shore excursion options for Skagway

[Musicdream]

Hey everyone! We are very excited for the upcoming trip on NCL encore. We will be in Skagway on May 22 but since we just booked the trip, all the railway  excursions were booked! What will be a good alternative to that? We will be in Skagway from 7am to 8:15pm.

1. We are thinking about glacier point wilderness safari, but I don't know if it would be a bit underwhelming as we will do Tracy Arm Fjord and glacier explorer the day before in Juneau. Both excursions cost a lot and we are a group of three so we wanna the experience to be worth each penny.

2. I know white pass railway has a hiker service. I wonder if a round-trip rail ride to Denver or Laughton will be a good alternative so that somewhat we don't miss the train experience. Depart Skagway at 12:40 PM** / Laughton Pickup at 4:05 PM or Denver Pickup at 4:30 PM

Is the hike manageable? We are all in good physical shape but unexperienced hikers. 27F, 63M, 55F

3. Is the NCL 1.5h bus trip to the summit good enough to get a taste of the beautiful scenery?

 

Thank you very much!

 

 

 

[nw gardener]

I would recommend checking out Chilkoot charters.  Appears the train is sold out on their site too, but the 6.5 mini bus tour to the Yukon is nice. Still plenty of snow on the ride up, they make several stops, and the scenery is great. Probably see bears along the road eating the new grass, have done the trip 2x and saw several bears. You will need passports, and I'd book soon!

[nordicacres]

We chose to rent a car for the day and will drive to the YT!

[nw gardener]

Some pics taken in late May from a mini bus tour.About 50 feet off the road, we stopped to watch for 15 minutes Still plenty of snow in May.Emerald lake.

[Coral]

12 hours ago, Musicdream said:

Hey everyone! We are very excited for the upcoming trip on NCL encore. We will be in Skagway on May 22 but since we just booked the trip, all the railway  excursions were booked! What will be a good alternative to that? We will be in Skagway from 7am to 8:15pm.

1. We are thinking about glacier point wilderness safari, but I don't know if it would be a bit underwhelming as we will do Tracy Arm Fjord and glacier explorer the day before in Juneau. Both excursions cost a lot and we are a group of three so we wanna the experience to be worth each penny.

2. I know white pass railway has a hiker service. I wonder if a round-trip rail ride to Denver or Laughton will be a good alternative so that somewhat we don't miss the train experience. Depart Skagway at 12:40 PM** / Laughton Pickup at 4:05 PM or Denver Pickup at 4:30 PM

Is the hike manageable? We are all in good physical shape but unexperienced hikers. 27F, 63M, 55F

3. Is the NCL 1.5h bus trip to the summit good enough to get a taste of the beautiful scenery?

 

Thank you very much!

 

 

 

There was an accident several years ago with Glacier Point Wilderness Safari where someone died. The information that came out of this was several employees came forth and indicated how the company had a lot of unsafe practices (or lack of safety practices) into place and really wasn't concerned abut safety of participants. I would like to think that things have changed but that put me off. It wasn't just one disgruntled employee, it was several who had worked there and many of them said the same thing (and they didn't seem to be disgruntled employees but individuals who care about people, the area and tourism). It is not a repeat of Tracy Arm, if you do choose to do it.

 

I don't know about question 2 but 3, definitely not. I also recommend Chilkoot tours, though only their all day tours (their combination van/train, or all day van trip). I think it is too early for Bennett Lake, not sure.

Edited April 7 by Coral

[rockraiders]

We rented a car and drove as far as Emerald Lake. Easy drive. We enjoyed the flexibility of spending as much time as we wanted at each stop we made. Also it was more comfortable than a bus or van. 

[Coral]

1 minute ago, rockraiders said:

We rented a car and drove as far as Emerald Lake. Easy drive. We enjoyed the flexibility of spending as much time as we wanted at each stop we made. Also it was more comfortable than a bus or van. 

This is a great option also! I can't say it was more comfortable than Chilkoot's van but it was nice to set your own speed.

