Mary Pemberton
Tripsite is offering a 10-day bikes-and-beer tour in Alaska for 2016, and it looks to be a perfect fit for the state.
The tour takes in some of Alaska’s most spectacular scenery, with stops at the Matanuska Glacier north of Anchorage and Denali National Park. What’s waiting after the end of a day of cycling past some of the state’s most gorgeous scenery? Craft beers made in Alaska.
You don’t have to be super-fit for this cycling adventure. This new entry into the growing adventure tourism market is all about cycling and fun. Tired of pedaling? There’s a support vehicle always at the ready. The tour is priced at $4,270.
Alaska is tailor-made for the adventure tourism market, said Nancy Harrison, founder and CEO of public relations firm Adventure Media.
Adventure tourism “is becoming a huge and ever-growing market,” Harrison said, with Alaska becoming a very big player. Just how big is evident in Alaska being chosen to host the 2016 Adventure Travel World Summit from Sept. 19 to 22 in Anchorage. Denali Brewing Co. is introducing a German-style beer specially brewed for the summit called Adventure Gold.
Adventure tourism visitors are looking for a more personalized experience where they can get to know the real Alaska by staying at one-of-a-kind roadhouses, cabins and lodges, and where they can hear stories about what life is really like in the Last Frontier.
The tour begins with guests arriving in Anchorage and heading to Wasilla, home to two Alaska breweries. Once there, dinner will be served and there will be a double beer tasting. The next day, cyclists will pedal 70 miles to the quirky town of Talkeetna, home of Denali Brewing.
The next morning it’s off to Denali State Park to spend the night in simple lodging and then onto Denali National Park where cyclists will spend two days exploring the park’s spectacular scenery and wildlife, and yes, there will be more beer tasting at 49th State Brewing.
Cyclists then head for the Denali Highway, one of Alaska’s most scenic “highways.” When the paved road turns to dirt, a shuttle bus will take cyclists to a lodge where beer made by Silver Gulch Brewing in Fairbanks will be served. From there, it is a nice, downhill pedal along the Richardson Highway to the Gakona Lodge, Alaska’s oldest operating roadhouse, where Alaska Brewing Co. beer awaits.
From Gakona, it’s off to the dry town of Glennallen with a stop at the liquor and stationery store just outside city limits and overnighting on the shores of Lake Louise. The next day, the last day of pedaling, has cyclists working their way over Eagle Summit and arriving at Sheep Mountain where they will overnight and enjoy Kenai Peninsula brewed beers.
Before heading back to Anchorage, tour guides will swing by the Matanuska Glacier where there will be an opportunity to walk on the glacier. The tour ends back in Anchorage where there will be dinner and a final beer tasting of some of Anchorage’s best brews.