What is there to see/do in Talkeetna?

Is it worth the 2 hour drive time and $10 round trip cost on the shuttle from the Princess Lodge to go into Talkeetna? Not really interested in eating in the town. Might be interested in a quirky bar and unique shopping. Anything like that there? If so, how much time in town would you recommend?

TIA!

Some people love Talkeetna and others find it a waste of time. Since there's almost nothing at the McKinley Princess Lodge, I think it's worth the trip into town. It's a funky little place with some fun shops.

There's a ton of videos on YouTube that show what you can find in Talkeetna.

We enjoyed the cemetery on the edge of town. There’s a nice memorial to hikers who passes on Denali, and you get a flavor of the people who lived there.

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We took the Alaska RR tour r/t from Anchorage and did a couple hours on the river in a jet boat and had time for lunch at a restaurant in town. We stopped several times on the boat to let the bears swim across the river in front of us.

Thank you all

If you have deep pockets, you can catch a small plane flight for a flightseeing tour. We did that in 2007 with K2. We flew over the summit of Denali. I am afraid of heights but it is one of the absolute best excursions we have taken anywhere in the world! The scenery is spectacular.

As an Alaskan I find Talkeetna to be somewhat of a tourist trap, but others do find it interesting. But there are several jet boat tour operators out of Talkeetna, and I think that all receive good reviews.

I like the view of Denali from Talkeetna over the view from the Princess Lodge. You can walk to the edge of town and view Denali from across the Talkeetna River. Spectacular if the mountain is out. We found the Hurricane Turn Train a good experience. Also agree that Talkeetna has gotten too touristy although has much more appeal after 8pm or so when most are gone and many of the kids working for the tour operators come together out by the Fairview Inn.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ride-a-train/our-trains/hurricane-turn

Interesting options. Thanks.

We enjoyed Talkeetna. To us, it felt like the quintessential Alaska town. There are a few boutique/souvenir shops and several good places to eat/drink. We did a flightseeing tour of Denali with a glacier landing. The glacier we landed on was where base camp for Denali climbers is. Landing on and walking around the glacier combined with the flight to and from was the most awe inspiring thing I have ever done in my life. We did the tour with Talkeetna Air Taxi.

There's a ton of videos on YouTube that show what you can find in Talkeetna.

Thanks AKStafford - You saved me $70. I went on YouTube and watched a bunch of videos for where we'll be going. This convinced me we're not going to bother with the Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan, thus saving $70. The jury is still out on Talkeetna. Depends on what the weather is like and how bored I am at the McKinley Wilderness Lodge.

Thanks AKStafford - You saved me $70. I went on YouTube and watched a bunch of videos for where we'll be going. This convinced me we're not going to bother with the Lumberjack Show in Ketchikan, thus saving $70. The jury is still out on Talkeetna. Depends on what the weather is like and how bored I am at the McKinley Wilderness Lodge.

I have to agree. After AKStafford's suggestion of looking at YouTube videos of Talkeetna, we would have to be very bored at the lodge to take a bus ride into Talkeetna, and I don't plan on being bored at any time while in Alaska!

Thanks for all the input everyone.

Is it possible to buy some wine or beer in Talkeetna and bring it back to Mt. McKinley lodge? Of course, I wonder if the rooms have usable refrigerators!

Some people love Talkeetna and others find it a waste of time. Since there's almost nothing at the McKinley Princess Lodge, I think it's worth the trip into town. It's a funky little place with some fun shops.

There's a ton of videos on YouTube that show what you can find in Talkeetna.

Put me in the "total waste of time" group. We drove the 14 miles each way off the Parks Highway to Talkeetna on our driving trip in AK. Unless you like marginal restaurants, fake funky overpriced tourist shops, and a very small but fairly decent museum on climbing Denali, we did not think that it was even worth the 14 mile detour. However, if the OP is stuck in McKinley Princess Lodge which is 49 miles from Talkeetna and 98 miles from Denali Village which means that it is in the middle of nowhere, the OP might as well take the Talkeetna shuttle. There isn't much else to do in McKinley Lodge.

Wonder why Princess stuck the lodge in the middle of nowhere.

DON

Put me in the "total waste of time" group. We drove the 14 miles each way off the Parks Highway to Talkeetna on our driving trip in AK. Unless you like marginal restaurants, fake funky overpriced tourist shops, and a very small but fairly decent museum on climbing Denali, we did not think that it was even worth the 14 mile detour. However, if the OP is stuck in McKinley Princess Lodge which is 49 miles from Talkeetna and 98 miles from Denali Village which means that it is in the middle of nowhere, the OP might as well take the Talkeetna shuttle. There isn't much else to do in McKinley Lodge.

 

Wonder why Princess stuck the lodge in the middle of nowhere.

 

DON

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It's been 11 years since we were at the McKinley Lodge for one night and we found plenty to do in addition to the flightseeing we did in Talkeetna mentioned in post #6. I remember a Park Service ranger giving a talk on the different types of salmon in Alaska and another led a nature walk around the grounds (all free). But the absolute best time spent at the Lodge was the time spent on their splendid terrace watching the mountain!. The front desk called us (we had left a request for a call) just as we were getting ready for bed and announced "the mountain is out!" We sat in twilight (this was in early July) for 2 hours and when we went back to bed, the sun still had not set! The next morning - a lovely sunny day - we spent a little more time watching the mountain. We were extremely lucky since clear weather is never a guarantee.

If you do decide to go into Talkeetna, we got a kick out of lunch at the Talkeetna Roadhouse. http://www.talkeetnaroadhouse.com/

Our two favorite parts of Talkeetna were the flightseeing (expensive but soooooo worth it) and the Talkeetna Roadhouse mentioned above. The Roadhouse is a jumping off point for Denali climbers- dare you to try to eat the whole breakfast!

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