Roadtrippin’ 2022: ‘Nothing can beat this view’ — the scenic drive between Anchorage and Seward

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - When Donald Eubank saw a flock of birds flying toward a lake, he pulled his RV off the road to snap some pictures on his iPhone.

He was on his way to Seward, which is a trip Eubank and his wife make often during the summer months.

“This summer we want to go to as many places as we can,” Eubank said.

Since he retired a few years ago, Eubank has been traveling across the state in his RV. The couple especially enjoys driving through older towns with quirky buildings.

“It’s got 160,000 miles,” Eubank said about his RV.

The Seward Highway offers some of the most spectacular views among any of the scenic drives in Alaska.

According to the Department of Transportation, it has three designations: a USDA Forest Service Scenic Byway, Alaska Scenic Byway and All-American Road.

The first part of the trip hugs the Chugach Mountains and the waters of Turnagain Arm. Lucky drivers will see Dall sheep, eagles and beluga whales. Drivers can often be spotted pulling over to fill up water bottles from the many waterfalls that dot the landscape.

“Nothing can beat this view,” Kayla Morgan said when she and her four children took a stretch break after driving through Turnagain Pass. “The mountains, everything, there is no comparison.”

The Alaska Scenic Byways program was started in 1993 to, “recognize and celebrate some of the most beautiful landscapes in our state,” according to the DOT.

There are 96 designations in 39 states, according to the state.

This means the route, “possesses distinctive cultural, historic, natural or other qualities that are unique among neighboring states. Designation as an All-American Road, the higher designation of the two, indicates that the route has not only regional but national significance and is a destination unto itself,” according to DOT.

Most Alaskans simply know it as a sometimes crowded, beautiful drive that can at times, wind slowly down to Seward. Along the way, in the spring, people fishing for Hooligan park along the thin road. Slow and steady RVs lug tourists and locals to plentiful fishing spots.

Anchorage teacher Brett Seeman and a group of friends pulled rafts and small boats down the highway to float down a river after a long school year.

The group was hoping to spot some wildlife on their trip.

“Hopefully lots of sunshine and if there are any bears hopefully off on the bank as we’re rolling past them,” Seeman said.

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