Getting from Copper Center to Seaward involves being briefly on the Richardson highway (going north for about 22 miles) and then taking the Glenn Highway at Glennallen and driving through the outskirts of Anchorage to reach Seaward. Every road in Alaska is scenic, and the Glenn Highway is no different.  Driving westwards on this highway, expect to be up close to a glacier (yes another one!), see Dahl sheep, several creeks and waterfalls and if you go a few miles away from the highway, you can also visit a nature center.

Our first stop was at the Eureka Summit (mile 129.5) – This is one of Alaska’s premier recreation meccas. This summit receives several feet of snow each winter, and rugged trails open access to the terrain during summer. Eureka Summit is also the highest point along the Glenn Highway. While we did not have time to do any of the activities, we did see a bunch of RVs and trucks pulling trailers with ATVs.

Further along the highway at mile 102 is the Matanuska Glacier. Follow the directions to go into the Glacier park, and after paying a small fee, you can hike for 15-20 minutes to get to the edge of the glacier. I would recommend doing this, especially if you have not done a glacier hike already. Where else in the world will you find an accessible glacier almost next to a highway! About a mile down the road is also a scenic turnout if you just want to view the glacier from the road. Also, a little further down the road, the Matanuska State Park is the best place for a free view of the Matanuska Glacier. This place offers plenty of parking, public restrooms, and excellent glacier views and photo opportunities.

Also, along the way is the Jackass Creek – this is worth a quick 5 minute stop, in order to take a photo beside this classic sign. It will make for great story telling when you sit down to share your trip details with friends and family! A local theory on the creek name is that the crusty, old sourdough who lived down near the creek used mules for guiding hunts. These mules purportedly escaped a lot, so the asses were always by the creek. Who knows? ? For the next three miles, you will also have a chance to see Dall Sheep. Look straight up to the cliffs above on the left. These animals, as well as mountain goats, are protected from hunting in this area, part of the Sheep Mountain Game Protection Area. Dall sheep hang out on these cliffs to avoid predators.

Our final stop along the Glenn Highway was to visit the Eagle River Nature Center. This is about 12 miles from the highway along the Eagle River road, and we spent about 2 .5 hours (inclusive of the drive time) here. The Eagle River Nature Center is one of several gateways to Alaska’s largest state park, Chugach and here you’ll find many views of the glacially carved mountains and have opportunities to spot wildlife. My 7-year-old and I enjoyed a short loop trail, that was lined with many varieties of flora and led to wooden viewing decks, from where we caught glimpses of beavers and salmons. The Nature Center also has a cute gift shop and an ice cream parlor.

It was already late afternoon by the time we were done, and the weather abruptly changed from being nice and sunny to dark and gloomy. Luckily, we were done visiting all the places we wanted to on the Glenn Highway, and since we were still about 150 miles from our next stop (Seward), we got into our car and hit the road.