Denali Natural History Tour

[Ohio traveler]

We are going on a tour/cruise in September and included is the Natural History tour in Denali. Would we see more if we booked a shuttle that took us further into the park? We will be staying at the Princess Lodge outside the park. How often does the bus from there take people into the park. If we scheduled a shuttle bus ride for 9am, would we be able to get into the park where the rides start in time?

Or should we stick with the Natural History tour which we have already paid for? Thanks for any help/suggestions.

 

This will be my first trip to Alaska!!

[Budget Queen]

You have made a wrong tour choice. If an option, you may want to look at changing it?? You absolutely will see WAY more canceling at least the NHT, which in my opinion is completely worthless. :)

 

Key- do you have 2 nights at the Denali Princess lodge?? Will make arranging the shuttle bus far easier.

 

Generally, the lodge shuttle buses do operate early enough for the 9am park shuttle buses into the park.

 

Depending on when in Sept?? Far better are the northbound trips, since the Inside Passage has the worse potential for weather. But you need to be interior before the shuttle buses stop running. Wonder Lake is the place to go in my opinion in this timeframe, just spectacular and no bugs. :)

 

Be certain to get a refund for the NHT and when you book the shuttle bus, tell them you will have already paid the park admission through Princess.

 

Here is a photo sample of a Sept 1 trip to Wonder Lake, the park is just loaded with color. :) http://community.webshots.com/user/budgetqueen

[PennyAgain]

The Denali Park road shuts down immediately when the snow starts falling. The date is not a fixed issue. I've been there when it shut on Sept. 9 and all people and buses were moved out including the people in the camp grounds.

 

Some times the road is shut later in the month. It all depends on the weather.

[Budget Queen]

The Denali Park road shuts down immediately when the snow starts falling. The date is not a fixed issue. I've been there when it shut on Sept. 9 and all people and buses were moved out including the people in the camp grounds.

 

Some times the road is shut later in the month. It all depends on the weather.

 

This absolutely is not always true. They don't "shut down" the road if it snows.

 

Here are photos to prove it in my post above. It was snowing when we left the access center, and the bear is just past Eielson. They did say, they may have to turn back but didn't and we made it all the way to Wonder Lake- which had no snow.

[thinfool]

We are going on a tour/cruise in September and included is the Natural History tour in Denali. Would we see more if we booked a shuttle that took us further into the park?

 

Yes. Book a shuttle or the Tundra Wilderness Tour. We did the TWT last August and the rest of our group did a different tour. I cannot remember if it was the NHT, but, according to them, it was a waste of time.

 

On the TWT, we saw tons of wildlife and scenery. Went about 60 miles into Denali. The other tour took them about a mile into the park. :(

 

There are plenty of frequent shuttles into the park, to the visitor center, if you decide to use the shuttle. The TWT leaves from the McKinley Chalet, which is about 200 yards north of the Princess Denali Lodge. An easy walk.

 

Either way, book one or the other, or both, now. You can cancel one after you decide which one you want to use. When I tried to book the TWT in June (for an August date) it was full. We were able to get in on a cancellation later, but it was a nail biter till we did.

 

http://www.reservedenali.com/