Seward, AK
Ididaride Dog Mushing Tour Chosen as one of Alaska's top 20 attractions, a must do for all Alaska visitors.
Your Seward Dog Mushing adventure begins with a two-mile dog sled ride. Feel the power, excitement, and energy of sled dogs as they are harnessed to the comfortable wheeled dog sled. Upon returning to the kennel you'll tour the Seavey's family kennel facilities, laugh as a guest is dressed up as an Iditarod musher, and cuddle adorable husky puppies. Your guides are all Iditarod racers, and offer a delightfully humorous, behind-the-scenes look at the Seavey family's training for the most demanding dog mushing race on earth, the Iditarod.
The Real Alaska Tour
Seward, Alaska This Seward tour package features all the attractions that truly make Alaska the Greatland. First, your guide shows you the sights of Seward. Learn why Seward was known as "the Gateway to Alaska" and "Mile 0" of the Iditarod Trail. See first-hand the effects of the 1964 Earthquake. Then, head out to Exit Glacier and enjoy a short walk along the nature trail that takes you to the face of the glacial ice. Watch for mountain goats, moose and bears. A hearty lunch will be served before you travel to the Seavey homestead and experience IdidaRide's Sled Dog tour. At the end your driver will return you to your hotel, cruise ship or the Alaska Railroad depot. All local transportation and lunch are included in this package.
Denali National Park 3-Day Denali Park Adventure
Denali National Park is typical a minimum 3 day trip from Anchorage. Backcountry Safaris would like to help design a custom Denali National Park adventure vacation for you that includes round trip transportation from Anchorage or Fairbanks. Some active option include rafting, dog mushing tour, and flight seeing. The lodging options could include camping or an overnight stay at a cabin or hotel at the park entrance to nights at an exclusive lodge in Kantishna, 95 miles within the Park borders at the very end of the restricted Denali Park Road. Tours could also include the park bus tour to the end of the restricted park road. And end your trip with a ride on the Alaska Railroad back to Anchorage.
Most Denali Park visitors stay at the entrance to the Park and take a tour bus down the Denali Park Road, which is restricted to private vehicles. At the Park entrance there are no views of Mt. McKinley or the geology and wildlife that make Denali so special. So your Denali vacation experience is, to a great extent, determined by how you spend time along the Denali Park Road. Most tours go only part way down the road, then turn around and return to entrance area. Our park bus tour is a narrated wildlife drive and goes to the very end of the Denali Park Road, so you go twice as far into the Park as most tours.
If you are taking one of our sea kayaking trips we can design a Denali trip to match up with our Aialik Bay Sea Kayaking trips, for a complete Alaska vacation. This combination gives you great opportunities to view marine wildlife such as whales, seals, sea lions and marine birds, and large land mammals such as bears, moose, caribou and sheep.
Normally from Anchorage we will recommend taking a bus to Denali and train back to Anchorage. This transportation option gives the best timing to allow the most time in Denali.
Lodging at Denali there is a choice of camping, next is cabins or hotels at the park entrances and then on the high-end staying inside park at the end of park road at an exclusive lodge in Kantishna. If you choose to stay at one of the park backcountry lodges at the end of the park road the best experience is at least a 2 nights stay at the lodge. From the park entrance it takes 6 hours by bus to get to the lodges and 1 night stay does not give you time to fully enjoy the activities the lodges have offer.
On our web site you will find separate web pages on Denali Cabins at the park entrance and Denali Backcountry Lodge a exclusive lodge at the end of the park road, and suggested park activities such as rafting, dog mushing, flight seeing.
If you are adventures beside the park tour buses there is the park shuttle buses where you can get off and on the buses and go for short hikes on your own off the park road. A low budget itinerary would be to take the bus from Anchorage to Denali, Train back to Anchorage and camp at Riley Creek at the park entrance and use the park shuttle buses for sightseeing and short hikes off the road. For our sea kayaking guest continuing on to Denali we offer tent rental option if you choose to camp at Denali.
ONE POSSIBLE SUGGESTED ITINERARY Day 1— Depart Anchorage at 7:00 a.m. for a scenic bus ride to Denali Park. Arrive at Denali around 1:00 p.m., check into your hotel, then for some afternoon excitement go for an afternoon raft ride, either a whitewater or scenic trip. After dinner you can go on for an evening stroll or go shopping at the park entrance.
Day 2— Early 6:30 AM departure for a Denali wildlife bus tour all the way to the very end of the restricted Denali Park Road. This 6-hour private bus tour is your best opportunity to see Denali's famed wildlife, including grizzly bears, moose, sheep and caribou. Your guide will narrate the drive with detailed behavior of different animals, natural history and geology of the park, and recount adventures of early explorers. We stop for photo opportunities when Mother Nature presents them. We will also stop at rest areas for refreshments (Snacks and beverage included) and to enjoy the sweeping vistas. After arriving at the lodge in the old gold mining district of Kantishna enjoy a lunch at the lodge.
After lunch a short shuttle to Kantishna air strip for a spectacular Mt. McKinley flight seeing adventure and a drop off back at the park entrance.
Day 3— Eat an early breakfast and then tour Jeff King's dog mushing kennel. Meet champion sled dogs, visit with the puppies and see summer training in action, see the arctic survival gear, dog sleds and racing gear. Learn about Jeff's state of the art dog training program.
