McKinley Princess Lodge

[fourdarlings]

We have a one day stay here on our cruisetour and none of the excursions are catching our fancy or our budget. Is there anything "independent" to do here? Are there walking trails-other tours?

 

We are whitewater rafting in Denali the next day, whale watching with Cpt Larry in Juneau, flying with Island Wings in Ketchikan, going to Emerald Lake with Frontier Excursions in Skagway.

 

Thx

Keri

[Chenega]

This is a pretty sedate place with a great view of Mt.McKinley when the weather cooperates. There are some short walking trails and a few activities but you'll find a lot more to do at Denali.

[Budget Queen]

Extend your time in Talkeetna. Nice for walking around, small interesting museum on climbing McKinley.

[campngrl]

Four Darlings, it sounds like you are doing the same excursions we did last week. We just back from the Radiance Saturday. The whale watching with Larry was fabulous. We saw 15-20 humpback whales the morning we went out with him and they were bubble feedind too so they were coming to the top of the waters. We never saw one fully breach but had alot of great body and tail shots. We also did floatplane in Ketchikan. We had great weather. Tell Michelle hi from Lynn and her family. She took us on a longer route back to ship so we could see some mountain goats that she had spotted earlier that day. Talkeetna we did on the land tour and it is a nice, quaint town. We just walked around the town and ate at Rib West. It was good food. Try to eat at the Roadhouse for breakfast if you get the chance and only order half orders. The food they serve is huge amounts. Good luck on your trip. I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

Lynn

[Random00]

I loved the Princess McKinley Lodge. A great place to just relax for a day. There are a few easy walking trails but the highlight was catching the shuttle (Hi to the young bus drivers from Utah) into Talkeetna and spending the afternoon wandering around the town and having a great burger and beer on the outdoor patio at the West Rib Pub. We also did a flight tour and jet boat tour at Talkeetna but I would have enjoyed the lodge and the town even without the activities. The lodge also had a naturalist giving a talk, a ranger did a guided walk, and there was a couple of slide shows offered (I missed the slide shows but the rest was OK)

[fourdarlings]

Can you tell me what time the shuttles run from the lodge to Talkeetna. I think we are scheduled to arrive around noon.

 

Keri

[Random00]

If you are arriving by train you can spend that afternoon in Talkeetna and then catch a later shuttle to the lodge. Princess will look after getting your luggage from the train to the lodge. The shuttles run every hour.

 

Or you can catch an earlier shuttle the next day into Talkeetna and meet up with the train later for the next leg of your journey .

[mjminjax]

Can you tell me what time the shuttles run from the lodge to Talkeetna. I think we are scheduled to arrive around noon.

 

Keri

We were there two weeks ago; here are the shuttle times that week.

 

From MPL to Talkeetna:

7a, 8a, 9:30a, 11:30a, 12:30p, 1:30p, 3:30p, 5:30p, 6:30p

 

From Talkeetna to MPL:

11:30a, 1:30p, 2:30p, 3:30p, 5:30p, 6:30p, 8p, 9p

 

Round trip tickets are $15. If you are taking the train to Anchorage later in the day and want to go early to visit Talkeetna, the trip is free.

 

MJM in JAX