[Richardgoogle]

I am hesitating between taking chilkoot tour vs self drive. The advantage of Chilkoot's tour is 1) get to experience the well known whitepass train. 2) get to see Bennett Lake which is only accessible via train by this tour. But taking the tour is obviously less flexible and very pricy. 

 

Could anyone pls share insights on the view of Bennett Lake as in if it's worth the extra time and $$? How does it compare to Emerald Lake? So many people on this forum rave about Emerald lake but I haven't seen too many reviews on Bennett lake, hence the question. 

[NothingBeatsBaseball]

We enjoyed renting the car for the drive when we did it 10 years ago or so. Really enjoyed it. Stopping whenever we wanted was nice. 

[wolfie11]

Bennett Lake is amazing!  It runs for miles.  You stop at the old train station (now a museum) and have around 45 minutes to wander around or walk to the end of the Chilkoot trail. They also feed you a decent lunch and you get some time to explore Carcross.  This is one of my favorite tours! If you go with Chilkoot they will also take you to Emerald Lake.

 

I have also driven the highway many times. It climbs almost 3000 feet in elevation in fifteen miles.  It’s a mountain pass with curves and a significant amount of large bus and motorhome traffic.  The driver must pay close attention to the road.  It’s fine on a nice day, but driving conditions can be very difficult on rainy, foggy days.  It can snow on top of the pass most months of the year. Also, make sure you are in port long enough that if the car breaks down or there are problems at the border crossing you don’t miss the ship. It’s a beautiful drive and you have the advantage of being able to stop when and where you want for as long as you want. I highly recommend it if you have an experienced mountain driver and are prepared for changing conditions.

[karatemom2]

16 hours ago, Richardgoogle said:

I am hesitating between taking chilkoot tour vs self drive. The advantage of Chilkoot's tour is 1) get to experience the well known whitepass train. 2) get to see Bennett Lake which is only accessible via train by this tour. But taking the tour is obviously less flexible and very pricy. 

 

Could anyone pls share insights on the view of Bennett Lake as in if it's worth the extra time and $$? How does it compare to Emerald Lake? So many people on this forum rave about Emerald lake but I haven't seen too many reviews on Bennett lake, hence the question. 

 

To this day, out of all our trips to Skagway, our visit to Bennett Lake is one of my favorite excursion memories. If you have any interest in history, especially Gold Rush history, it is like a living museum. There are still artifacts everywhere you look on the trails at the historical site - it is all left untouched and prohibited from being removed. I could have spent hours there - and of course the train ride is beautiful and you still get the bus tour as well with all of the scenic stops. 

 

Driving yourself is fine, but in my estimation a bit less satisfying, especially for those who have not traveled to Skagway many times because without a guide and commentary, you miss a lot of great detail and also an expert who knows where to look for things like wildlife and important sites.

 

Emerald Lake is very pretty, but it is just a scenic viewing location. Bennett Lake offers so much more.

[gvgseg]

On 4/6/2024 at 4:59 PM, nordicacres said:

We chose to rent a car for the day and will drive to the YT!

Did this 2 years ago and HIGHLY recommend doing this. You can control your pace more than going on the White Pass train and get much further into Yukon. I found a car through Turo that was much cheaper than going through the Avis in town. There is a free "Murray's Guide to the Klondike Highway" that you can find online that will give plenty of mile-by-mile detail. The  scenery is breathtakingly spectacular. Make sure to stop at the Yukon Suspension Bridge. We also visited the Tutshi dog sled farm. We eventually turned around at Emerald Lake.

Edited April 17 by gvgseg

[fitters]

On 4/7/2024 at 11:04 AM, rockraiders said:

We rented a car and drove as far as Emerald Lake. Easy drive. We enjoyed the flexibility of spending as much time as we wanted at each stop we made. Also it was more comfortable than a bus or van. 

How long did it take to drive to Emerald Lake?  Did you drive straight there and then do your stops/sightseeing on the way back?  

[gvgseg]

We drove to Emerald Lake and back and were out from about 8:30-5:00. We made several stops along the way (Yukon Suspension Bridge, Tutshi Dog Sled Tour) plus numerous photo stops. We did our stops on the way out and then drove pretty much straight back (where my wife and kids napped). I think driving straight back from Emerald Lake took about 1 1/2 hours.

