Spend Day 1 at your leisure after traveling to Anchorage. Meals are on your own.
After breakfast on Day 2, you’ll head north through the kind of scenery that defines the Alaskan interior: tundra, soaring mountain peaks, glaciers, forests, wild rivers and vast expanses primarily inhabited by animals such as moose, grizzlies, foxes and birds.
Upon reaching Talkeetna, you’ll explore downtown before boarding an Alaska Railroad train. You’ll spend the next 4.5 seated in the upstairs Dome where you’ll enjoy views from every angle before heading to the dining room for lunch. Arriving in Denali, you’ll transfer to the Grande Denali Lodge, which perches on the edge of a bluff less than a mile from the entrance to Denali National Park. Following enlightening private lecture on Denali, your evening is open for dinner on own.
Day 3 commences with an early breakfast before embarking on a phenomenal 4-5 hour Denali Natural History Tour. Focusing on the rich natural and cultural history of the park, this program travels to the Teklanika River. Several interpretive stops enhance the experience, with an hour of time spent off the bus. Stopping at the Savage Cabin, the original ranger’s cabin, provides insight into how it was used in the past and now in the present.
Arriving at Primrose Ridge, you’ll learn how the land has been used for nearly 10,000 years during a memorable Alaskan Native presentation.
NOTE: You may upgrade to the longer 6-8 hour Tundra Wilderness Tour from the Tour Director only on Day 1 or 2 of the program. Tours are conducted in school buses.
Upon returning to the lodge, enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure, before overnighting at the lodge.
After breakfast on Day 4, you’ll depart Denali and travel the Parks Highway, which (weather permitting) affords magnificent views of Mt. Denali, the tallest mountain in North America. You’ll visit the Iditarod Sled Dog Kennel and learn about this truly Alaskan competition, named the Last Great Race on Earth. NOTE: this is not a ride with the dogs.
You’ll continue along the shoreline between the Chugach Mountains and the waters of Turnagain Arm to Girdwood, eventually checking in to the Hotel Alyeska. The rest of the day and evening are yours to enjoy as you please.
Day 5 of this epic journey begins with a hearty breakfast before riding to the top of Mt. Alyeska on the aerial tramway for a spectacular view of the surrounding area with its seven glaciers. After lunch (on your own), you’ll visit an organization dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife by providing a refuge for bear, moose, elk and more.
