What do you guys know about this place. I heard it was unique place and had a very cool bar to boot...?? Positives, negatives????
You should go! Talkeetna is *supposedly* the town that Cicely, AK, the legendary town of Northern Exposure Fame is modeled from. Other sources mention Wrangell, or Homer, both worthy towns but Talkeetna to me seems more Ciciely than the others. What to see? A funky Alaska town with 100 years of history, a fun way to kill an afternoon. Lots of hippies. Some folks who ride a R100GS way the hell up Petersville road. Hairy leg buckwheat cookies. It's woth seeing if you're heading that way anyway. But, the place you need to go BEFORE you get to Talkeetna-assuming you are coming from Squarebanks or Cantwell-is the Petersville road. 35-40 miles of Alaska backroad that takes you fairly close to McKinley, with some awesome views along the way. Should be very GS'able. I posted a ride report on this back in June or July. Anyway, you'll see the Petersville Road sign and all you do is point your bike down the road. This time of year there will lots of moose hunters zipping back and forth along the road so expect some company. Remember that the Alaska contingent of ADVrider is here for you if you need us and always looking for an excuse to go for a ride. If you've been checking the over the top hop thread, better known as the AK sticky, you should have an idea of where we ride.
Thanks. I was planning to run from Talkeetna north, do the Denali, north to Delta, spend the night in Tok....then Haines, Skagway, Hyder, Jasper...and south. I'm in Valdez now (came down from Eagle this morning) and headed to Seward or Homer tomorrow. Where does the Peterson Rd start and end? Would it tie into my run up from the Kenai to Talkeetna? How long is it?
Petersville road fits nicely into your itinerary, as you head north on the Parks you'll cross the Susitna river, fairly close to there is the Talkeetna Spur that goes to Talkeetna. After you finish with Talkeetna and head north again (if you do decide to go down Petersville road, I recomend filling up at the Tesoro station at the corner of Tal Spur and Parks) you'll go up the Parks a few miles until you get to Trapper Creek. There's a fairly good size directional sign marking Petersville road, the road is on the left side if you are heading north, across the highway catty corner from a store. Depending on far you go down the road, I think it can be as far as a 35-40 miles trip, one way. The first 10 miles or so are paved. I'd budget at least 4 hours or more. If the weather is really rainy you may want to skip Petersville, it gets slick and you won't get to see much of McKinley. From there it's not all that far to Cantwell, the turnoff point for the denali. You'll be sharing the road with moose hunters. The few rooms available along the denali hwy are taken up by hunters this time of the year, so don't count on a room until you get to Paxson and maybe not even then. Tangle lakes is a great place to camp if that's on the agenda. So here's my thoughts in a nutshell. Take the ferry to Homer instead of seward. Up the sterling to the seward highway junction, turn right, go to seward. Seward to anchorage, possible run down the hope highway to Hope, whittier (the ugliest town you can drive to in AK) is another side trip, $12 toll but you get to drive through the tunnel. Lunch at the swiftwater in whittier, try the halibut/shrimp combo. On the road to Anchorage, it's only 15 minutes from Alaska! and then north. The direct route would go up the Glenn to the Parks and take the parks north, but I have a better idea. Take the offramp to Palmer, through Palmer up the hill, past the water tower is a road called "FIshook" Left on Fishook, keep going straight and you will get to Hatcher Pass. You can tour Independence mine or take the turn towards Willow. The Willow-Fishook road takes you through the old gold mining territory and some awesome scenery, and eventually dumps you out on the Parks at Willow. This not only lets you check out one of our favorite playgrounds but bypasses the really boring stretch of highway between Wasilla and Willow. Turn right at the Parks highway and you're pointed north towards Talkeetna and points north. Confused yet? Hope not. Enjoy the ride!
