Train ride to denali

[aloanldy]

I'm going to be on a cruise tour taking the train from Anchorage to Denali. Is the long train ride boring? What is there to do? Is there a lot of wildlife and scenery to keep me occupied for the 7 hours?

 

Charlie

[AKStafford]

I'm going to be on a cruise tour taking the train from Anchorage to Denali. Is the long train ride boring? What is there to do? Is there a lot of wildlife and scenery to keep me occupied for the 7 hours?

 

Charlie

It's scenic, but kinda repetitive. By repetitive, I mean it's long stretches of the same scenic view.

Edited June 1, 2016 by AKStafford

[Potstech]

Train does not stop for wildlife but you may see some. You ride on the scond floor observation area with a dining area and bathromms on the first floor. Make sure you have a book or something else to do because 7 hours is a long time. Our trip from Whittier as a very long 9 hours.

[mapleleaves]

like everything else, the experience is totally subjective; some LOVE it , others find it boring after awhile.

 

There is lots of video of the trip on youtube. Just do a search on 'train to denali".

[oaktreerb]

I'm going to be on a cruise tour taking the train from Anchorage to Denali. Is the long train ride boring? What is there to do? Is there a lot of wildlife and scenery to keep me occupied for the 7 hours?

 

Charlie

 

Here's the experience from a HAL cruise tour. The train ride is closer to 8 hours. You will ride in a dome car in comfortable forward facing seats with lots of leg room. You will have a car manager who will narrate the journey. You will have a bartender who will serve beverages throughout the journey (including coffee and alcoholic drinks) which you can purchase along the way. You will be given a choice of purchasing breakfast or lunch in the dining car. The food is very good and it's also a nice way to pass some time in the least scenic parts of the journey.

 

Whether you are bored is up to you. Part of the journey can be scenic but not all. You will probably not see wildlife but you may if you are always on the lookout. If anyone sees wildlife (like a moose) they will let everyone know where to look. You will be given the opportunity to purchase a 60 page McKinley Explorer mile guide which will allow you to follow the journey.

 

Some people take a book to read. Some people visit with their fellow passengers and enjoy the journey. Have a wonderful trip.

[Glaciers]

I'm going to be on a cruise tour taking the train from Anchorage to Denali. Is the long train ride boring? What is there to do? Is there a lot of wildlife and scenery to keep me occupied for the 7 hours?

 

Charlie

 

It can be boring. You'll see a lot of trees... Hopefully Denali will be visible and some wildlife. Bring a book.

[aloanldy]

Thank you for the feed back, I appreciate it.

I'm looking forward to Alaska. I don't see a downside, i will be looking for phot opportunities and if need be i'll take a nap. I will also back a book for a tablet to take memoirs of my the trip.

[Glaciers]

Thank you for the feed back, I appreciate it.

I'm looking forward to Alaska. I don't see a downside, i will be looking for phot opportunities and if need be i'll take a nap. I will also back a book for a tablet to take memoirs of my the trip.

 

If the weather is good and the mountain is out, you won't need a nap or a book. It can be spectacular...in between the trees.

 

There is also a flag stop train that runs from Talkeetna to Hurricane. Folks who live remotely get to the tracks and flag the train down to get into town for supplies. You won't be on that train, most likely, but will be traveling along the same track.

[donaldsc]

I'm going to be on a cruise tour taking the train from Anchorage to Denali. Is the long train ride boring? What is there to do? Is there a lot of wildlife and scenery to keep me occupied for the 7 hours?

 

Charlie

 

Obviously opinions on tourist train trips vary and lots of people must love them or the long distance tourist trains would go out of business. However, I did the Anchorage to Denali train trip once on my first trip to AK many years ago and it was an awful totally boring experience. I will not say that I hated the trip but the fact that I have only done one long distance train trip since in all my travels gives you an idea of how much I disliked it. Scenery whizzes past and you do not have time to look at it. We saw no animals at all but if we did, the animal would be half a mile behind the train before I would have had a chance to get my camera to my eye to take a picture of it. Give me car travel any day over train travel.

 

The only train trip I have taken since that experience was when we took the 3 day Ghan train from Darwin to Adelaide with an intermediate stop in Alice Springs. The only reason that we did not fly is that my wife had suffered a medical emergency in Darwin and her doctor told us that we should not fly. We did meet a lot of interesting people on the train but sitting in our seats staring at the same desert scenery for 3 days was enough to drive me batty.

 

Never again.

 

DON

[Glaciers]

Give me car travel any day over train travel.

 

We feel the same way, for the most part. As I get older I can see that there may be a day where I just don't want to drive. It's a ways off. I won 4 round trip tickets on Alaska Railroad for a photo contest. We will head south to Seward since it's much more scenic although know I'll miss being able to pull over along Turnagain Arm.

[donaldsc]

We feel the same way, for the most part. As I get older I can see that there may be a day where I just don't want to drive. It's a ways off. I won 4 round trip tickets on Alaska Railroad for a photo contest. We will head south to Seward since it's much more scenic although know I'll miss being able to pull over along Turnagain Arm.

 

Could you sell the tickets and get whatever you can for them? Even if to take a loss of their face value, you did not pay for them so anything that you get for them is profit.

 

DON