Ber2048

59 minutes ago, Pepsismith said:

Great information on this post, particularly from the local residents. We will only be in Fairbanks 24 hours this trip, not a part of the Cruisetour but will be essentially taking the same route to Anchorage. We are booked at River's Edge Resort for May 21st, we arrive that morning and leave on the Alaska Rail the next day. We're thinking Gold Dredge, Pioneer Park and the Museum of the North will be a lot in a day, but next time we'll stay longer.

Sounds like a good plan. The locals did give some good information which I hope to use. 

3 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

You will likely see moose on the NHT.  Around mid-May the pregnant females start hanging out close to the entrance before giving birth in late May.  They want to be around people because bears will stalk them and attack the newborn calves.  Bears don’t like being around people.  I saw one give birth in the roundabout for the train station one year.

3 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

You will likely see moose on the NHT.  Around mid-May the pregnant females start hanging out close to the entrance before giving birth in late May.  They want to be around people because bears will stalk them and attack the newborn calves.  Bears don’t like being around people.  I saw one give birth in the roundabout for the train station one year.

That would be nice to see a moose, and some of the other wildlife. We were in Yellowstone in September, we saw wildlife, but not a moose. 

3 hours ago, wolfie11 said:

It’s out of Healy so you won’t be going into the park itself and the chances of seeing wildlife are slim, but it looks like fun!

Thanks, for your feedback.. Weighing my options. . . 

Did anyone take a Fat Truck excursion while they visited Denali!

What was your opinion? Did you find it worthwhile, or would you do a different excursion. We will be there mid May before the buses run in the park. 

25 minutes ago, LynKev said:

Look at a company called DogGoneIt tours - we booked this on a cruisetour with HAL and I see that this company has tours starting in mid-May.

Thank you. I’ll check it out!

2 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

We're arriving in Anchorage the 13th and doing a DIY land tour by rental car before our cruise on the 18th. Is that when you cruise also? We decided not to try to fit in Denali when we're there, so the gravel road became a non-issue.

2 hours ago, no1racefan1 said:

We're arriving in Anchorage the 13th and doing a DIY land tour by rental car before our cruise on the 18th. Is that when you cruise also? We decided not to try to fit in Denali when we're there, so the gravel road became a non-issue.

We are arriving in Fairbanks on the 10th and renting a car until the 12th doing our little DIY tour of Fairbanks and surrounding area. We start our land tour with Princess on the 12th, and motor coach to Denali on the 13th. We leave Denali on the 15th via the train to Whittier to start our cruise on the Grand Princess on May 15. Alaska is so vast, hard to see everything on one trip.  Have a wonderful time, and safe travels. 

10 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

No cell phone reception past Park Headquarters at about Mile 4.  The road is very well traveled as many locals take the opportunity to drive to Tek and hike or bike from there.  It is also two lanes and is graded frequently.  I’ve never had a problem with my 2WD subcompact Toyota and I’ve even driven it to the end of the road at Kantishna a few times.

10 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

No cell phone reception past Park Headquarters at about Mile 4.  The road is very well traveled as many locals take the opportunity to drive to Tek and hike or bike from there.  It is also two lanes and is graded frequently.  I’ve never had a problem with my 2WD subcompact Toyota and I’ve even driven it to the end of the road at Kantishna a few times.

Thanks, good to know it is  traveled. I spoke to a ranger, but it wasn’t clear how much they were on the road in mid May. 

41 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

It depends on how often you stop.  I like to park at Tek and walk the road over the bridge towards Igloo Creek.  Heard a pack of wolves howling there one evening as I was walking.  You can also rent a bike or e-bike from Bike Denali if they’re open. 
 

Also, check with the rental company about driving in Denali.  It may not be considered a “gravel road” in the sense that you’re likely not going to get stuck out there and stranded, which is the reason for that rule.

Good idea about a bike. I would have to check when Bike Denali opens.  I did check with the only two rental car companies that we could possibly use. You do need a car for a gravel road (SUV).  Glad to hear the road is good, so you  wouldn’t get stuck. Not sure how traveled the road is if you do run into a problem. I understand there is no cell phone reception. 

Thanks so much for all the good information. 

On 3/11/2023 at 10:09 PM, no1racefan1 said:

We are going in mid-May 2024. Not only will the road most likely still be closed, but the park may not be fully operational for the season yet when we are there.

 

For those of you familiar with the park--how much time would you allow just to drive the first 15 miles and do some of the hikes near the entrance? We're going to do a DIY land tour before our cruise, and I'm trying to figure out timing.

