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Tundra Wilderness Tour - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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• Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour

A fully-narrated excursion to see quintessential wildlife and big landscapes within the borders of Denali National Park.

• Denali National Park
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Rates & dates, departure times, availability.

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Among the great many things that make Denali National Park such a unique destination is just how little of it is accessible by road. A single gravel road goes into the six-million-acre park and only travelers on trips like the Tundra Wilderness Tour have the chance to experience it. This fully narrated guided tour takes visitors 42 scenic miles along the Park Road to the historic Murie Cabin.

Explore the park with a certified naturalist guide.

Guests on the Tundra Wilderness Tour enjoy a half day with a certified naturalist guide/driver on a modified school bus outfitted with coach seats. With all eyes peeled, chances are good for spotting several of the park's wildlife residents along the road: A shaggy grizzly sow watching over rambunctious spring cubs, a lone bull moose browsing in thick willows, a rare full-curl Dall sheep bedded down high upon a craggy ridge.

Along the way the tour stops for ample photo opportunities as well as scheduled rest breaks. Picturesque highlights include the craggy cliffside of Cathedral Mountain, wildlife rich Sable Pass, and braided wash of the East Fork River. Your turnaround point is the East Fork Cabin. Also known as the Murie Cabin, you'll have time to explore this rustic shelter and learn about its unique history before making the scenic return trip.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is fully-narrated by a naturalist guide/driver. The ticket price includes the park entrance fee (adults only). Seats are first-come, first-serve. The tour runs about 5 to 5.5 hours.

What to Bring

A light snack and bottled water is provided, but passengers should bring additional food as there are no concessions available in the park. Bring all gear necessary to comfortably enjoy the Alaskan outdoors, including a rain jacket and pants, warm layers, and insect repellant. Don't forget a camera and binoculars.

Special Instructions

Alaska State Law requires children under age 8 and below 65 pounds to be in a car seat on the bus. A paid ticket is required for all children and infants. Wheelchair accessible buses are available upon request when the reservation is made.

Transfers & Meeting Points

The Tundra Wilderness Tour picks up passengers at many Denali Park area hotels and the Denali Bus Depot. Departure times are assigned 48 hours prior to the tour. Generally, morning tours depart between 4:30 AM and 11:50 AM, while afternoon tours typically depart between 12:10 PM and 4:50 PM. Upon check in at your Denali hotel, ask the front desk or tour desk representative for departure information on your park tour. The tour desk staff will give you the departure time, location, and bus number for your Tundra Wilderness Tour.

Denali Bus Depot Park Rd, Mile 1 Denali National Park and Preserve, AK 99755

Here are the rates and operating dates for this product. Remember, we have a lowest price guarantee for nearly everything we sell.

Child rates apply to children under the age of 16.

Departure times and locations are listed below. Click on a link for an interactive map.

The departure time listed below is NOT your actual departure time. Your official tour departure time will be assigned 48 hours prior to your tour date. Morning tours generally depart between 4:30 AM and 11:50 AM, while afternoon tours typically depart between 12:10 PM and 4:50 PM. Click the More Details tab for additional information.

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Quick Facts

• Duration 5.5 Hours
• Options AM, PM
• Operating Dates Daily from 5/20/2024 to 9/12/2024
• Activity Level Less Active

What's Included

• Superb wildlife and mountain viewing opportunities.
• Roundtrip bus tour into Denali National Park.
• Full narration by naturalist guide/driver.
• Snack and bottled water.

Guest Feedback

"Incredible! We saw moose, grizzly bears, sheep, arctic squirrels, magpie birds, caribou, and other animals. The snack box was very good."

~Chloris from Illinois~

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September 28, 2020 / 0 Comments

The Tundra Wilderness Tour in Alaska’s Denali National Park

Showcase of alaska’s interior.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park is my favorite part of our Alaska cruisetour experience.  Read on for why you should include it in your cruisetour itinerary.

I also highlight:

• how many nights you should stay in Denali National Park
• the five animals you’ll be searching to see
• the two most striking geological features
• what to bring
• what to wear

Why it’s Worth your Time to do a Cruisetour in Alaska

Denali National Park is the shining gem in your cruisetour itinerary. Its interior location, vast size, and wildlife give you a unique view of Alaska. Your cruise’s Inside Passage ports indeed provide an expansive overview of Southeastern Alaska. And it’s Denali National Park that delivers the best snapshot of interior Alaska.

