Help for Denali

[jessinphilly]

Hi. Doing our first tour of Alaska with land attached with Princess. We are looking for fun things to do after the train gets in around 6. One thought would be to go horseback riding (we have 13 yr old dd with us). Does anyone have reccomendations for horseback riding place--we would need transport there from Princess Lodge. Also, next day have early morning Tundra tour and then at 6 going white water rafting. Does this sound good, or should we try to do something other than Tundra? Thanks for all the tips I have gotten on these threads!

[fti]

Hi. Doing our first tour of Alaska with land attached with Princess. We are looking for fun things to do after the train gets in around 6. One thought would be to go horseback riding (we have 13 yr old dd with us). Does anyone have reccomendations for horseback riding place--we would need transport there from Princess Lodge. Also, next day have early morning Tundra tour and then at 6 going white water rafting. Does this sound good, or should we try to do something other than Tundra? Thanks for all the tips I have gotten on these threads!

 

I will leave the horseback riding question to someone else. I have been on a horse twice in my life and if you ask me, that was twice too many. Glad that others enjoy it!

 

If you are doing the Tundra Wilderness Tour (TWT), I assume you are spending two nights at the Denali Princess Lodge. If it were me, I would request a refund of the TWT (about $90/person I believe) and book the shuttle bus independently. The shuttle bus to Fish Creek or even better Wonder Lake costs at most $30 and goes the same road as the tour, only further. At Denali, further is better. You can get info on the shuttle buses at www.nps.gov/dena and can reserve at www.reservedenali.com.

 

Some TWT tour buses have cameras with zoom lenses so they can show distant wildlife on a TV in the bus but apparently not all do. I would think that looking through my binoculars or zoom lens on my camera would be more interesting than looking at a TV! Also some say that the guides on the tour buses are better/have more experience but I have had excellent drivers on the shuttle/camper buses who have been driving for 15-20 years and act like guides though technically they are drivers not guides.

 

All things considered, go with the shuttle bus, in my opinion. It means getting to the Wilderness Access Center but Princess and others run buses to the park. Perhaps don't take the earliest shuttles (they start about 5.15am). If you take one at 8am I am sure you can easily get from your lodge to the park. You can also walk (about 1-2 miles).

 

You can take a shuttle bus for 8-9 hours and be back for the rafting. But it might mean a slightly earlier shuttle bus. You won't regret it - if all else fails I would choose a longer trip into Denali and do the rafting elsewhere. You can raft in lots of places. Only one place in the world to see Denali.

[TeeBuccs]

DH and I went to Jeff King's Huksy Homestead the evening we arrived in Denali. It was extremely informative as Jeff King (multiple time Iditarod winner) himself told stories of what it is like to be in the race. They also did husky demonstrations and asked visitors to help socialize their puppies by holding them and interacting with them. We enjoyed learning about this sport.

 

http://www.huskyhomestead.com/