Along the Klutina River in the Chugach Mountains // Alaska

Happy Friday friends! I hope that y'all have had a wonderful week! Today I am excited to share more about our drive down to the Thompson Pass area in Alaska and specifically a stop that we did along the Klutina River in the Chugach Mountains.

I was completely blown away by the beauty and as I drove in this area and we took time to explore I was completely speechless at the gorgeous views before me! Approximately 20 minutes after we stopped to take pictures (from the post yesterday) I stopped again. For those of you trying to plan a similar road trip this would be roughly about 40 minutes south from Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. I saw the river and told Ali that I was stopping again! She was skeptical, but I pulled off to the side of the road because I just had to take some pictures of what we were seeing. If I haven't said this already...if you love natural beauty be prepared to stop... A LOT. *smiles*

One of the things that I found as the sole driver on this trip was that there was so much to see but you have to take "memory photos in your brain" because it is impossible to capture every single picture of what you could take in Alaska.

It was just that stunning. The wonderful thing though is that you can pull off in so many areas (beyond the frequent "photo area" signs you will see) so that you can capture some of these precious views, like this one!

The Klutina River (which you drive along as you go south from Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge towards Valdez) is a 63-mile river that flows out of Klutina Glacier and Klutina Lake into the Copper River. As you can see in the pictures, the river often is flowing northeast. We only stopped and explored this one little section of the Klutina River, but it is something that you could spend a lot of time at. Because it is so easily accessible (as you see from my pictures) it is a major hub for fishing. One thing that I was shocked to learn in my research for the trip was that this is a major area for king salmon and sometimes those salmon weigh between 50 and 90 pounds!!! Y'all! Can you imagine?!?

I walked along the river side for a little bit before sitting down and just appreciating the beauty, the sounds of the water, and the views from this area.

It was a beautiful place to spend some time and even if you only have a little bit of time like we had, it is definitely worth a stop. The water was so loud and yet the blue tones were simply gorgeous and made you catch your breath. You are going to hear me say this throughout every single post, but you will not regret spending time in this spot.

Thanks so much for stopping by y'all! I hope that you have a wonderful Friday! Anyone have any fun plans?

PS- If you are curious about the specific details of the road trip that we took throughout Alaska or if you are planning a similar road trip (or just want to see and dream about visiting the beauty!) I hope the information below is helpful. You can read all of the posts from the trip by clicking on the links below:

Anchorage: // Anchorage Travel Guide//

Chugach Mountains (Alaska 1-South Drive): // Scenic Seward Highway Drive (Turnagain Arm Drive)//

// Along the Matanuska River on Alaska 1- South// A Beautiful Lake Adventure near Chickaloon//

// A Cloudy and Beautiful Drive on Alaska 1-South to Anchorage//

Chugach Mountains: // Eklutna Lake//

Cooper Landing (Kenai Peninsula): // Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge Nature Trail//

// Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge//

Denali Area: // Denali Highway Video// One Last Adventure on the Denali Highway//

// Denali Highway - Part 2// Denali Highway - Part 1 // The Drive to Cantwell//

// Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge //

General Alaska:// 5 Things You Must Know Before Driving in Alaska//

// Best Alaskan Books to Purchase for Your Road Trip//