Hotel drop off at the Denali train depot to catch the train back to Anchorage.
2008 Tour Dates And Rates
If you have interest in visiting Denali Park we would love to give you at no cost a proposal on a custom design Denali vacation.
CLICK HERE and in the comments area on the form tell us your specific dates you like to visit your prefer transportation options, lodging, and activities you might like to do. We will replay back with a written itinerary and cost.
Transportation To And From Denali National Park
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Denali Bus– Daily Coach Service To And From Denali National Park.
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Denali Star Train– Runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks with stops at Talkeetna and Denali National Park, home to Mt. McKinley, North America’s highest peak. Alaska Railroad scenic rail tours are designed for the fully independent traveler.
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The Roundtrip Package Deal– Backcountry Safaris offers a roundtrip discount package. Denali Bus one-way and the Denali Star Train one-way. Our Denali transportation package offers you a little variety for your roundtrip travel to Denali National Park.
Denali Park Lodging - There are many options, listed here is 2 of them for more options email or call us at 907-222-1632
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Denali Cabins– Charm of an Alaskan cabin with the comfort of a hotel room. You get all the amenities-private bath, TV, phone and comfortable beds. Plus you get your own cedar cabin nestled conveniently by the highway in the boreal forest next to Denali National Park.
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Denali Backcountry Lodge– An exclusive lodge located in the enclave of Kantishna, an oasis of private land deep inside the boundaries of Denali National Park. Located at the end of the restricted-access Denali Park Road, every trip is an Alaskan wildlife adventure waiting to happen.
Denali Park Adventures
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Denali Rafting Adventures– The Nenana River offers two sections, a class II scenic mild-water raft trip or a class III/IV whitewater raft trip. We offer both paddle rafting and oar rafting options in a spectacular Alaska mountain setting and the best whitewater rafting at Denali National Park.
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Jeff King's Dog Mushing Husky Homestead Tours– An exclusive lodge located in the enclave of Kantishna, an oasis of private land deep inside the boundaries of Denali National Park. Located at the end of the restricted-access Denali Park Road, every trip is an Alaskan wildlife adventure waiting to happen.
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Denali Flightseeing – Add a Denali (Mt. McKinley) flightseeing option to your Denali Park Bus tour or your Denali Lodge package. Denali flighseeing trips from Kantishna at the end of the Denali National Park road.
Reservation Information
We urge you to make your reservations well in advance. Many of our scheduled tours fill up as much as a year in advance.
WHEN YOU'RE READY TO GO!Fill out the secure on-line reservation form or call our office at (907) 222-1632 or toll-free (877) 812-2159. Reservation requires a 50% deposit. We accept payment by VISA/MasterCard. You will receive a pre-trip packet detailing the itinerary of the tour you have chosen and an equipment list. Reservation and Payment Terms)
Last minute reservations may be available so don't hesitate to contact us. If a trip has space, we can get you on it.
Limitations of liability:
Although every precaution is taken to safeguard you and your belongings, our adventure trips involve inherent risks and dangers which are beyond our control and Backcountry Safaris shall assume no responsibility for personal injuries or deaths and loss of personal property. Due to the nature of the activities, a condition of your participation is that you will read and sign the acknowledgment and Release of Liability before the tour begins.
We highly recommend that you consider purchasing travel insurance. Travel insurance coverage can help with expenses for the unforeseeable such as lost baggage trip delays, emergency evacuation, and cancellation due to illness.
We use independent contractors to supply Backcountry Safaris with various services on many of our adventures. Some trips require us to use independent tour guides, drivers, lodges and hotels, air and water taxis, and other suppliers. Because we do not own, operate, manage, control, or supervise these suppliers, we cannot be liable for any acts or omissions on their part, including any negligence, gross negligence, or reckless or willful acts. Backcountry Safaris assumes no responsibility for any injury, loss, damage, delay, or death to person or property arising from the negligent or willful act or failure to act of any person who is to or does provide goods or services for this trip or for the action or inaction of any other third party. Without limitation, Backcountry Safaris is not responsible for acts of God, equipment failures, vehicle or vessel accidents, illness from food or otherwise, annoyance, delays, failure of any means of conveyance to arrive or depart as scheduled, and changes in transit or hotel and lodge services over which it has no control. We make occasional changes in trip itineraries for the comfort and well being of our guests. We will keep you informed of any necessary changes in a timely fashion.
On payment of your deposit to Backcountry Safaris, you agree to be bound by the above terms and conditions.
Most Denali Park visitors stay at the entrance to the Park and take a tour bus down the Denali Park Road, which is restricted to private vehicles. At the Park entrance there are no views of Mt. McKinley or the geology and wildlife that make Denali so special. So your Denali vacation experience is, to a great extent, determined by how you spend time along the Denali Park Road. Most tours go only part way down the road, then turn around and return to entrance area. Our park bus tour is a narrated wildlife drive and goes to the very end of the Denali Park Road, so you go twice as far into the Park as most tours.
Lodging at Denali there is a choice of camping, next is cabins or hotels at the park entrances and then on the high-end staying inside park at the end of park road at an exclusive lodge in Kantishna. If you choose to stay at one of the park backcountry lodges at the end of the park road the best experience is at least a 2 nights stay at the lodge. From the park entrance it takes 6 hours by bus to get to the lodges and 1 night stay does not give you time to fully enjoy the activities the lodges have offer.
Day 2