By visiting Denali National Park, I felt that I had truly seen Alaska.

But, frankly, there is a way to do a cruisetour that maximizes your experience. Follow my advice below so that your cruisetour makes you say “Wow!” — instead of “That’s it?”

Why you Should Spend Two Nights in Denali National Park

It’s worth using the extra vacation days to tack a cruisetour onto your Alaskan cruise. But you might regret doing so unless you book at least two nights in Denali National Park. The prime excursion in Denali National Park is the Tundra Wilderness Tour. It takes 7-8 hours, and it’s time well spent.

Most itineraries that book only one night in Denali National Park do not afford time to go on the Tundra Wilderness Tour. And in my opinion, the Tundra Wilderness Tour is the whole point of visiting Denali National Park. It gets you deep into the park where the wildlife and expansive scenery await.

The park road in Denali National Park begins in greenery. Expansive views of braided rivers, mountains, and sloping valleys lie ahead.

The “Double Denali” with Holland America

Both of our cruisetours have been on northbound itineraries (cruise 1st, land 2nd) with Holland America , who call their two-night stay the “Double Denali” feature.

On our most recent cruisetour, we arrived after 5 pm in pouring rain. Some folks on our bus were on a different Holland cruisetour package that did not include the two-night stay. They rushed to an excursion that evening, stayed overnight, and departed in the morning. No Tundra Wildness Tour for them. They could say that they had “been to Denali National Park”, but they missed the best part.

Value-Added Feature: If you book a Double Denali stay with Holland America, the Tundra Wilderness Tour is included in the cost of your cruisetour.

If Your Itinerary includes the Natural History Tour Instead

Heads up! Some itineraries include a tour in Denali that is not the Tundra Wilderness Tour. Some offer the Natural History Tour instead. The Natural History Tour goes to mile 27 on the park road while the Tundra Wilderness Tour goes to mile 62.

All tours starts on the eastern side of Denali National Park. How far along the park road your bus travels depends on which tour you choose. (map source: https://www.nps.gov)

The Natural History Tour might be a better option for someone who, for health reasons, isn’t comfortable sitting for extensive periods of time. Of the Natural History Tour’s 4.5-5 hours, one hour is spent off the tour bus. This includes touring the original ranger’s cabin, watching a film, and viewing an Alaskan Native presentation. Personally, I haven’t been on the Natural History Tour; you might find it is a better match for you.

But if you have the time and stamina for the Tundra Wilderness Tour, I recommend it. You can often pay for an upgrade rather than taking the Natural History Tour that’s listed in your cruiseline’s itinerary. Just make sure that you coordinate this with your travel agent ahead of time, much in advance of departing. The Denali tours sell out, so you most likely would not be able to make the upgrade after arriving to Denali. (When my parents upgraded from the Natural History Tour to the Tundra Wilderness Tour on their Princess cruisetour, they did so months in advance.)

Kantishna and Wonder Lake

There is a third tour option that is even longer than the Tundra Wilderness Tour. It’s called the Kantishna Experience, and it goes as far as mile 92, past Wonder Lake, to where the park road ends in Kantishna. This 11-12 hour tour includes lunch, snacks, beverages, and a National Park Service Ranger who joins the tour halfway through.

We haven’t participated in the Kantishna Experience, but we sure hope to do so someday!

Highlights of the Tundra Wilderness Tour

What you’ll experience on the tundra wilderness tour.

The park’s tan tour buses are school buses, not the plush-seated coach variety you might be picturing. There is no restroom onboard, but all tours include restroom breaks at rest stops.

The tour bus for your Tundra Wilderness Tour will pick you up at your lodge. Read on for what to pack for the day.

But being on a school bus for eight hours is better than it sounds. The driver-guide makes the time fly by, and photo opportunities abound. Plus, if you luck out and get friendly fellow bus passengers, you might build a fun camaraderie as you help each other spot the wildlife.

No cars are permitted past mile 15 on the park road in Denali National Park. So often your bus has the road to itself – other than another bus in the distance (center left).

Animals you may see on the Tundra Wilderness Tour

Which wildlife you will see is unpredictable and variable. The big five to watch for:

We’ve been on the Tundra Wilderness Tour twice and have yet to see a wolf. At most recent count, there were more than 70 wolves living in Denali National Park – in an expanse of the park’s over six million acres. Understandably, wolf sightings can be rare.

