Alaska Land Portion

[Denise&Paul STL]

We have 8 in our group.  1) Several want to do the dome train.  Is the only way to do that to do a Princess cruise tour?  We wanted to DIY it for land portion. Some planned to rent cars and drive up and meet the others and go from there.   2) Now that this season is over, how much wildlife did you actually see not going to Eilsen or beyond?  We saw so little last time between the Bathrooms and the entrance.  Most was seen closer to Eilsen, which, as I understand is closed due to road loss.  Our goal is wildlife, and for some, grizzlies.  We are older and not up to hiking or trails.  Any recommendations are appreciated.  3)  We are considering just going to Kenai instead in hopes of seeing more wildlife.  What do you recommend?

 

Thanks for any assist, especially from those that were there this year.

Denise

[katrina915]

You can do the goldstar train on your own which is a dome car.

 

I haven't been to Denali this year, but you may want to post your question on alaska forum of trip advisor. More regulars over there.

[Northern Aurora]

Since we live a two hour drive (assuming no road construction delays) north of Denali we generally go at least once every summer.  But with the road issues at Pretty Rocks we didn’t consider driving down this summer.

 

Eielson Visitor’s Center is at mile 66.  It is above the tree line so much easier to spot wildlife.    Part of the issue with spotting wildlife is that much of the first section of the single road into DNP is that it is not above the tree line.

 

In addition to the Kenai Peninsula also consider the Wrangell — St. Elias area.  You could even visit Valdez.