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12-night Alaska and British Columbia: Wilderness, Glaciers and Culture Northbound Expedition

Price: Please call for rates - # of Days: 12 days

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7-night Prince William Sound Explorer Cruise

Price: Please call for rates - # of Days: 7 days

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Overview

Introduction

Cordova, Alaska, is a quiet town tucked away in a corner of Prince William Sound about 50 mi/80 km southeast of Valdez and 176 mi/281 km by air southeast of Anchorage. It's also the doorstep to the 2-million-acre/810,000-hectare Copper River Delta, where millions of shorebirds—the largest such gathering in the Western Hemisphere—go to nest each spring. Ringed by glaciers and the snowcapped Chugach Mountain Range, the delta's landscape is spectacular.

Cordova's reason for being, however, is commercial fishing: It's a small working town of about 2,000 year-round residents, home to a sizable fleet and several seafood-processing plants that provide employment for most of the residents. The town has an unhurried feel, and the friendly townspeople haven't yet become jaded to visitors.

Must See or Do

Sights—Beautiful vistas: Hartney Bay, Childs Glacier, Million Dollar Bridge; Lonely Fisherman monument.

Museums—Cordova Historical Museum.

Memorable Meals—Seafood specials at the Reluctant Fisherman; a Copper River red salmon taco at Baja Taco; scrumptious halibut-and-chips at the Picnic Basket.

Late Night—Alaskan Bar, a favorite hangout of local fishermen; Powder House Bar for sports enthusiasts.

Geography

Accessible by airplane, boat or ferry, Cordova was built on the eastern shore of Orca Inlet, at the base of Eyak Mountain, and was originally named Puerto Cordova by Spanish explorer Don Salvador Fidalgo in 1790.

The south edge of downtown is ringed by Eyak Lake, and the harbor district is on the west edge of downtown. The main street is charmingly edged by streetlamps and maintains historic buildings. Residential areas are east of downtown and along the south Copper River Highway toward the airport, as well as southwest along Whitshed Road. Bird-watchers from around the world flock to the Copper River Delta State Critical Habitat each May and September to see millions of migrating shorebirds.

History

Fishing has always been Cordova's lifeblood. For centuries, the Alutiiq people camped there to take advantage of the huge salmon runs, plentiful shellfish and waterfowl. They were joined by migrating Athabaskans and Tlingits who called themselves Eyaks. White settlers were also impressed by the fishing: They built the area's first cannery in 1887 and made Cordova the terminus and shipping port of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, completed in 1911, running from the Kennecott copper mines near Kennicott and McCarthy.

With millions of dollars of copper ore leaving its docks, the little fishing village became, briefly, a boomtown. However, the Great Depression rang the death knell for the ore industry. After the price of copper fell in 1938, the mines closed and the train quit running. The bustling community would have faded entirely if not for the clam industry. Cordova brought in the world's largest razor clam harvests during the otherwise lean years of the late 1930s.

Life there was quiet and stable after the 1930s—until the 1964 Good Friday earthquake altered the flourishing clam beds and caused a partial collapse of the 1910-built Million Dollar Bridge. Built over the Copper River, the bridge—a monument to big dreams dashed by Alaska's unforgiving environment—earned its name because the cost to construct it topped US$1.5 million.

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill nearly decimated the city's lifeblood, the Prince William Sound fisheries. The spill affected 11,000 sq mi/28,500 sq km, including 1,300 mi/2,000 km of shoreline. Over three decades later, oil still lingers on some area beaches, and much of the wildlife has yet to recover fully. Nevertheless, fishing remains the dominant industry, and, even with the arrival of tourism, it is still Cordova's heart and soul. Nearly half of all households have someone working in commercial harvesting or processing.

Potpourri

The airport is named after legendary Alaskan pilot Merle "Mudhole" Smith, who got his nickname after an accident left his plane's engine completely inundated with mud. He had to take it apart piece by piece and clean it with a putty knife.

Many Cordova residents have no locks on their front doors and are proud that their city is so safe.

The Million Dollar Bridge actually cost US$1.5 million in 1908. Repairs to the bridge in 2004 cost US$19 million.

The remains of the SS Portland—the "ship of gold" that spurred the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush—were found in the mudflats south of Cordova. It had disappeared on a voyage from Juneau in 1910.

The Copper River Delta, formed by six glacial rivers, is the largest contiguous wetland on the Pacific Coast.

Location

Small cruise ships and the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry pull right up to the dock in Cordova Harbor, just a short walk north of town. (The fishing boats use one of two harbors adjacent to the downtown area.) Larger cruise ships anchor in the harbor and tender passengers to shore in smaller craft.

There's no terminal building, but the Chamber of Commerce can provide you with a map and tourist information. Open Monday-Friday 9 am-4 pm and whenever a cruise ship is in town. 404 First St., Cordova. Phone 907-424-7260. http://cordovachamber.com.

Shore Excursions