Valdez Alaska

ahschneid
Jun 14
10 min read

Updated: Jun 14

5 June 2025 We drove from Tok to Valdez Alaska (254 miles). We actually took pictures along the way between Tok and Valdez as we got closer. The scenery was changing and just breathtaking. For most of the trip it was raining too.

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Mount Drum

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Lunch at wide spot in road

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Lunch at wide spot in road

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Mount Drum

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Drive between Tok and Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Approaching Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Bridal Veil Falls

Approaching Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Approaching Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Bridal Veil Falls

Approaching Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Horsetail Falls

Approaching Valdez Alaska 5 June 2025

Keystone Canyon

Valdez has a lot of plants and berries because it is a temperate rainforest. Also, Valdez is famous for the salmon that come to spawn, providing a buffet for the bears. We were in Valdez too early in the year to see the “salmon run”, but we made the best of our time in Valdez. Our first three days we had rain off and on for most of the time. We did venture out the first couple of days between rain showers. On Friday we walked around the Valdez Harbor and went for a short hike on the Homestead Trail along Mineral Creek. That afternoon we checked out the salmon hatchery in Valdez, The Solomon Gulch Hatchery. There wasn't anything going on there yet. We'll check it again before we leave Valdez to see if they've got salmon in the fish ladder.

Valdez is known as the Switzerland of Alaska for its snow-capped mountains. We also noticed that you can't go far without noticing another waterfall.

View from our dining room window for two weeks - Valdez Alaska

Valdez Alaska Harbor - 5 June 2025

Juvenile Bald Eagle having dinner at the fish cleaning waste arm...

Valdez Alaska Harbor - 5 June 2025

This bald eagle wanted his "to go"...

Valdez Alaska Harbor - 5 June 2025

Valdez Alaska Harbor - 5 June 2025

Valdez Alaska Harbor - 5 June 2025

The Lu-Lu Belle

Valdez Alaska Harbor - 5 June 2025

Stan Stephens Glacier and Nature Cruises

Valdez Alaska Harbor - 5 June 2025

Walking around the harbor Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Walking around the harbor Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Walking around the harbor Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Walking around the harbor Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Walking around the harbor Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Quite a large shrimp these guys caught...

Walking around the harbor Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Walking around the harbor Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Salmonberries in bloom

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Devil's Walking Stick

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Ferns

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Mineral Creek

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Alaskan Lupine

Homestead Trail Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hatchery Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hatchery Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hatchery Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hatchery Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hatchery Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hatchery Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hatchery Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hydroelectric Facility across from Solomon Gulch Hatchery

Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hydroelectric Facility across from Solomon Gulch Hatchery

Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hydroelectric Facility across from Solomon Gulch Hatchery

Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Solomon Gulch Hydroelectric Facility across from Solomon Gulch Hatchery

Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

Old Valdez Alaska 6 June 2025

On Friday (6th) evening we went down to the harbor to watch the fish charters come in to see which ones got the big fish. Steve had gone Thursday evening too. Anita was in the truck when she noticed Steve talking to a couple and couldn’t figure out who he had met so soon. They all came over to the truck and then Anita realized it was Brent and Shannon whom we had met last summer in New Brunswick Canada! They were also watching the fish cleaning. We talked to them for over an hour at the harbor and they offered us some fish from their freezer. We got a picture with them before we parted, but they did bring us some fish after we got home. They were leaving the next day to go about 100 miles north of Valdez to the Klutina River to try fishing there. They had been here for two weeks when we arrived and Shannon said it had rained every day they were here.

Back at Valdez Harbor to see the catch for the day...

6 June 2025 Middle Halibut about 90 pounds each

Back at Valdez Harbor to see the catch for the day...

6 June 2025

Saturday it rained too hard to really do anything outdoors. We walked around down by the water a little, and then visited the two Valdez Museums in town. One is informative on Valdez history and how an earthquake caused a tsunami and mudslide to destroy the harbor and town of Old Valdez. The earthquake happened on Good Friday (March 27th) of 1964. The bigger museum also talks about the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill in 1989.

The smaller museum had a diorama of Old Valdez. We met a lady at the Forest Service who lives in a house that was moved from Old Valdez. She moved to Valdez in 1972, so wasn’t here for the earthquake, but she is proud to live in a house from Old Valdez. Only a handful of houses were salvageable to be moved.

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Bear Gut Parka

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Fish capture wheel

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Fur fish (joke)

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Steve's heard of him...

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Pinzon bar on right

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Valdez Museum - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

Inside Prospector Outfitters Sporting Goods Store - Valdez Alaska 7 June 2025

In case we never see a big bull moose...

We attended mass at St Francis Xavier Catholic Church at 7pm Saturday evenings while we were here. We were not after dark, as Valdez has over 20 hours of daylight per day right now. We were also invited to attend the “Service on the Sea” on the Lu-Lu Belle on Sunday morning. We went and enjoyed seeing sea lions circle the boat during the service. On the way back, Captain Fred went by a buoy that the sea lions hang out on. After the Sunday morning service, we walked around the harbor area and up to the convention center overlook. There was a big cruise ship docked in the harbor. It was there for a few hours, but the passengers got a relatively nice day to walk around. Someone on the Lu-Lu Belle said this year Valdez is expecting 44 cruise ships. The town likes that, of course.

From the Lu-Lu Belle 8 June 2025

From the Lu-Lu Belle 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Overlook Trail

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Overlook Trail

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Overlook Trail

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Overlook Trail

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Overlook Trail

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Overlook Trail

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Overlook Trail

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

Walking in Valdez Alaska 8 June 2025

1 of 44 cruise ships expected this summer

On Monday 9 June, we went out on the wildlife and glacier boat tour on the Lu-Lu Belle. Captain Fred is 85 years old and still narrating the tours while driving the 83ft boat. We definitely saw glaciers, lots of sea lions, sea otters and puffins, but no whales that day.