Denali: The Tundra Wilderness Tour and the National Park
While we were in Denali, we knew that we wanted to explore the national park but we weren’t sure how we wanted to go about doing it. We went back on forth on if we wanted to take the Tundra Wilderness Tour, which is a 5-hour bus ride through the park, or if we wanted to simply do a lot of hiking through it. We just weren’t sure if we wanted to be sitting on a bus for that long. But, in the end, we decided to go for it and booked the morning bus tour.
We wisely had one of the four of our group book the bus tour for all of us so that we could be sure to be put on the same bus. It turns out that there were multiple bus tours going on at the same time with staggered start times and some big groups had to be spilt up, so it would have been very likely that our group would have been split up as well. When you book, you choose a time slot of either AM (5AM-11AM) or PM (1PM-6PM). And, we learned that if we had booked earlier then we would have been in a much earlier 6AM group, which might have given us more of an opportunity to see the wildlife. Instead of being in the early morning group, we got picked up at 10:40 in front of our lodge. We had smartly brought snacks with us so that along with the snack box provided with the tour we could eat our “lunch” while on the bus. You can order a lunch box to have as well as the snack box or you can bring your own lunch or snacks, as we did.
Another thing that you have no control over when booking your tour is who your tour guide will be. We imagine that our tour guide, Justin, was about as good as it gets. He had lived in Denali for 25 years and was not only very knowledgeable but also had a lot of personal stories to add to his narration during our tour. From reading reviews online, most people were really happy with their tour guide, so apparently the company works hard to hire excellent tour guides and educate them well. This is unlike other companies in Denali where it seems that they have very green workers early in the season.
While on the bus, we traveled deeper and deeper into the park. We met the park ranger and then continued on keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife and a glimpse of Mount Denali. Our tour guide had a really great camera that he used to zoom in on any wildlife we found. He then displayed the images on the screens inside the bus. We saw a variety of birds, a number of Dall sheep, a Grizzly bear, numerous Caribou and a Porcupine. Due to cloud cover, we could only see just a ridge of Mount Denali but that didn’t seem to bother our group too much. We made 3 or 4 stops so that we could get out, use the restroom, and take in some excellent views. It was very windy inside the park because we were at a higher elevation, and I was very glad to have my heavy jacket with a hood. All in all, the views were incredible and the wildlife sightings made the whole adventure worthwhile.
One thing that we learned from our excellent tour guide at the end of our tour is that we shouldn’t miss the dog sled demonstration at the National Park. We were informed that we could attend the next day at the perfect time so as to allow for travelers, such as ourselves, to attend and then catch the train to Anchorage. And, the train station was located conveniently next to the visitor center. So, the next morning, we checked out of the lodge and got a complimentary shuttle to the visitor’s center where we then got on a bus that took us to the dog kennel. Once there, we were able to pet the dogs, talk with their caretakers, and then we sat and watched as a team of dogs ran around in front of a wheeled cart. We really enjoyed this, partly due to how much we love dogs and partly because it was a free event.
After the demonstration, we took the bus back to the visitor’s center where we found the gift shop, coffee shop, and museum. After I purchased the winter hat that I would wear for the rest of our trip and a cup of coffee, I wandered through the museum and enjoyed looking at all of the animals and items found within. The demonstration and visitor center were a really nice and fun way to end our adventures in Denali.
If you have plans to be in Denali, I highly recommend that you consider booking the Tundra Wilderness Tour. I also recommend that you do so as soon as you can so that you can ensure the best pick-up time. Even though we did see a lot of wildlife while on our tour, I was told that we would have seen more earlier in the morning. The other thing that I was told is that the first couple of weeks of the season (late-May to mid-June) and then again late in the season (September) are the best times to go to Denali, especially if hoping to view a variety of wildlife. We were certainly glad that we were able to see Denali in the way that we did, thanks to the Tundra Wilderness Tour.
