Shuttle Buses in Denali - stops?

[Cruiser Nonna]

For those of you who have suggested using shuttle buses in Denali - would you please advise if there are restroom facilities along the way?

 

Do they give you time to get off and back on same bus or do you have to wait for another one?

 

Any other suggestions - suggested to go to Wonder Lake?

 

Thank you for the help

[california mike]

Restrooms stops of course. Two on way up to fish creek as i remember it

 

Yes time to get off bus and streatch-use binoculars etc - Yes at the rest room stops

 

You can stay with same bus- we did Or you can wonder off and get on another bus latter (not a bad plan)

 

Did not go to wonder lake

 

Suggestions- Go early in the day- Bring good binoculars- Be courteus to other passengers- Pack a good lunch + water+ Bring your camera- Good to see dog kennel area afterwards- Dogs are freindly and they do demonstrations of sledding (on straw)

[fti]

Restroom stops every 75-90 minutes. I would strongly encourage you to book a shuttle to Wonder Lake. If you really end up getting tired of the ride before then, you can get off. But just last Wednesday I took a shuttle from Wonder Lake to Polychrome (I camped at Wonder Lake). Shortly west of Fish Creek (i.e. past the Fish Creek shuttle but before Wonder Lake) we saw a bear and her two cubs and a wolf very close to the bears ironically. If you just went to Fish Creek you would have missed that. The next day we saw a herd of caribou west of Fish Creek - you would have missed those as well. All these were VERY close to the road. The wolf was probably 20 yards in front of the bus. Every bus ride is different so no guarantees on wildlife sightings but the further you go, the greater the chance of seeing more wildlife.

 

If you go to Wonder Lake before about mid August, bring DEET or a mosquito net. I think they give you about 40-45 minutes at Wonder Lake (depending on how long you stopped for wildlife) before turning back.

[Cruiser Nonna]

Thank you so much for the advice - I think it definitely makes sense - go for the longer and if too long - get off and start back.

 

Thank you for explaining the stops - knew there would be some but no idea of how long etc. Like the idea of at least stopping at Wonder Lake to look (time obviously depending on what else has been done)

 

Any other advice for my 17yr old and 11 yrd old - they have done the Inside passage before - but are very excited about Denali - just wish we had more time than only 2 nights

 

Thanks again -

[LEtue]

Great information! I have been wondering about some of the same things and this is very helpful :)

 

Looks like a trip to Wonder Lake is the best option :D

[ARK6]

Thanks to some GREAT information & ideas from FTI, BQ & others on this board, we had a fantastic trip to Wonder Lake on June 21st. We had reservations for the 6:15 shuttle and arrived 15 minutes early & got in line at the Wilderness Access Center. The bus had 25 passengers at the beginning. After picking up a few, ticket holding, campers early on, the bus had four empty seats; but we later picked up 3 hikers along the way. The bus kept one empty seat for the remainder of the trip (the driver had to say no to several hikers the rest of the day - not enough seats). I think, except for a couple that stayed at Wonder Lake, every one stayed on the bus for the entire trip.

 

I think we stopped three times on the way to Wonder Lake, for rest room breaks (a short break at one of the early camp grounds, a longer break at Polychrome, and another short stop near the old visitor center. We were at Wonder Lake for about 30-40 minutes. We had simular rest stops on the way back, except we stopped at Sanctuary River for our longer stop.

 

I was a little concerned that the 11 hr bus ride would bother my wife's back, but she brought a pillow from our cabin, to lean against, and she weathered the trip very well and had a very enjoyable time - no pains.

We brought our canvas cooler (a great extra bag during our trip) to carry our sandwiches, water, sports drink, and other snacks; camera, binoculars; deet; & mosquito head nets. The bus has overhead racks for your carry-ons. The bus ride was smoother than I anticipated and not very dusty. The windows must go through some really tough quality control, because they get used dozens & dozens of times every day; and the windows open & close very nicely. I enjoyed my rear seat, because the bus had a rear handicap access door & area with an extra window to open during wildlife sightings.