We have seen caribou and Dall sheep close enough to snap some photos.

Our tour bus stopped so that we could watch these caribou grazing along the park road. But not all wildlife will be this close.

Those light brown specks in the valley are the largest caribou herd we’ve seen yet on the Tundra Wilderness Tour.

Sometimes you have to look up. This Dall sheep was peeking down at our tour bus.

Search for Dall sheep along the side of mountains or nestled atop craggy overlooks.

Any bear sightings were, unfortunately, brownish blobs in the distance. (We saw more bears and in closer proximity on our van trip from Skagway into the Yukon than we have on two Tundra Wilderness Tours.)

We haven’t seen moose yet on the Tundra Wilderness Tour. But we always spot some from the train that we use to get to or from the park.

Your experience may differ, so please comment below if you’ve had wildlife sightings in Denali National Park. I’d love to hear about it!

Sightseeing on the Tundra Wilderness Tour

Your driver-guide’s narration keeps the trip interesting despite much of the initial part of the park road winding along a treeless tundra. And just wait – the really good stuff lies ahead – miles into the park which you can only see via the Tundra Wilderness Tour.

Geological highlights are Polychrome Pass (mile 46 on the park road) and, if you’re lucky, a sighting of Mount Denali.

I was a little white-knuckled on the no-guard-rail switchback turns in Polychrome Pass. Completely worth the view, though!

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is a study in contrasts: light and shadow, volcanic rock and snow-capped peaks, flat tundra and switch-back rises.

Due to the interior’s long winters and late springs, the full Tundra Wildness Tour is only available after June 1. That’s when your bus can travel to Mile 62 on the park road to reach Stony Hill Overlook. That’s where you’ll have your best chance of seeing the summit of Mount Denali on a clear day.

Two-thirds of the time, Mount Denali is obscured by cloud cover – as it was on our visits.

What to bring on the Tundra Wilderness Tour

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Both the Natural History Tour and Tundra Wilderness Tour include a snack and bottled water. I recommend packing additional snacks and beverages. There is nowhere along the tour to buy food. This is a day where some gluten-free protein bars come in handy in my day bag .

Do you have the “Passport to Your National Parks” booklet?

This small, navy, spiral-bound booklet is not to be confused with the small, navy, official passport issued to you by the United States government. “ Passport to Your National Parks ” provides a handy way to keep track of which American national parks you’ve visited in your travels. Each national park has a stop (visitors’ center, etc.) where you can use their cancellation stamp to mark your book to show when you were there.

On your Tundra Wilderness Tour, you can stamp yours at the Toklat River Rest Stop (mile 53 on the park road). (You can also use a second, different stamp at the park’s Visitor Center, but I haven’t made it there myself yet.)

What to Wear on the Tundra Wilderness Tour

Dress for comfort and ease of getting on/off the tour/school bus. As you will for all of your days in Alaska, make sure you dress in layers. The weather varies throughout the day. On a recent June trip we saw both snow flurries and rainbows during our Tundra Wilderness Tour!

On our Tundra Wilderness Tour in early June it was snowing in the park’s interior but not at the lodge. Later the day warmed and brightened to give us this rainbow.

The bus ride itself can get chilly as often passengers are lowering bus windows to get better photos. And it can get downright cold at the rest stops as the wind whips across the tundra. So much so that I always bring a winter hat . And since I’m always cold, I wore an insulated winter coat on my most recent visit. You might get by with a base layer, fleece, and windbreaker.

Regardless of the weather, you won’t regret the extra vacation days that you will use to book a  cruisetour   that features the Tundra Wilderness Tour.

I am wishing you lots of wildlife viewing in Denali National Park!

Let’s make the most of our vacation days!

What wildlife did you get to see in denali national park, share this:.

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• Park History
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Tour Information

*Price includes $15.00 Park Entry Fee (Adults Only)

NOTE: Child Rates apply to children 15 years old and younger.

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Tour Description

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is the premier tour of Denali National Park and Preserve! This tour offers wonderful diversity for visitors. Incredible scenery, a narrated history of the park road, and some of the best opportunities to view the park’s wildlife inhabitants await you on this tour.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour will guide you along the spectacular road corridor, promising different experiences every day, as Denali’s wildlife moves at its own pace and according to the seasons. Travel to the Murie Cabin near the East Fork River to experience where Adolf Murie lived while conducting his famous research inside what was then known as Mount McKinley National Park!