 

I'm disappointed about the road closure, but this will be our 2nd cruise to Alaska and being we have a lot of other places on our bucket list, I don't know if/when we will go back. I want to be able to say I visited Denali NP, even if we just do a hike.

 

(We're from Wyoming, and have had the pleasure of lots of wildlife viewing in our travels, so I'm not *as* disappointed as some others may be about the road closure.)

When are you going to be in Denali in mid May 2024. We will be there May 13 and 14 on a Princess Land tour. We arrive at 1:00p.m. on the 13th and have the rest of that day free. I was trying to figure out how I could get into the park without the buses. I also was thinking about just doing a trail around the visitor center, but was hoping for more. We will not have a car, so I was looking into renting? Someone posted it took them about 45 minutes to an hour to drive to mile 15, and about 1 1/2 hours to drive to mile 30 from mile 15, but you will need a car that you can drive on a gravel road. Not all rental cars are allowed to do that. Since the buses aren’t running then, you can take a personal car to mile 30.

15 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

My favorite is the Deadliest Catch tour.  I also like the all-you-can’t-eat Dungeness crab feed at the George Inlet Lodge.  I do often wander around town though.  There is a free downtown shuttle bus that loops from the Safeway Mall to the Totem Heritage Center and stops at all the docks, the lumberjack show, the SE Alaska Discovery Center, and Creek Street.

Good info, thank you. 

3 minutes ago, dfilpus said:

We probably spent 6-7 hours, including shopping, the visit to the Totem Center, lunch and photography. 

Thanks for your reply. Sounds like a full day, but we should have enough time to see a lot. Should be fun. 

33 minutes ago, dfilpus said:

Get the walking tour map from the visitor center. There are two walking tours, one loop around downtown and a linear walk south of downtown. We did both with a side diversion up to Cape Fox lodge overlooking town and a diversion along the Schoenbar trail through rainforest. The Totem Heritage Center is worth a visit to see historic Totem poles. Shopping along Creek Street is interesting. If the salmon are running, the salmon ladder is a good place to see salmon. 

Thank you so much for your reply. How much time did it take you to do both loops?

Our ship arrives at 10:00 A.M. and leaves at 6:00 P.M. 

Does anyone have any favorite excursions in Ketchikan? We were thinking of just doing our own walking tour and enjoying 

Ketchikan. Any recommendations?

So glad to hear Chilkoot does a good job. I wouldn’t have found them without the

recommendations on this board. Looking forward to our trip.   

I just booked with Chilkoot for May 18.  I guess we were lucky. I see that our cruise ship offers a train/bus tour, so there must be others. Maybe someone else will weigh in and suggest something. 

Thanks for the information. I guess we will wait to see what Mother Nature does. Glad to hear it is a drier month. 

Thanks so much for your reply. We will go with Chillkoot. We are looking at just the rail and bus tour. We are planning on the bus first that leaves at 8:30. We are on the Grand Princess. What month were you there last time? Hoping for nice weather. It probably will be chilly in May.  This is our first cruise to Alaska. Have a wonderful time. 
BL

Thanks, I’ll check them out. 

What excursions has anyone taken in Skagway, or are planning to take. What was your opinion?

We will be there May 18, 2024. 
 

So many to choose from. White Pass Railroad only excursion. Yukon excursion, White Pass bus tour, etc. 

Cruise tour or book on your own?

I’m sure you can’t go wrong with whatever you choose, but would love to here your choices or experiences. 

They did not tell us that the Park activities and buses were not  running. I discovered it on my own. 
I guess to some folks it doesn’t matter. 
There are back country ATV rides. I would prefer to get farther into the park, though. 
At lleast we have the history tour. Hoping Mother Nature cooperates.

Thank you for your information. Unfortunately except for the dinner show and short hikes, the other things you mentioned aren’t available mid May. The main visitor center isn’t open either. I think the science Center is the visitor center?

The trails look like a plan. I appreciate your information. 

Thank you, AK  Much to my disappointment, the transit buses will not be running. We will be on a Princess Land Tour, and looking for something for one afternoon/evening. They do have the History tour scheduled for one day. Trying to fill up the other. You can drive your own car to Mike 30. It’s either an excision outside the park or renting a car and driving ourselves. That is why I was looking for excursion reviews. Your information was helpful. 

Thank you. So many things to see. Slow seems good to me. Unfortunately, the dog kennels are only open on weekends in mid May when we will be there. We are arriving on a weekday. Good information, though. 

Thanks for your reply.That is a good point.  I guess weather means everything. I imagine it is the same for an ATV tour, and walking the trails. At least you are enclosed with the bus or car. You never know what Mother Nature will do.