 

Our driver, Tim, was fantastic. He has been driving the shuttles for many years. His school lets him leave a week early & return a week late every year, so he can drive the shuttles. There are speakers on the bus, and Tim gave wonderful, informative, & interesting details on all things concerning wildlife, park history, and practically any thing Alaskan. His knowledge of the park's wolf packs was quite extensive. Tim gives you the sense, that he enjoys being in the drivers seat, as much as we enjoyed being a visitor to this wonderfully, amazing park. He would stop if anyone even thought they saw something.

 

The WWC was still in sight, when we stopped for 3 moose to walk in front of the bus. That was the beginning of many multipul creature sightings. We saw Grizzly bear, or bears, 9 or more times. Twice, we saw the same momma, with 2 cubs, near Fish Creek, on the trip up & back; they had crossed the road. The shuttle, a couple buses behind us, saw them within 20 yards of the road. We saw Caribou, moose, fox, and dall sheep many, many times. Also saw a couple of Golden eagles and a few Ptarmigan. We had stopped to view a Caribou on a hill side, standing in some snow. While we watched, someone noticed three Grizzlies napping two hundred yards further down the hill. 3 Grizzly & a Caribou in the same picture - cool.

 

Mt McKinley was out & the entire mountain was visable for the first 3 or 4 hours, but then it went back into the clouds. On our drive from Anchorage to Denali, on the previous day, we had a perfect, nearly cloudless, day for viewing McKinley. I bet I stopped at a dozen locations for great pictures of the mountain. We really lucked out, because the day after our Denali shuttle trip, while driving to Anchorage, we had an extremely cloudy, very low pinkish colored clouds, (in Arkansas, I'd say it looked like it was gonna hail). It turned out to be smoke, from a forest fire on the Kenai peninsula, that had caused health advisories from Anchorage to Denali. The thick clouds caused me to cancel my drive up to Hatcher Pass, but that allowed a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center - Very nice.

[Cruiser Nonna]

GREAT review - thank you so much for taking the time to explain in such detail.

 

EVERYONE - please know how much all your time and thoughts are appreciated!!

[cruiserjcp]

I hope someone can help me with my question. We are on a land tour with Princess and because of the tour we chose we are on the Natural History Tour. Most people have posted that this is a waste of time. We do not have time to take the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Here's my idea. Take the Shuttle bus as far as we can go with time alloted and skip the other tour with Princess. The Shuttle buses go much further than the NH tour does. Has anyone else ever tried doing this with success. Any suggestions?

[mrgoins]

I hope someone can help me with my question. We are on a land tour with Princess and because of the tour we chose we are on the Natural History Tour. Most people have posted that this is a waste of time. We do not have time to take the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Here's my idea. Take the Shuttle bus as far as we can go with time alloted and skip the other tour with Princess. The Shuttle buses go much further than the NH tour does. Has anyone else ever tried doing this with success. Any suggestions?

 

I was in this same scenario. You can book a Tundra Wilderness tour (I prefered the tour as opposed to shuttle) that leaves later in the day (http://www.reservedenali.com/shuttles/index.cfm). I think we arrive in Denali at noon or 12:30 and our tour leaves at 1:30. I guess it makes for a long day, but I did not want to miss out on Denali. They will pick you up at the Princess lodge. It is something like an 8 hour tour. My TA is currently working on getting the cost of the Natural history tour refunded (rumor has it that Princess will do that).

[CCName]

Same here. I called Princess and cancelled the NHT and then reserved tickets on the Tolkat shuttle through Aramark Park Services. We got the Princess price of the tour refunded.

 

BTW - I'll be there on May 27.

 

TJ

[cruiserjcp]

How long would it take to ride the shuttle round trip to Tolkat?

[Budget Queen]

How long would it take to ride the shuttle round trip to Tolkat?

 

About 6 1/2 hours, but they DO NOT run on a fixed schedule. This is ball park.