What to do at Mt. McKinley ?

[suvgal]

We have a full day free at Mt. McKinley and would appreciate any suggestions on how to spend the day.

Thanks for any suggestions

[NancyIL]

Well...most people don't spend time at Mt. McKinley unless they are climbing it or in an airplane flying over it! Where exactly will you be? Are you staying at the McKinley Princess Lodge? Any plans to go to Denali National Park?

[NancyIL]

Maybe this is what you're looking for: http://www.princesslodges.com/mckinley_lodge.cfm

[Budget Queen]

If you are indeed at the Princess Lodge, I suggest you shuttle into Talkeetna, a great funky town- 50 miles. Plan your time carefully, with perhaps, staying there if you arrive by train, rather than multi shuttles back and forth. A top tour choice here is a McKinley flight, several to choose from, with my clear favorite a summit flight. Have also done the ski planes, are fun too depending on priorities. If is not likely to have viewing of McKinley from the ground with only one day. Determine if this is a priority?

[Fergus]

We just did the shuttle bus trip to Wonder Lake week before last and it was incredible. It definitely didn't seem like an 11-hour bus trip - we saw so much wildlife (13 grizzlies, 10 wolves, caribou, and many others) and the scenery was so beautiful. If you don't opt to go into the park on the bus, there's a lot to see at the Visitor Center (dog sled demo is fun), there are plenty of rafting opportunities, or you can drive as far as Savage River in your car and get out and walk.

[fti]

If you are indeed at the Denali NP entrance, I would definitely take the shuttle as far into the park as possible - Wonder Lake is best, Fish Creek OK. You can also get off any of these busses at any time and taking a different bus back. I highly recommend this. If you do this, I suggest getting off the bus either as the bus turns around (at Wonder Lake, Fish Creek, etc) or shortly thereafter. Easier to catch empty busses back if you get back on where they turn around since the busses go out with at least 4 empty seats. There are good hikes near Wonder Lake and Fish Creek that I have done. Wonder Lake actually has two trails and Fish Creek is pretty much on your own hiking on the tundra, though some books give general guidance as to a hiking route.

[Fergus]

Be sure to prepare for mosquitoes!!! They were bad at Wonder Lake last week!

[mrsheldon88]

If you mean the Princess McKinley Lodge, I highly recommend the Jet Boat Homestead tour. The guy who gives the tour has some really neat stories to tell about homesteading, and you may get to see some wildlife up close along the way - eagles, bears, beavers, etc. Do use repellant.

 

-M

[fti]

Be sure to prepare for mosquitoes!!! They were bad at Wonder Lake last week!

 

I know a couple of people have mentioned the mosquitoes at Wonder Lake. I camped there the end of June for three nights. We needed mosquito nets if we didn't have 100% DEET or if we were not using our Off Power Pad lantern, which works wonders (no pun intended). But with DEET and the lantern (has some sort of 'power strip' loaded with DEET is my guess) it was actually fine. And we were there WAY longer than any shuttle bus passengers were.

 

I would rather live with a bunch of mosquitoes than miss the opportunities to see Mt. McKinley so close, especially in the evening and morning when busses haven't gotten anywhere close to the Mountain yet. You should see some of the pictures with alpenglow that I took. Often the mountain is visible only in the evening or early morning before it gets clouded over again. Just my opinion, I know.

[Budget Queen]

I know a couple of people have mentioned the mosquitoes at Wonder Lake. I camped there the end of June for three nights. We needed mosquito nets if we didn't have 100% DEET or if we were not using our Off Power Pad lantern, which works wonders (no pun intended). But with DEET and the lantern (has some sort of 'power strip' loaded with DEET is my guess) it was actually fine. And we were there WAY longer than any shuttle bus passengers were.

 

I would rather live with a bunch of mosquitoes than miss the opportunities to see Mt. McKinley so close, especially in the evening and morning when busses haven't gotten anywhere close to the Mountain yet. You should see some of the pictures with alpenglow that I took. Often the mountain is visible only in the evening or early morning before it gets clouded over again. Just my opinion, I know.

 

 

You were well prepared. Most people are not. This is an excellent descriptive post. :)

[CM_Mom]

http://www.nps.gov/dena/home/mainpagefiles/Summer%20Alpenglow.pdf

 

This is a great brochure in PDF form that you can read or print out. It gives suggestions for what to do at Denali depending on the time you have and lists the shuttle times and prices.

 

I'm beginning to research next year's RV trip.

 

Enjoy

[fti]

Even with an RV, you are best to buy shuttle bus tickets and get as far into the park as possible. You can actually drive an RV to one of the campgrounds past the Savage River checkpoint (Teklanika) if you stay at least 3 nights.

 

Otherwise Savage River or Riley Creek campgrounds are possible with an RV (IMHO Teklanika and Savage River are nicer).

[jrobinso]

Don't make the same mistake we did. We stayed 2 nights at Mt McKinley lodge. We wanted to just hang around the lodge the full day we were there, and do some local hiking. We didn't book anything. We tried going out on the trails, one was closed, the other one was short and not that scenic. We ended up spending most of the afternoon playing cards at the lodge, listening to a ranger talk and seeing a slide show. These were interesting,but not what we were looking for. We both wish we had gone into Talkeetna. Have a great time.

 

By the way, the service for dinner at the coffee shop at the lodge was horrible.

[fti]

Don't make the same mistake we did. We stayed 2 nights at Mt McKinley lodge. We wanted to just hang around the lodge the full day we were there, and do some local hiking. We didn't book anything. We tried going out on the trails, one was closed, the other one was short and not that scenic. We ended up spending most of the afternoon playing cards at the lodge, listening to a ranger talk and seeing a slide show. These were interesting,but not what we were looking for. We both wish we had gone into Talkeetna. Have a great time.

 

By the way, the service for dinner at the coffee shop at the lodge was horrible.

 

Funny how I just responded to a post on Princess Lodges then saw your post. When we drove between Anchorage and Denali I saw how isolated the Princess McKinley lodge was.