Recommended excursions for active 9 year old boy?

[oliverweagle]

Hi - we will be going to Alaska in the summer on a round trip seattle cruise - visiting Juneau, Skagway, Ketichikan and Victoria.

 

Are there any "do not miss" excursions that come to mind?

 

Thank you,

 

Ollie.:)

[MercedMike]

Hi - we will be going to Alaska in the summer on a round trip seattle cruise - visiting Juneau, Skagway, Ketichikan and Victoria.

 

Are there any "do not miss" excursions that come to mind?

 

Thank you,

 

Ollie.:)

 

One of the best things to do with an active kid is to rent a car and drive from Skagway, over the White Pass into the Yukon, and stop at Caribou Crossing. All along the way you can make photo stops and the kid can get out and explore a bit. At Caribou Crossing there is a wildlife museum with many stuffed specimens, including the "world's largest" polar bear, a musk ox, and even a wooly mammoth!

 

But the most fun is the dog musher's summer camp. Kids love this. You can make a resrevation to ride on the training cart and go off racing through the woods.

 

I don't know how you would feel about letting him ride with you on an ATV but I bet that would be a thrill too!

 

Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/skagway.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[FlightMedic555]

I think that one of the best and unknown excursions is the float plane trip to Anan Creek from ketchikan. It is a little pricey but most of us who go to Alaska want to see the wildlife. While the bears are not our in force the entire season there are weeks on end, pretty much guaranteed, that the bears are there.

 

We did this with Family Air out of Ketchikan. You can look at their web site as they have some significant discounts, we did not book from the ship. The forest service only allows 64 visitors per day which probably means there are not enough "permits" to allow most of the ships to sell this escursion.

 

We were met a the dock for the 2 minute van ride to the plane. The flight was about 45 minutes to a landing on a lake where we were met by a forest service ranger. He logged us in, gave us directions and advice, and then we have about a 1/2 mile walk along a wooden walkway to the viewing platform. Along the way we saw dozens of bald eagles.

 

At the viewing platform another ranger was on duty. This was like a scene out of national geographic. The platform was about 15-20 feet above the creek and there were thousands of salmon making their way up stream. It looked like you could walk across the water on top of the fish. Except.....there were about 10 bears pigging out on the fish. This included one mother with one cub and another mother with 2 cubs. The platform also has a "lower level" that you sign up to go to which is a photo blind only a few feet above the water.

 

We saw black and brown bears, many many bald eagles, and had a great time. Others on the cruise, after three ports, had seen a bear 200 yards off the road. We felt like we had the true experience in Alaska. This was so worthwhile that I would suggest you do this even if you have to scrimp on the excursions.

[jeffbrig]

What time of year did you do this excursion? (I'll be there the first week of June)

[oliverweagle]

This is great info for you to share! We are looking forward to it!

 

Ollie

[ailuro]

If you don't want to drive yourself, we booked the tour up white pass by bus, followed by ATving in the Carcross desert and a stop off at the wildlife museum and a visit to the sled dogs, we are using frontierexcursions.com, they claim never to have missed a ship, which gives me more peace of mind than organising it for the three of us.:D

[randolph]

Let him pan for gold a few times. He'll treasure that gold bottle for many years (and the memories of you and him will be forever).;)