A Review of the Kantishna Experience Tour in Denali National Park

Objective: This lengthy review is intended to provide guidance for those considering the Kantishna Experience Tour in Denali National Park.

Our Goals: Right from the beginning, my husband insisted that we do this tour as part of our Princess cruisetour. His reasoning was that in case we never returned to Denali and this truly was a once in a lifetime experience that at least we went all the way to the end of the road in the park that we so longed to visit. On the other hand, as the main researcher for our trip and an avid reader of these boards, I was not so sure. Turns out my husband was right!

The Choices: Backing up a little, my research on the National Park Service website http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/visiting-denali.htm#CP_JUMP_228596 revealed that our two options to see Denali National Park were to take either a shuttle bus or a tour bus. My first impression was that I’d rather have the tour, which includes a driver trained and certified to deliver commentary and a bus that you stay on throughout the day versus the shuttle, where you can hop on and off different buses at will, but where driver commentary is not guaranteed. The three tour choices are: 1) the much maligned Natural History Tour (NHT), which is the default option for most Princess cruisetours, 2) the Tundra Wilderness Tour (TWT) that goes 53 miles into the park, and 3) the Kantishna Experience Tour (KET) that goes the entire 92 mile stretch of road.

The Research: Although Princess included the NHT in our cruisetour, I was aware that we had the option to upgrade. When I checked the Cruise Critic boards for opinions, I found little information on the KET. The prevailing opinions here seemed to be that the NHT is a complete waste of time. (Kind of harsh, but not a problem because going only 17 miles into the park was not enough for us anyway.) In addition, most advised against the tours in favor of the shuttles. When I read inquiries from others regarding the KET, the only opinions I found suggested that it was overpriced, not worth the time, and that the lunch provided was merely a small snack that was in no way sufficient. The advice was to always pick up a sandwich at the nearby Subway.

Our Experience: Well, here’s how our KET, which we chose the day we booked with Princess, worked out. BTW, Princess simply charged us the difference in upgrading us to the KET. It was an easy process to obtain the upgrade.

Food Provided: As soon as we boarded the bus, we knew we had been misinformed regarding the food. There was a brown bag of goodies on each passenger’s seat. The bag contained: 1 bottle of orange juice, 2 bottles of water, an apple, a fruity energy bar, some trail mix, a small bag of baby carrots, a bag of potato chips, and a package of 2 chocolate chip cookies. In addition, once we reached the Eielson Visitor Center, we were handed a sandwich wrap, and he did have veggie wraps. Delicious! We thought we were smart by bringing in our own sandwiches, snacks, and water, but we had way too much food!

Tour Duration: The other thing I was worried about was the 12-hour duration of the trip. I figured after all the time we’d spent sitting on the flight to Anchorage from the east coast, and then the bus trip to the Princess Mt. McKinley Lodge, and then the train ride to Denali over the previous days that I would not be able to endure sitting on a cramped school bus for 12 hours. Wrong again! It was not the same at all. We were so pumped by seeing all the wildlife that we wanted to stay even longer! The day went by very quickly.

Wildlife Sightings: On the topic of wildlife, we’d seen none by the time we reached the turnaround point for the NHT. So if we had been on that tour, we would not have seen any wildlife (at least not on the outbound leg). But soon after, we rounded a bend and our driver spotted several caribou with gorgeous large antlers on a hillside! The other animals of note that we saw that day included: at least 10 bears, numerous Dall sheep, plenty of caribou, a moose, a porcupine, several pika, a family of ptarmigan, a golden eagle, scaup, a northern harrier, and a short-eared owl. Many of these were closer to the bus than I ever expected. We saw the ptarmigan while walking near Wonder Lake, a real treat as they were less than 10 feet away!

The Mountain: The weather did not cooperate and we did not see Mt. McKinley on our tour.

Our Driver: The entire tour was greatly enhanced by our driver Joe S. (sorry, forgot his longish last name). He did a wonderful job narrating, finding animals, and putting us in position to get awesome photos. He was an accomplished naturalist and carried his own camera and binoculars. He sure seemed upset at missing a photo of the short-eared owl!

Tour Participants: The people on the tour with us were very considerate and we worked together to afford everyone the opportunity to see wildlife and get pictures no matter which side of the bus. A couple of guys with binoculars were especially good at spotting animals in the distance. One time someone called out that a bear was sitting high up on a hill. We found the bear with our binoculars, but couldn’t understand why it was just sitting there seemingly not doing anything. As we continued to watch, two more bears were spotted far below the first, but headed in that direction. They were cubs catching up with their mother! How interesting to watch this unfold right before our eyes!

