Anaktuvuk Pass by mail/bush plane or by guided tour?

Hi,

My wife and I are planning a land-based trip to Alaska in early July, but I'm posting this here because it seems as if several regular posters are familiar with the Gates of the Arctic flightseeing trips. BudgetQueen has commented that the flight to Anaktuvuk Pass is one of her favorites for scenery. We won't have a lot of time in Fairbanks; we'll be en route from Denali to Valdez. But we will have a little bit of time and can move our schedule around a bit.

Option 1 is Northern Alaska Tour Company's 7 pm RT to visit the Nunamiut Eskimo Village of Anaktuvuk Pass. It's five hours in all and the description says, "View the remarkable Trans Alaska Pipeline, symbolizing the immense changes brought to Alaska's Arctic by the discovery of oil over 30 years ago…Fly over the expansive Yukon River Valley, home of traditional peoples that sustain their lifestyle and culture as they have for thousands of years. Thrill at the excitement of crossing the Arctic Circle…Experience the rugged and magnificent Brooks Mountain Range as the flight route passes over the Gates of the Arctic National Park into Anaktuvuk Pass (flight often stops at Coldfoot enroute).

It's 5-5 1/2 hours, and the price is $599.

Another choice is to fly RT from Fairbanks to Anaktuvuk Pass with Wright Air, but I was wondering if those Wright Air flights fly low enough to be considered flightseeing?

Then there's Warbelow's bush mail flights, but I'm assuming those are hit or miss as far as where they're going each day. I also wonder if they fly low enough to be considered flightseeing. I kinda like the idea of this but not if it doesn't go to the right places.

Scenery is our first priority. The actual act of flying over the Arctic Circle has very little value to us. I was looking at this while considering Denali flightseeing from Talkeetna and thought, "Maybe we'd like to do this instead."

Thanks for your help,

Dave

I would ask this question to the Alaska forum of tripadvisor. For land travel it is a much better resource than CruiseCritic. There are Alaska residents on the forum as well as several people who are well versed on Alaska travels.

For what it's worth i met a couple at a Fairbanks campground several yrs ago. He didnt like small planes but she had done Warbelows bush mail flight 2 summers in a row and was planning a 3rd. She sid it was very scenic since the plane was at a low altitude and making several landings. (they were retired and spent summers working at alaska campgrounds to cover the expense of driving up from texas).

Hi, mapleleaves. Thanks for answering. I actually did post the question on the Tripadvisor Alaska forum, but by following board etiquette and keeping it with all of my other questions about my Alaska trip, it might have gotten buried in a thread that wouldn't have attracted people who know about Anaktuvuk and Gates of the Arctic. If you think it's a good idea, I can start a new thread over there.

Definitely start a new thread.

Questions do get buried, and some people quit reading a thread after it hits 15-20 posts. I know i do

Also, try the search feature. Do a search on the word anaktuvuk to pull up past threads. Good luck.

p.s. love the drive from Fairbanks to Valdez. If Rikka's Roadhouse is open, stop by for a look around.

Hey Dave,

A friend and I did a two week road trip in Alaska this past summer and had a great time. Our favorite day was driving up the Dalton to Coldfoot and back from Fairbanks - we left around 8 AM and didn't get back until a little after midnight. We didn't know what to expect exactly but the scenery was more interesting than I would have thought. Awesome day! If you're going to be driving from Fairbanks to Valdez you'll have multiple opportunities to see the Alaska pipeline. There's a suspended section just before Big Delta (coming from Fairbanks) where it crosses the Tanana River that I thought was pretty cool. There's a couple good places between Delta Junction and Glennallen where you can walk up to the thing for some interesting pictures. At Glennallen is a little Thai place called Tok Thai Food that had some of the best Thai food I've ever had! It's at the intersection of the Glenn and Richardson highways, just on the west side of The Hub store. Have a great time!

P.S.

Allow twice as much time between points than you are expecting! It took us about six hours to drive from Fairbanks to Healy...only about 110 miles. There's just that much to see and it's all fantastic. Good luck!

Hey Dave,

 

 

 

P.S.

 

Allow twice as much time between points than you are expecting! It took us about six hours to drive from Fairbanks to Healy...only about 110 miles. There's just that much to see and it's all fantastic. Good luck!

Really? Six hours Fairbanks to Healy? I wasn't expecting that. I'd heard that stretch wasn't very scenic. I was figuring on that being one of the quicker drives (Healy to Fairbanks).

Thanks for the tips about the pipeline. I'm looking forward to seeing it on the way to Valdez. It wasn't part of my reason for flying to Anktuvuk Pass; that's totally for scenic purposes, if possible in a limited timeframe.

Really? Six hours Fairbanks to Healy? I wasn't expecting that. I'd heard that stretch wasn't very scenic. I was figuring on that being one of the quicker drives (Healy to Fairbanks).

{Scenic} Beauty is in the eye of the beholder... Mostly, don't underestimate. You'll be sorry. Between Fairbanks and Glennallen is about 250 miles - we left around 8 AM and got there about 6 PM, I think. We were stopping quite a bit to take pics and "investigate" whatever caught our eyes. We stopped about an hour for lunch at the Buffalo Drive-In at Delta Junction - a friend of mine who lives in Fairbanks said the Buffalo Drive-In was the best place to eat around there. (I ran into a fellow Okie working there... ;p ) I think people will generally underestimate their times.