Tour Overview

NOTE: Exact departure times are based on tour demand and will be assigned 48 hours before your departure day. Please contact 907-683-8900 or visit the hotel front desk for more information.

Box Lunches Available (Recommended)

A small snack and bottled water are offered on this tour. However, we suggest you pre-book our boxed lunch for the trip. Please visit our front desk for more information. Advance reservations are highly recommended.

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Know Before You Go

National park pass holders.

Adult rates include the National Park Service Entrance Fee. Please visit Denali Bus Depot with confirmation and/or tickets, a photo ID and the National Park Pass to receive Park Entrance Fee Refund. The park pass will cover one cardholder plus three people in your party (Total of 4 people) This refund is done only in person at the Denali Bus Depot.

Reservations

You can make your reservation online, over the phone, or in person at the Denali Bus Depot. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged.

Wheelchair Requests

If you have a need for a wheelchair seat on your tour, please call us at 866.761.6631 or 907.276.7234 , so we can assign you to the correct bus to meet your needs.

An Honest Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour Review (2023)

March 13, 2024 August 31, 2023

Are you looking for a real Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour review? 

I took the trip recently at my personal expense and have a complete rundown on whether the Alaska bus trip is worth the cash. I also dig into whether it’s worth your time during travel in the Denali area , as sometimes time is an even more valuable resource.

I’ll start here: Denali National Park meets all expectations. How you see the park is up to you, but the Denali park bus tours are a popular, efficient way to make it happen.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, including links through the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. At no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I won’t recommend something I have not used/would not use myself, and any income earned supports the upkeep of this site.

Is the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour worth it?

The Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour is worth it if you want to cover a lot of ground in a limited amount of time.

Yes, the Denali park tours take up a good chunk of the day if you end up booking one. While I’m generally all about recommending that national park travelers see the parks from their feet, the vast majority of Denali is backcountry.

If you’re a beginner or moderate-level hiker, you’ll likely stick to hiking trails from the main visitor center. You can certainly still do that with the amount of time you have left before or after your bus tour.

Perhaps more importantly, the Denali bus tours are the best way to learn about the wildlife in the park and potentially spot wildlife. Tour guides are knowledgeable and thorough with experience you can’t replicate on your own.

Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour Pros & Cons

The Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour is considered by many visitors as the best bus tour in Denali National Park. While you won’t get to the end of the road on this one, you’ll get access to great guides who know how to maximize your time in the park. 

Let’s start with some pros and cons as you explore Tundra Wilderness Tour Denali reviews.

Pros of the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour:

• It’s one of just two ways to get beyond Mile 15 in the park. (I’m not counting walking there.) 
• It’s a comfortable ride. Yes, it looks like a school bus on the outside, but the seats are much comfier than what you’ll get on the transit buses.
• Tour buses come with a scope to see wildlife up close if they’re too far to see with the naked eye. This is great for elusive critters like Dall sheep. 

• The guides are super knowledgeable. Ours taught us all about the wildlife that calls the park home and life in Alaska.
• You don’t get narration on the green transit buses. They may stop for wildlife sightings, but not for long, as they have to stick to a strict schedule.
• There’s a general time allotted for wildlife tours, but they can be a little shorter or longer depending on what you encounter out there. They’re pretty flexible.
• While you don’t get any guided hikes, our guide let us know that we could leave the bus whenever we wanted for DIY hikes. You’d just need to find your own way back.

Cons of the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour:

• It can be hard to plan around tours in advance, as you don’t receive your pickup time until about 48 hours before your bus tour.
• It’s a long tour. Even though a good chunk of the park is inaccessible, you’ll still fill up half of your day on one of these tours.
• The park’s transit buses are free. If you don’t need the narration, you can hop on one of those to get to the park’s edges.
• You’re not guaranteed wildlife sightings. This isn’t a zoo, but some folks end up disappointed if they don’t see any of “the big five” in Denali.
• There are a few short breaks on your tour where you can get off the bus for bathrooms and views, but otherwise, there’s no guided hiking involved.
• Your experience can be colored by what you see. If you don’t see Denali (we didn’t on the tour but did on a hike the day after) or much wildlife, you could be bummed.
• Your experience can be colored by the people on your tour. We had some entitled, jaded folks that we had to work to ignore. Luckily, I have practice in that skill.