The Ranger: A National Park Service ranger joined us at Wonder Lake and presented a program on the history of the Kantishna area. We got off the bus in two different areas and walked around with the ranger. He answered our questions regarding the many flower species we saw. I enjoyed touring pioneer woman Fannie Quigley’s little house in Kantishna and learning about her lifestyle. We received a park service stamped postcard with a photo of Fannie Quigley as a memento. Also, there is a sign at “The End of the Road” where we all took pictures.

A word of caution: There were hordes of mosquitoes near Wonder Lake and in Kantishna. Thankfully, each of us received a bug net to wear and keep. Some chose not use it, but I did. In addition, I was carrying DEET insect repellant, which I highly recommend if you’re venturing into these areas near the end of the road.

Summary: All in all this tour is a great choice if you want an immersive experience in the park, and don’t plan on hiking. (We do love to hike and walked the trail to Horseshoe Lake near the park entrance the afternoon before our Kantishna tour.) The longer you’re in the park, the better your chances for seeing wildlife. I’m so glad we did this tour!

I hope this review helps others who are considering the Kantishna Experience Tour.

Did you tell us the dates of your trip? It always helps put things in perspective for me. I enjoyed your report very much and possibly missed that info.

We stayed two nights at the Denali Backcountry Lodge in late June because my husband wanted a chance to photograph Mt. McKinley in clear view. We took quite a chance because it was very expensive but we did get some wonderful pictures of the mountain. In fact, we had 3 days of clear weather. The mosquitoes were awful. If I go again it will probably be late August. Our driver on the way out was so-so but our driver on the return trip was wonderful.

You saw more animals than we did and we also had the advantage of a bus that was not full so everybody could spread out. Was your tour offered through the National Park Service? There is also a Kantishna tour that has lunch at the lodge and returns to the park entrance that same day. The tour you took sounds like the best choice for a day in the park.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your Kantishna Experience. I will be sure to bookmark it and share it with others who are contemplating this tour. It was good to read first-hand from someone who chose this tour and truly enjoyed this tour. I know this tour would not be for everyone, but I think you understood what you were looking for in a Denali experience and with all your research you were able to make an excellent choice for you. Thanks for sharing.

As far as the food you were given, it surely did seem more than adequate. However, you are the first person I can recall who gave a food description for the Kantishna Experience. Others have reported on the food given for the TWT, and it definitely seemed to be more in the snack category. Again, great to have first hand and accurate information.

I also want to express my thanks for your review. We are doing this tour in a couple weeks and I was wondering if I would be sorry that we booked such a long tour. We have done the 7-8 hour tour twice and both times we couldn't believe how fast the time went by. It's good to know you had that same experience with the longer tour.

So sorry you didn't get to seen the mountain. We have been fortunate to see it on all three AK trips. It is the main reason I booked the KET - to get even closer to the mountain. Hope it doesn't disappoint us this time.

Thank you for the info about the mosquitoes - not sure I would have thought about taking repellent on the tour. And thank you for the info about the food. On the other tours we had sack lunches from the B&B where we stayed but this time we're staying at a motel and I was concerned about food for the trip. Glad to know it won't be a problem.

Can you please answer three questions for me: Where did you board the tour bus? Were you in the first group to board the bus? And approximately what time did you board the bus?

Thanks, Helen

Did the bus pick you up at the lodge and was that the bus you stayed on all day? What time did your tour start and end? We are going in Sept when the days are not so long and wonder if we did this tour if we would return before dark. Were the seats OK? Was there more legroom than a typical school bus? Thanks!

Did you tell us the dates of your trip? It always helps put things in perspective for me. I enjoyed your report very much and possibly missed that info.

 

We arrived at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge on July 23, 2012 around 4:30 pm and left early the morning of July 25. So the date of our tour was July 24. Sorry I omitted that info!!

 

We stayed two nights at the Denali Backcountry Lodge in late June because my husband wanted a chance to photograph Mt. McKinley in clear view. We took quite a chance because it was very expensive but we did get some wonderful pictures of the mountain. In fact, we had 3 days of clear weather. The mosquitoes were awful. If I go again it will probably be late August. Our driver on the way out was so-so but our driver on the return trip was wonderful.

 

You saw more animals than we did and we also had the advantage of a bus that was not full so everybody could spread out. Was your tour offered through the National Park Service?

 

Unless I'm mistaken, all tours are through the NPS.

 

There is also a Kantishna tour that has lunch at the lodge and returns to the park entrance that same day.

 

Sorry, I'm not familiar with that option. We ate on the bus.

