newly added 4.5-hour Denali Back country Jeep Safari, which explores the mostly unpaved Petersville Road, south of Denali National Park and Preserve. The area boasts amazing views of Alaska’s tallest peak on clear days.
The tour concentrates on the area’s gold-mining history, as participants visit the Petersville mining district and Cache Creek gold fields. Gold panning equipment and instruction is included. It’s one of the more rugged tours and combines occasional stream crossings and lots of bumps for a true off-road experience.
For travelers to Southeast Alaska, there are several different Jeep tour options. In Ketchikan, try the popular Back country Jeep and Canoe Safari, which includes more than four hours of outdoor activity. Participants drive to Mountain Lake, where they paddle in large canoes to the other side of the lake for snacks and drinks before getting back in their Jeeps for the return trip.
In the Skagway area, travelers can experience the Yukon Jeep Klondike Highway Adventure. The five-hour tour takes place mostly on paved roads and is geared toward the traveler interested in learning a little history. Guides give visitors a crash course in the Gold Rush while visiting colorful landmarks like Pitchfork Falls, Moore Bridge, Dead Horse Gulch, Bracket Wagon Trail and Tormented Valley as well as the historic village of Carcross, Yukon. Participants should bring passports, as they will briefly cross into Canada.
Two unique tours are found on Wrangell Island, including the shorter Wrangell Wilderness Jeep Explorer and the inclusive Wrangell Island Jeep and Sea Rendezvous. The latter will whet any adventurer’s appetite, with miles upon miles of old logging roads combined with a scenic raft float on the return.
“They’ll take the Jeeps in one direction and come back on these 24-passenger rigid-hulled boats called Seahawks,” Odle said. “It’s a fun trip for anyone.”
As it enters its third season of offering Jeep Safaris, Alaska Travel Adventures will continue to monitor its success and add more trips as needed. For now, Odle said, the company is working to make sure the sport stays safe — for passengers and the environment — by sticking to developed roads only and keeping speeds and maneuvers manageable.
“These Jeeps meet emission standards, and we don’t take any more than six Jeeps out at a time so the outing stays under control,” Odle said. “There is some magic about the name Jeep,” Odle continued. “Even though many people have never been in one, they think Jeep, and they think adventure. They won’t be disappointed.”
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