Denali Safari

[chrob]

We are considering booking a Denali sightseeing safari.

 

The advert says the trip is on Monster trucks with 64" wheels which crosses streams and rough terrain and lasts 6-7 hours. The cost seems to be reasonable at $120 pp.

 

Does anyone have any experience of this trip?

[Yukon]

I was on this trip last August, and think it's great. Very unique, very Alaskan - you head off where no regular vehicles can go, through a deep river, past an old mine, and walk to a wilderness viewpoint for a picnic. The three guides were each very interesting characters in their own right, each with a different focus, and the interaction with all three during the picnic was great. Wildlife viewing (caribou) was okay, but is apparently great some days. It's not a rough ride - my guide compared it to riding on an elephant (a slow rocking back and forth) and that sounded pretty accurate to me. I'll dig out some photos and post them shortly.

 

Murray

[Yukon]

Here is what the tour looks like: http://www.explorenorth.com/articles/monster_truck_tour.html

[JohnQ]

Murray,

Do the tours go into Denali NP itself or on the edges or in the state park? Seems like it would scare off wildlife.

[Yukon]

The tours do go into the National Park, though only a little. The trucks are quiet and are driven slowly, so wildlife doesn't appear to be any more bothered than they are by the Denali buses (and there at most 3 trucks a day intead of 100 or so buses). Though we didn't have large animals close to the trucks on this trip, foxes weren't the least bothered by them.

 

Murray

[lmcd]

Agree with Yukon. We took the trip in Aug 2003. Very enjoyable and unique. One of the guides is a geolgist. We stopped at one of the riverbeds and she explained a lot of the rock formations that could be seen. I believe you have 2 choices. One is to the oriented to seeing the scenery, while the other is more oriented looking for wildlife. May not see a lot of wildlife. We only saw 3 black bears, but the scenery is great.

 

Larry