 

The tour you took sounds like the best choice for a day in the park.

See above for my answers in red type. You're lucky you had all those clear days. :) It finally cleared up as we were leaving. We had fine views of Mt. McKinley from the domed train we took to meet the ship on July 25.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your Kantishna Experience. I will be sure to bookmark it and share it with others who are contemplating this tour. It was good to read first-hand from someone who chose this tour and truly enjoyed this tour. I know this tour would not be for everyone, but I think you understood what you were looking for in a Denali experience and with all your research you were able to make an excellent choice for you. Thanks for sharing.

 

I agree the tour is not for everyone. With our limited time there, we missed the Visitor's Center, for example. In addition, I would have liked to do more hiking. If we do return someday, I will allow more time there.

 

As far as the food you were given, it surely did seem more than adequate. However, you are the first person I can recall who gave a food description for the Kantishna Experience. Others have reported on the food given for the TWT, and it definitely seemed to be more in the snack category. Again, great to have first hand and accurate information.

 

A description of the food we received was one of my main objectives in posting this review. I found info on this spotty, at best. I was probably confused and thought we would get what those on the TWT get; however, I don't have details on what is provided on the TWT.

Please see my answers above in red type.

I also want to express my thanks for your review. We are doing this tour in a couple weeks and I was wondering if I would be sorry that we booked such a long tour. We have done the 7-8 hour tour twice and both times we couldn't believe how fast the time went by. It's good to know you had that same experience with the longer tour.

 

So sorry you didn't get to seen the mountain. We have been fortunate to see it on all three AK trips. It is the main reason I booked the KET - to get even closer to the mountain. Hope it doesn't disappoint us this time.

 

While we didn't see Mt. McKinley on our tour, we were lucky enough to see it from the domed train on the way to meet the Island Princess in Whittier. It was spectacular! My husband got at least one fabulous photograph. I think I was fairly lucky with some of my shots, as well.

 

Thank you for the info about the mosquitoes - not sure I would have thought about taking repellent on the tour. And thank you for the info about the food. On the other tours we had sack lunches from the B&B where we stayed but this time we're staying at a motel and I was concerned about food for the trip. Glad to know it won't be a problem.

 

Can you please answer three questions for me: Where did you board the tour bus? Were you in the first group to board the bus? And approximately what time did you board the bus?

 

We boarded the tour bus at the Wilderness Access Center. There was a signpost outside for the Kantishna Experience Tour as well as for other tours and shuttles. We lined up behind the sign. My understanding is that there are two tours that leave each day--one at 6:30 am and one at 7:30 am. We were in the earlier group. Everyone in line with us got on the same bus. BTW, we were not given a choice of time. This was arranged with Princess and we simply followed their directions. We left the lodge around 6:10, I think. I'm pretty sure we boarded the tour bus close to 6:30.

 

Thanks, Helen

Hope that helps.

Did the bus pick you up at the lodge and was that the bus you stayed on all day?

 

This is a good question! :) Princess has so many busses for the various tours that we were confused lots of times throughout our cruisetour. We boarded a full-size bus by the flagpoles in front of the Denali Princess Lodge where we were staying. The NHT and TWT busses picked up at the curb, and there were many of them! The morning of the tour there were lots and lots of people in the lobby and just outside the lodge. We could see a line of probably 7 busses waiting off to the left. At the appropriate time the busses filed in with a sign in the front window for the tour. I think 5 of these busses were for the NHT and 2 were for the TWT. Then our bus pulled up to the flagpoles. At first, I thought this was our tour bus, but it was not! After we left the Princess Lodge we picked up other passengers at another hotel, which I think was called The Bluffs. Then we went to the Wilderness Access Center, got off the unmarked Princess bus and waited in line for the Kantishna Experience Tour bus to show up. We waited there for probably 10 minutes. They encouraged us to go inside and use the restrooms, but we figured it was more important to secure a good place in line, and luckily, for once, I was good to go. :o I believe it is advantageous to take a seat in the middle of the bus. We did not have a strategy, but wound up on the left in the middle. We found that our driver did tend to line up the middle of the bus with the best wildlife views. I often felt I was the closest one!

 

What time did your tour start and end?

 

Another good question because this was confusing for me, too. Although I knew this was supposed to be a 12-hr tour, the itinerary from Princess stated that we would start at either 6:30 or 7:30 am and end at 9 pm. :confused: How is that 12 hours? Were we going to be eating dinner super late? What gives? Actually we started on the tour around 6:30 am and ended around 6:30 pm. We ate dinner at a reasonable hour. :)

 

We are going in Sept when the days are not so long and wonder if we did this tour if we would return before dark.

