Paddling with glaciers, dozens of waterfalls, epic mountain passes, and adorable small town charm. There are so many fun things to do in Valdez Alaska! We highly recommend a stop there on any Alaska adventure.
If you need help planning an Alaska itinerary, check out our guide to RVing Alaska! You don’t need to have an RV or to have kids to find this useful, but we do have suggestions for both. Continue below for our best ideas for things to do in Valdez Alaska!
RV Alaska with Kids Travel Guide
If you’re looking for Alaska vacation ideas, you’ve come to the right place! This guide features 20+ pages of what we learned throughout a summer RVing Alaska with Kids.
Okay, now for the list of things to do in Valdez Alaska! Here goes:
Thompson Pass
If you’re driving into Valdez, you’ll get to enjoy one of its most breathtaking sights before you even get there: Thompson Pass. If you arrive by water, I highly recommend finding a way to drive up to Thompson Pass if you can. It is STUNNING. After a whole summer in Alaska, we started to wonder if we could still be blown away. Then we drove through Thompson Pass, and the answer was YES! This photo and the cover photo for our Alaska e-book was taken there (by Denaa Photography!). There are several short loop trails you can walk straight from the turnoffs up there, and you should definitely spend time doing that.
Bridal Veil Falls & Horsetail Falls
These are other gorgeous sights you’ll pass on the drive into Valdez from the rest of Alaska. Both of these waterfalls are right off the road in the canyon you drive through after descending from Thompson Pass. There are pull-offs right alongside the road, and you should plan to stop. Horsetail Falls had a rainbow at the bottom both times we saw it, and Bridal Veil Falls had stunning cascades and light.
Valdez Glacier Lake
Perhaps my most memorable experience in Valdez was kayaking in Valdez Glacier Lake. The main photo for this post was taken there! I did a lot of paddling in Alaska this summer. But this was the only place I found where you could launch straight from the shore and kayak with icebergs. You can take a tour from town if you don’t have your own kayak or don’t feel comfortable paddling alone. Give as wide a berth as possible to icebergs! Remember that they are several times larger under the water than they are above. And they often break or roll without warning!
Solomon Gulch Hatchery
This was the other one of my favorite things to do in Valdez Alaska. This salmon hatchery becomes a sea lion and sea otter buffet during high tide! Watching these adorable creatures feast on fish (only in the summer!) was unexpectedly delightful. Bears also frequent the area, but we didn’t happen to see any. But stay bear aware!
Allison Point Fishing
Just a bit further up the road is an excellent spot for salmon fishing when the salmon are running in summer. There are so many salmon that my family caught a couple, and that is without any knowledge of fishing whatsoever! Visit Prospector Outfitters if you need fishing gear and/or advice.
Hiking Trails
There are several pretty hiking trails around town. We tried out the Dock Point Trail and the first section of the Shoup Bay Trail. Dock Point Trail is easy and short, with some pretty views of the harbor. Shoup Bay Trail is long and we only completed the first couple of miles before we ran straight into a bear on the trail and turned around. The trail had beautiful views of the bay and grasslands (pictures above!). Even cooler? It was absolutely PACKED with salmon berries during the last week of July. We picked so many that we were able to make Salmon Berry Pie to share with our campground neighbors!
Museum Visits
There are two small museums in Valdez. They’re worth checking out in inclement weather or if you want more background on the city’s history. There is the Valdez Museum and the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum. The Valdez City Library is also surprisingly charming if you need somewhere to hang out on a rainy day.
Walk the Harbor
Valdez’s harbor is tiny, but adorable. Walking the harbor and ducking into the adorable shops won’t take all day, but it is worth the time. Duck into The Coffee Co. or Valdez Brewing for a drink. See if you can spot any of the town’s “bunny infestation” bunnies (yes, really)!
Boat or Kayaking Tour
If you’re got money to splurge, consider taking a boat or kayaking tour to Columbia Glacier. This glacier is one of the most active glaciers in the world, leading to dramatic calving events that make for an unforgettable day. If you’re not up for paddling, there are wildlife boat tour options that look incredible, too.
Day Trips or Overnights from Valdez
There are several other amazing excursions just near Valdez that you might want to consider on your trip. You could take a ferry to Cordova, one of Alaska’s adorable and tiny off-the-road-system towns. You could visit McCarthy in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (the largest in the U.S.!). Closer by, Worthington Glacier is a quick stop off to a nice glacier view.
We loved our time in Valdez, and we loved that it seemed to have a higher locals to tourists ratio. Plus, the adorable bunnies hopping around definitely didn’t hurt But the absolute best part was the incredible glacial activity and up-close wildlife viewing. There are so many fun things to do in Valdez Alaska.
Is Valdez on your list? If you want our favorite Valdez campground recommendation, you can find it in our Alaska e-book!
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One response to “Things To Do in Valdez Alaska: Exciting Adventures”
[…] is a stunning destination that shouldn’t be missed (I’ve written about what to do there!). The city has cracked down on boondocking recently, but I have two spots to recommend. The first […]