 

Make sure to search for "Murray's Guide to the Klondike Highway." You can find a free PDF version online. It gives tons of mile-by-mile detail.

[dopey1200]

Are taxis readily available if you wanted to hire one to do the Klondike Summit Drive? 

[gvgseg]

I don't remember there being taxis and I feel like that would be a very expensive option unless you didn't go all that far up the highway. The drive itself is pretty easy. It's just the same road the whole time out and back.

[karatemom2]

1 hour ago, dopey1200 said:

Are taxis readily available if you wanted to hire one to do the Klondike Summit Drive? 

 

Not that we have ever seen. Skagway is a tiny town. There is a local shuttle bus to get around town, but not taxis. Most vendors providing this drive will be private tour operators and would be booked out in advance.

[wolfie11]

5 hours ago, dopey1200 said:

Are taxis readily available if you wanted to hire one to do the Klondike Summit Drive? 

No.  But you might be able to pick up a tour on the dock.

[sharon_pei]

9 hours ago, gvgseg said:

The drive itself is pretty easy. It's just the same road the whole time out and back.

Now i am a bit confused: in a different thread it was mentioned that it would take someone who is experienced in mountainous driving to drive this route and in case weather gets wet and foggy, it's not necessarily a safe drive. But a lot of people encouraging self drive have said the drive is easy and has nothing to be concerned of. Which one is true? For someone who isn't confident in long distance mountainous driving, is it something to avoid to be safe (since nobody has a crystal ball for weather)?

[Northern Aurora]

25 minutes ago, sharon_pei said:

Now i am a bit confused: in a different thread it was mentioned that it would take someone who is experienced in mountainous driving to drive this route and in case weather gets wet and foggy, it's not necessarily a safe drive. But a lot of people encouraging self drive have said the drive is easy and has nothing to be concerned of. Which one is true? For someone who isn't confident in long distance mountainous driving, is it something to avoid to be safe (since nobody has a crystal ball for weather)?

We have driven the route both in our own vehicles and in rental card.  There is no need to be experienced in mountainous driving.  

[karatemom2]

1 hour ago, sharon_pei said:

Now i am a bit confused: in a different thread it was mentioned that it would take someone who is experienced in mountainous driving to drive this route and in case weather gets wet and foggy, it's not necessarily a safe drive. But a lot of people encouraging self drive have said the drive is easy and has nothing to be concerned of. Which one is true? For someone who isn't confident in long distance mountainous driving, is it something to avoid to be safe (since nobody has a crystal ball for weather)?

 
it’s not a difficult drive - the road is good with some minor curving, but nothing hair raising. Also, typically the worst conditions you are likely to experience are rain or fog. It’s not like you are driving in snow or ice. We have done the drive numerous times in rental cars and find it quite easy.

 

That being said, the real advantage of letting someone else do the driving is so you can just sit back and enjoy the scenery. We are very comfortable driving rented vehicles in new places, but if you feel that might be stressful for you, by all means book a tour instead. 

[Coral]

6 hours ago, sharon_pei said:

Now i am a bit confused: in a different thread it was mentioned that it would take someone who is experienced in mountainous driving to drive this route and in case weather gets wet and foggy, it's not necessarily a safe drive. But a lot of people encouraging self drive have said the drive is easy and has nothing to be concerned of. Which one is true? For someone who isn't confident in long distance mountainous driving, is it something to avoid to be safe (since nobody has a crystal ball for weather)?

I don't find it safe for those on bicycles. Car - it is fine.

 

It is a safe drive. It is easy (I live in flat lands). Sometimes it is rainy and foggy in Skagway and clear on the drive on the Yukon (meaning just because it is bad in Skagway doesn't mean it is bad on the drive). There was only one time when it was foggy for me up there (and I go every trip).

[Northern Aurora]

Dang it — we are on a ship in Japan with rather high seas.   A great situation for typos.  The little white bags are in multiple places.  Dinner was rather sparsely attended.

 

We have driven the route in a rental CAR.