 

Were the seats OK? The seats were fine. There were 2 seats next to each other on both sides of the bus--not the benches in a typical school bus. There is a tiny photo of them on the NPS website I provided the link to above.

 

Was there more legroom than a typical school bus? You know, at the age of 50, it's been a long time since I've been on a real school bus :), but I'll say that it was the same. I believe they simply replace each bench with the two fabric-covered seats. I kept our food in the brown bags on the floor in front of my feet, and thought there was enough space.

 

Thanks!

Sorry if I went a little overboard in responding to your first question, but I thought that info might help someone. :)

Again, wonderful information!!!! I am so happy to have some first hand info on this tour. Many people come to the forum looking for info on this tour. It will be wonderful to have something to share.

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Great information. Thanks for posting.

Note that all tours and shuttle buses are operated by Doyon/Amarark Joint Venture in cooperation with the Park Service. But the Park Service does not operate any buses. They got out of that business years ago.

Note that commentary is "guaranteed" on the tour buses, but it is very rare that the shuttle bus drivers do not also give excellent commentary. If someone happens to get onto a shuttle bus where the driver is not very talkative the solution is simple - get off at the first rest stop (Tek) and wait for the next shuttle bus.

Note too that the biggest difference between the Kantishna Experience Tour and the shuttle bus to Wonder Lake or Kantishna is the cost. Otherwise, it is the same road, the same chances for seeing wildlife and the Mountain, the same company operating the buses, etc. Of course the food on the KET is another difference.

Again, wonderful information!!!! I am so happy to have some first hand info on this tour. Many people come to the forum looking for info on this tour. It will be wonderful to have something to share.

 

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Thanks, vbmom87! I'm happy to be able to provide some details because I felt so prepared for our trip by spending time on these boards. Just a wonderful, wonderful resource! :) But the one area that seemed lacking was this tour. My husband actually told me it was my civic duty to come back and post! And I'm happy to be able to pay back, in a small way, for all the advice we received here! :)

I just posted a question about this, before seeing your post. There is a one-day experience, and an overnight experience. Here are the links:

1-Day Kantishna Experience

http://www.denaliwildlifetour.com/index.php

Overnight Kantishna Roadhouse Overnight

http://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com/index.php

Overnight with no cell-phone reception sounds like something I'm looking for; lol ... worth the cost of the trip!

I just posted a question about this, before seeing your post. There is a one-day experience, and an overnight experience. Here are the links:

 

 

1-Day Kantishna Experience

http://www.denaliwildlifetour.com/index.php

 

Overnight Kantishna Roadhouse Overnight

http://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com/index.php

 

Overnight with no cell-phone reception sounds like something I'm looking for; lol ... worth the cost of the trip!

Excellent resources! Thanks for posting the links. If we do return to Denali, and I hope we do :), we will be sure to look into these options.

I saw your post. Good luck on making your decision. I can tell you the TWT would not be enough for us. Hope you'll report back after your trip!

The kantishna experience stated here is described differently the the one through the national park service. It looks like different busses, includes lunch at the Roadhouse and appears to be run by a private company. Does anyone know if this is the case? I thought all tours through the park where through the park service. This one seems to be run by the company that runs the Kantishna lodge.

The kantishna experience stated here is described differently the the one through the national park service. It looks like different busses, includes lunch at the Roadhouse and appears to be run by a private company. Does anyone know if this is the case? I thought all tours through the park where through the park service. This one seems to be run by the company that runs the Kantishna lodge.

The tour with lunch at the Roadhouse is run by the same company-Doyon/Aramark in conjunction with NPS. BUT Doyon is the Native American company that actually OWNS Kantishna Roadhouse as well as Denali River Cabins and Cedars Lodge. So in addition to the joint venture with Aramark, they also run their own tours and provide overnight lodging. SAME type of buses. Here is your tour-http://www.denaliwildlifetour.com/index.php

The most spectacular thing you can do is FLY out of Kantishna. DIRECT into the North Face of Denali.

It looks like you can book the drive/fly tour through Doyon OR you can book it through Kantishna Air. http://www.katair.com/

I just posted a question about this, before seeing your post. There is a one-day experience, and an overnight experience. Here are the links:

 

 

1-Day Kantishna Experience

http://www.denaliwildlifetour.com/index.php

 

Overnight Kantishna Roadhouse Overnight

http://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com/index.php

 

Overnight with no cell-phone reception sounds like something I'm looking for; lol ... worth the cost of the trip!

I have stayed at the Roadhouse. VERY touristy even without cell phone reception.

