Alaska Hut to Hut Highlight Tour

Welcome to Anchorage, the population capital of Alaska! Surrounded by the Kenai, Talkeetna, and Chugach mountain ranges, this city serves as the gateway to Alaska’s wilderness. With the largest population in the state, Anchorage is home to over 1,200 moose, 250 black bears, and 60 brown bears. You'll also find world-class attractions like the Coastal Trail, Anchorage Museum, and Ship Creek salmon fishing.

After arriving at the airport, take a taxi or Uber to downtown Anchorage to your hotel. Your first night of the trip includes a 6 pm pre-departure meeting, giving you the chance to meet your leader and fellow travelers for the upcoming journey ahead!

Take note, this is an adventure trip!
Please understand that this trip is a true adventure and requires the ability to walk 2 miles (approx 3km) to Denali View Chalets. Various hikes are offered, with adjustments in length and difficulty to suit different fitness levels. However, for an adventure trip in Alaska, it's important that your fitness level exceeds that of a daily commute or neighborhood walk.

Regarding meals, breakfast can be eggs, yogurt, granola, and fruit, lunch is almost always a sandwich heaped high with a healthy salad and assorted fillings, sometimes with fruit to follow. Dinner might be a BBQ, risotto, or pasta dish and there is always the chance to try some local food - especially salmon and halibut. Please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions. 

Though this is a lodge-based program, and you will be sleeping in beds, accommodations are still considered more ‘rustic’. You will likely share rooms and facilities with others at some of the yurts and cabins. Private rooms are not available. 

After breakfast, your journey takes you down the scenic Seward Highway along the Chugach Mountains and Turnagain Arm to Resurrection Bay and the renowned Kenai Fjords National Park. You'll visit Bear Lake Weir, a man-made waterfall that gathers spawning salmon returning to restock Alaska's lakes and rivers. After visiting the weir, you'll experience another animal essential to Alaskan life: sled dogs. At the Seavey Homestead, you'll meet these joyful creatures and enjoy a 1.5-hour Wilderness Dog Sled Ride and Tour.

Upon returning to your accommodations, indulge in relaxation and rejuvenation with options like enjoying the outdoor hot tub and wood-fired sauna on beautiful Bear Creek, or perhaps opt for a delightful picnic in the gazebo with a gas-fired grill.
 

Prepare yourself for an excellent day aboard a high-speed catamaran exploring Kenai Fjords National Park. During this 6-hour wildlife cruise, you visit an active tidewater glacier and search for exciting marine life like humpback whales, orcas, Steller sea lions, puffins, and sea otters. Your experienced captain fully narrates your journey, pointing out spectacular sights and providing insights into the area’s biology and geology.

Stay in the secluded Stoney Creek Inn or similar right in the woods close to Bear Creek, where you can unwind amidst nature's beauty and enjoy the comforts of your surroundings.

Start your day with an animal essential to the lives of Alaskans: sled dogs. A visit to the Seavey Homestead (home to a 3-time Iditarod champion family) will bring you face-to-face with these joyful canine athletes during a 1.5-hour Wilderness Dog Sled Ride and Tour.

After the tour, continue up the road to Moose Pass. Here, you'll gear up to paddle 1 mile across Trail Lake, followed by a short 1.5-mile uphill hike to your remote camp at Grant Lake.

Overnight in Moose Pass Yurts or similar at Grant Lake

The day starts with a delicious breakfast, preparing you for another exciting kayak and hiking expedition on Grant Lake. You explore a local waterfall and take in the stunning scenery. After your paddle, you relax and enjoy the breathtaking views with your Moose Pass adventure guides.

You sleep well in the Moose Pass Yurts or similar at Grant Lake under the Alaskan night sky.

Travel to the busy but quaint town of Talkeetna, the historic launch point for hundreds of climbers attempting to summit Mount Denali every year. With a short walk to the Susitna River, you hopefully get your first glimpse of "The High One."

During your two days here, you choose from fantastic optional activities such as a Denali flightseeing tour with a glacier landing, jet boating through "Devil’s Canyon," float trips on the Talkeetna or Chulitna rivers, or fly fishing.

Overnight in Talkeetna Northern Guest House or similar.

Enjoy a scenic drive along the Alaska Range as you make your way toward Denali. Today is dedicated to learning about this incredible 6-million-acre wilderness. You visit the Denali Visitor Center, the Murie Science and Learning Center, and the only working sled dog team in the U.S. National Park system.

Overnight in Denali View Chalet or similar.

Today, depart Denali View Chalet early to catch the shuttle to the East Fork River in Denali National Park. With luck, you will spot grizzly bears, moose, caribou, wolves, and many other beautiful creatures that call Denali home. Along with the shuttle ride, you can choose a hiking adventure in the park's 6 million acres of wilderness, specifics will be shared en route.

Overnight at Denali cabins or similarclose to the park entrance. 

Leave Denali National Park behind, but keep the glorious glaciers and vistas of the Alaska Range. Travel down the historic Denali Highway—an area rich with 10,000 years of human history—to the Maclaren River Lodge.

Upon arrival, board a jet boat or airboat to travel 10 miles upriver to a remote camp near the Maclaren Glacier. Explore the surrounding glacial fields on foot and experience true wilderness with no cell service and no vehicles.

Your morning begins with delicious pancakes, followed by a canoe trip down the Maclaren River back to the lodge. Despite heading downstream, you still need some navigation skills! Braided rivers change daily, so you must do your best to avoid getting stuck on a gravel bar.

After your paddle, spend the rest of the day enjoying the rustic lodge, chatting with fellow travelers, and tasting the local Maclaren Berry Pie or bread pudding.

Stay overnight at the Maclaren River Lodge, enjoying the tranquility of Alaska. 

Finish the Denali Highway, connecting with the Richardson Highway to reach North Pole, Alaska, where you visit a mock-up of Santa’s Workshop. Welcome to "The Land of the Midnight Sun," where the everlasting sunshine energizes everyone.

End your afternoon with a relaxing soak in the Chena Hot Springs. The healing waters here circulate deep underground for thousands of years, picking up natural geothermal heat before surfacing through cracks in the granite rock.

Overnight in Fairbanks Hotel. 

Your Alaskan journey concludes today, but first, you try your hand at gold panning! Your morning starts with a bag of paydirt from Fairbanks Gold Co. You are guaranteed to find gold, but you also have the chance to uncover Ice Age fossils, pyrite, quartz crystals, and garnets. Some lucky guests even walk away with woolly mammoth ivory!

Say your final goodbyes to your guide and fellow travelers as the trip wraps up around noon.

Note: The day typically ends around lunchtime in Fairbanks. If you are planning flights out of Fairbanks, please make sure don’t book them
earlier than 3 pm.