Four-wheel-drive safaris open up more of the state for tourists
By PAULA DOBBYN
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: August 26, 2003)
 Alaska Travel Adventures decided that Jeep tours along Petersville Road would be a great way to showcase Mount McKinley's southern flank. (Photo by Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News)  The former mining town of Petersville, with a year-round population of 16, is about midway through the Denali Jeep Backcountry Safari tour along Petersville Road. (Photo by Marc Lester / Anchorage Daily News) Click on photo to enlarge |
Alaska Travel Adventures, with corporate offices in Juneau, inaugurated a backcountry Jeep safari in Ketchikan two years ago. The four-hour excursion takes visitors on former logging roads in the mountains around Ketchikan and includes a canoe paddle, a hot snack and a nature walk.
The tour was such a hit that Alaska Travel Adventures launched another Jeep safari in Skagway last year, company officials said. That tour, which winds into the Yukon territory, highlights the region's Gold Rush lore and stunning vistas along the Klondike Highway.
This summer, the company started Jeep tours in Wrangell and on the south side of Denali State Park, along bumpy and scenic Petersville Road, built by gold miners in the early part of the last century. Again, the tours appear to be strong sellers.
"The demand far exceeded our original expectations," said Gary Odle, vice president of marketing and sales.
The company began with nine Jeeps in Ketchikan in 2001. It now maintains a fleet of 55 across the four locations, Odle said.
So what makes these safaris so popular? Company officials are still trying to figure it out.
Many riders have never been in a four-wheel-drive in an off-road setting, yet most think of Alaska as a rugged, mountainous place they want to explore, he said.
"It's obviously been a natural marriage," Odle said.
Alaska Travel Adventures' success with its Jeep tours mirrors a trend in the Alaska tourism scene as visitors, particularly cruise-ship passengers, increasingly opt for half-day "soft adventure-type" experiences, industry representatives say.
Cruise ship passengers make up the bulk of the more than 1 million visitors to the state each year. In the past, cruisers tended to be well-off retirees or older folks who had saved up for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. But the demographics have changed somewhat as the cruise industry grows and reacts to world events. As fallout from Sept. 11, 2001, combined with a sluggish economy continue to plague the travel industry, cruise lines have slashed their prices to attract customers.
As a result, younger people, families with children and thrifty spenders are starting to wedge their way aboard the giant ships, and many are looking for more to do in seaside ports than buy T-shirts or sip cocktails.
Moderately priced shore-side excursions, like the Jeep tours, which cost around $100, appeal to both the adventure-minded baby boomer and the more bargain-conscious traveller, said Mark Morones, spokesman for the Alaska Travel Industry Association.
That's the market that companies like Alaska Travel Adventures are seeking to tap. Bob Din-dinger, company president, hatched the idea of the Jeep tours after taking one during a vacation in Cozumel, Mexico, Odle said.
In Southeast Alaska, thousands of miles of logging roads crisscross the lush Tongass National Forest and private land owned by Native corporations. Giving visitors the opportunity to experience the rain forest close up, even old clear-cuts, seemed like an idea with potential, he said.
"It was the abandoned logging roads that really had appeal to us. The availability and accessibility," Odle said.
In Southcentral Alaska, North America's tallest peak is the big draw. So Alaska Travel Adventures decided Petersville Road would be a great way to showcase Mount McKinley's southern flank.
On a recent afternoon, a three-Jeep convoy rumbled out of the parking lot of Trapper Creek Trading Post at Mile 115.5 Parks Highway. The general store and gas station are the staging area for the Denali Jeep Backcountry Safari, as the tour is known.
The guide Jeep, driven by longtime Southeasterner Bruce Shales, led the way down the Parks and onto Petersville Road. A pair of 2003 Jeep Wranglers filled with four middle-aged couples from California and Michigan trailed behind, chitchatting with each other via two-way radio.
After three or four miles of pavement, Petersville Road turns to dirt, potholes and puddles. Perfect terrain for Jeep travel. Views of the Alaska Range and muskeg meadows define the horizon.
At about Mile 26, drivers reach the abandoned mining camp of Petersville, an assortment of weathered buildings nestled in a willow- and alder-cloaked gulch. A grizzled man working on a rusty vehicle nodded sternly to the passing Jeeps and their waving occupants.
"OK, folks, as we grind our way up the road here, we'll see the Peters Hills up ahead of us. As we go higher in elevation, we'll leave the conifers behind us," said Shales, narrating into his radio.
Shales, who was raised in Juneau, Hoonah and Petersburg, offered tidbits about the plants and wildlife and the history of mining. He pointed out abandoned equipment, including the relics of a bulldozer and an industrial sluice. Until a couple of weeks ago, a Texas family who had purchased some mining claims were camped along the road, providing real-life show-and-tell that the visitors seemed to appreciate, Shales said.
The Jeeps maintained steady speeds ranging from 10 to 30 mph, below the posted limit. It's company policy to go slowly, said John Lowe, who manages the Petersville tour.
Despite the policy, some locals complain about the Jeeps using excessive speed, including David Jones, owner of the historic Forks Roadhouse at Mile 19.
"They're just tearing everything up in sight," Jones said. "They've just terrorized the locals."
Lowe said he's heard the complaints but there's no merit to them.
"Typically we get passed by other vehicles," he said. As the tour continued last week, the road grew narrower and more rugged as it wound through Peters Canyon, a dramatic gorge with waterfalls cascading down a steep mountainside. Visitors gazed through their binoculars at the ridge line, searching for bears.
The Jeeps came to a halt at Mile 32, where Shales broke out a camp stove to heat some beef stew for lunch. Pasta salad, fruit pie and soft drinks completed the menu. A ground squirrel boldly scurried around the tourists' legs and begged for food.
After lunch, the visitors meandered down to Peters Creek to try their hand at gold panning. All four couples were touring Alaska on a cruise-tour package, as do most Denali safari customers. One pair had already done the Inside Passage portion and were making their way to the Interior. The other three had flown to Fairbanks and were heading down to Seward to check in with their cruise ship.
Virtually all in the group said the Jeep tour appealed to them because it offered an easy way to get close to the McKinley foothills.
"Did I want to come up here and bust my butt on a horse for two hours? No," said Bill Spivey of Laguna Niguel, Calif.
"The horse trips wouldn't come back this far. This way, you see a part of the country that you normally wouldn't see," he said.
As the afternoon waned, the clouds parted and warm sunshine enveloped the group. Soon it was time to head back.
Not far from the Forks Roadhouse, the convoy pulled alongside an expansive meadow and stopped. The tourists piled out and started snapping pictures: The Great One was in view. "That's about as good of a picture as you're going to get," said Warren Karr, a contractor from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., staring at McKinley. "It looks like a huge placard out there."
Daily News reporter Paula Dobbyn can be reached at pdobbyn@adn.com or 257-4317.