I have also stayed here: http://www.katair.com/skyline.html

NOT touristy-this is a working airport/flightseeing facility. You eat dinner with the crew, breakfast is continental. No private bathrooms in guest housing-you have to go in the main lodge. But it is so UNTOURISTY and so beautiful back there that it is really worth a look.

And for a really spectacular trip, take the bus in and FLY out. Direct into the North Face of Denali. I have flown all over Alaska in small planes. My flights out of Kantishna on Kantishna Air are some of the flights I really, really remember. Those are once in a lifetime experiences.

I also want to express my thanks for your review. We are doing this tour in a couple weeks and I was wondering if I would be sorry that we booked such a long tour. We have done the 7-8 hour tour twice and both times we couldn't believe how fast the time went by. It's good to know you had that same experience with the longer tour.

 

So sorry you didn't get to seen the mountain. We have been fortunate to see it on all three AK trips. It is the main reason I booked the KET - to get even closer to the mountain. Hope it doesn't disappoint us this time.

 

Thank you for the info about the mosquitoes - not sure I would have thought about taking repellent on the tour. And thank you for the info about the food. On the other tours we had sack lunches from the B&B where we stayed but this time we're staying at a motel and I was concerned about food for the trip. Glad to know it won't be a problem.

 

Can you please answer three questions for me: Where did you board the tour bus? Were you in the first group to board the bus? And approximately what time did you board the bus?

 

Thanks, Helen

hi! I was wondering if you had any feedback about your Kantishna experience thru Princess? thanks!

When we did it years ago, we stayed at one of the Kantishna lodges and took the trips across the park on their bus.

It was wonderful because, unlike the park buses, it was less than half full with plenty of room to spread out so everyone had a window seat and it was easy to move around back and forth from side to side to take pictures.

Also, because we only needed to go one way that day instead of making the complete round trip, we had much more leisurely time for game viewing stops. We were able to stay and observe the animals up close long after the park buses needed to move on.

Wonderful review! I am investigating this trip for next year. The Kantishna Roadhouse website provided above mentions that if you choose to stay there, a two-night stay is required, and that's a really expensive two nights. :eek: $495 pp, per night.

Does anyone know anything about the Denali Backcountry Lodge, or is that the same as the Roadhouse? As you can tell, I'm just starting to look into our options.

hi! I was wondering if you had any feedback about your Kantishna experience thru Princess? thanks!

Princess doesn't operate any tours into the park. They just book it for you. The Kantishna Experience that Princess books is the same one described above.

Wonderful review! I am investigating this trip for next year. The Kantishna Roadhouse website provided above mentions that if you choose to stay there, a two-night stay is required, and that's a really expensive two nights. :eek: $495 pp, per night.

 

Does anyone know anything about the Denali Backcountry Lodge, or is that the same as the Roadhouse? As you can tell, I'm just starting to look into our options.

If I were going to spend hundreds of dollars a night in Kantishna, I would choose Camp Denali/North Face Lodge. They are the only ones who have permits to bring guests back into the park for day hikes. Much more attractive than staying in touristy roadhouses, etc. The other good option is Skyline Lodge mentioned above, but then you must arrange for your own transit on the shuttle bus system.

Also, you don't want to stay in Kantishna for only a night. You really need two nights to make your time worthwhile. Otherwise you only get one round trip into the park over 2 days, whereas if you stay near the entrance you could get two round trips into the park over two days on shuttle buses.

If I were going to spend hundreds of dollars a night in Kantishna, I would choose Camp Denali/North Face Lodge. They are the only ones who have permits to bring guests back into the park for day hikes. Much more attractive than staying in touristy roadhouses, etc. The other good option is Skyline Lodge mentioned above, but then you must arrange for your own transit on the shuttle bus system.

 

Also, you don't want to stay in Kantishna for only a night. You really need two nights to make your time worthwhile. Otherwise you only get one round trip into the park over 2 days, whereas if you stay near the entrance you could get two round trips into the park over two days on shuttle buses.

Thanks for the report!

Very helpful review. Thanks.

We are on a Princess Connoisseur tour in Denali. Staying at the Denali Princess Lodge and our TWT tour(included) will be on June 2,2015.

I have not heard of this additional option to go further into the park on a Princess escorted tour or how to possibly get credit by not doing the Princess tour and booking this tour on our own?

Is the additional tour length to mile 92 even possible on June 2 due to weather issues at that time of the year? If so, how would I be able to upgrade us to this extra tour length since we are already booked on the TWT through Princess?

Thanks for the great information about the Katishna option but not sure we can actually do it due to time of year and our prior Princess commitment.