Anyone stayed at Denali Back Country Lodge?

[TeeBuccs]

Looking for some feedback from those who have stayed at Denali BC lodge as we are considering staying there for at least 2 nights on an upcoming trip. I thought this might be the best of both worlds - see the park on the way in and out and be able to stay within the park to unwind, vs. doing it all in one day.

 

Thoughts, experiences, ideas...?

[fti]

I think it is an EXCELLENT idea to stay inside the park for the reasons you mentioned. Plus, if you spend two nights, on the middle day you are traveling east in the morning when everyone else is traveling west and vice versa. And, your chances of seeing Mt. McKinley increase a lot because it is often visible at night or early in the morning when the shuttle busses are not operating.

 

Not to mention that the camper bus costs less than the shuttle bus and you can use the bus system unlimited for your entire stay if you don't go east of mile 20.

 

If it were me, I would look into Skyline Lodge. It is significantly cheaper than Denali BC lodge. You have the choice of bringing your own food and using the community kitchen or paying a reasonable amount to eat with the staff of Kantishna Air who run the place. Probably some balance between the two is good - bringing stuff to pack sack lunches for example but buying dinner from them. I have not stayed here but almost did and would have last summer. But one of our three nights was already booked when I contacted them 6 months in advance.

[EmmaWoodhouse]

We're booked in the backcountry lodge mid-July. How does it work to get there? If we rent a car in Anchorage, what happens once we hit the park-- can we drive to the lodge (I assume not)? Do we park and take the camper bus? Do we need to reserve that, and how does that work in terms of our timing of driving up from Anchorage (e.g., if we stop somewhere and miss the bus, are we out of luck to get to the lodge???) Is renting a car even worthwhile (vs. taking a train) if we'll be leaving it in a lot at the front gate for most of our stay (there are 5 of us, for what that's worth)?

[CorgiGuy]

Hi all,

 

We stayed at Backcountry Lodge for three nights this past July.

 

The main reason I was willing to pay the ADDED expense when compared to the "Little City" of hotels & lodges at the park entrance was a simple one. We were of the opinion that if we wanted to truely experience one of the most prestine National Parks in the country, we didn't want to do it in an area where there was one hotel lobby after another filled with fellow tourists running to and fro to catch buses and shuttles. Sorry, don't mean to be offensive to anyone, but personally its not what we were looking for.

 

 

To sum up the Backcountry lodge I'd have to say the location is is lovely. It is right on Moose creek, the accommodation were clean, newly comstructed & during our stay we never heard anyone say a negative comment on the lodging. The staff was friendly and accommodating, the food at dinner was very good, the breakfasts & lunches were buffet style.

 

Here are some comments regarding the lodge:

 

You can not drive to the lodge (approx 95 miles into the park). Lodge has its own shuttle bus that picked up guests in the lot next to the train station. It you are taking a train to the park, try to get on the Alaska Railroad's "Gold Dome" train car. It costs a little extra , but boy is it worth it.

 

Shuttle left train station around 12:45pm. and makes numerous stops along the way to the lodge, especially when wildlife is sighted. You will probable arrive at lodge around 5pm, with dinner being served @6-6:30, depending on your arrival time. Some of the scenery deep into the park is amazing. There were some spots where we thought we were in Jurasic Park.:)

 

Make sure you walk along Moose Creek to the suspension bridge. Walk over the bridge, on the other side is a labryth (?) and a two story gazebo(Nice views from the top).

 

Lodge is approx 32 miles from Mt McKinley. It your lucky enought to get a very clear day, you can see the tip of Mt McKinley from the second floor of the dining hall. It you do get a clear day(Only 30% of the park visitors actually get to see McKinley due to weather conditions), get the staff to drive you down to Wonder Lake. You get wonderful views of the Mt. from there.

 

They have sign-up sheets for three different guided hikes each day (Easy, moderate & difficult). Do to time restrains we were able to go on the easy & moderate only. They were no problem at all. Go on the hikes.

If forecast is for clear weather, deffinately sign-up for the McKinley Bar hike if it is being offered. It starts off near wonder Lake, and when you get to the turn around point, you will be approx. 19 miles from the base of Mt McKinley. Views were just amazing.

 

Mosquitoes were not to bad when we were there, but I would bring along headnets just in case. We made sure we did.

 

The lodge is very close to Katishna Air landing strip. You might want to consider taking their flight service to the park entrance when leaving. Saves you that 5-6hr ride out, and gave us wonderful views and a different perspective of the park. They also have fights which go around Mt McKinley(Weather permitting of course). Matt from Katishna air was always stopping by the lodge. But definately make reservations ahead of time.

 

 

I have posted a number of photo albums on www.snapfish.com. One is specifically of Mt McKinley, and there is one of the drive to the Backcountry lodge. If you go to the snapfish website, log in with the following info: E-mail, apep33@aol.com & the password is, alaska3weeks.

Then click on the view all photos button & then all the albums should be listed.

 

Sorry to have babbled for so long, hope it helps a little. Have a wonderful time!!!

 

Corgiguy

[EmmaWoodhouse]

Thanks SO much for a very helpful reply, Corgiguy-- helps a lot and wasn't babbling at all!