A Summary Guide to Denali Bus Tours

As far as the best tours of Denali National Park, I can’t answer that for you. The Denali bus tour described here was the only one we booked based on its high ratings elsewhere, so we trusted that in our own planning.

It would be wild for me to give you a review of the best Denali tours that we didn’t do because…we didn’t do them. 

I’m not here for that and neither are you.

What I can do is give you a rundown of the Denali National Park bus tours offered so that you can compare them against one another. These are tours run not by the National Park Service but by their official concessioner, the Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture.

Note: You can currently only take buses to the East Fork River at Mile 43, which is about the halfway point at Denali. The reason for this is a biggie. A chunk of the road basically disintegrated beyond that point thanks to warming temperatures. It’ll take a few more years before a bridge or other fix is put into place to resume operations to the end of Denali Park Road.

At the moment, you’ll be comparing the Denali Natural History Tour vs. the Tundra Wilderness Tour. This is because of the road collapse mentioned above.

Here’s a brief summary of Denali National Park tours available at the time of this guide:

• Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour:  Until the road is returned to its former glory, this is the longest available bus tour into Denali National Park. A guide with expertise in the park’s wildlife and landscapes will take you to Mile 43 and back.
• Denali Natural History Tour: This tour goes to Mile 17 and back. It’s the shortest tour available at about four hours. The focus is on the natural and cultural history of the park, including memorable Alaska native history.

In normal times, there are two additional tours promising different experiences. These aren’t normal times, though. Let’s explore those two anyway in case construction is faster than expected:

• Eielson Excursion: This tour takes visitors to Mile 66 and back. It offers an educational stop at the Eielson Visitor Center. Expect this one to last up to nine hours when it’s running.
• Kantishna Experience Tour: This is the longest bus tour in the park at a run-time of up to 12 hours. It takes visitors all the way to the end of the spectacular road corridor and back. This is a true all-day adventure.

Being limited to half of the park can feel like a huge bummer, especially when you hear that the best views of the mountain are beyond that point.

Fun fact: On a clear day, you can see views of the mountain from Denali State Park, hikes within the national park, and even Anchorage .

You’re also more likely to see more wildlife the further you go. 

That all said, we were still very lucky to see quite a bit of wildlife with the access we did have and didn’t feel any regret about having to turn around at that midway mile marker.

If you’re only able to go to Denali today or even tomorrow, just go. You won’t regret it.

The Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour: Morning or Afternoon

There are typically two chunks of time for you to choose from when you decide to book Denali Tundra Wilderness tours. Some guides will tell you that the animals are more active in the morning, but different guides will tell you that the evenings are great for wildlife, too.

We had great luck with our afternoon tour, so if you’re hesitant about missing out on something by going later in the day, don’t be.

The exact timing of bus tours varies. We got our departure time about two days before our scheduled trip. You’ll want to arrive about 20 minutes ahead of that pickup time to give yourself time to check-in. 

I’d suggest getting in line as soon as you know where your bus will be departing from, especially if you’re traveling with other passengers. There is no assigned seating.

Where does the Tundra Wilderness Tour depart from?

The Tundra Wilderness Tour departs from either the Denali Bus Depot or hotels in and around the Denali Park Village. If you’re driving to Denali, you may as well meet the bus at the depot. It seemed like everyone on our bus was picked up and dropped off there.

A car generally makes visits to Denali more efficient, even if you get to the park from Anchorage on the scenic Alaska Railroad. Reserve your vehicle ahead of time using a site like Hotwire  or  Priceline to find the best deals.

You don’t need anything special when you reserve your car, by the way. Passenger vehicles have to stick to paved roads in the park.

How long is the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour?

How long the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour is on your trip depends on what’s going on with the park’s roads at the time.

Our tour was a little over five hours long, but that’s because the bus had to turn around at mile marker 43 at the moment. If the road was fully operational, the tour would go for up to eight hours.

How much is the Tundra Wilderness Tour?

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is $141.25 per person. All tours include the $15/person entry fee into the park, so you won’t have to pay that upon arrival on top of the cost of your bus tour.

It sounded like a lot to us at the time but felt more reasonable after the fact. Consider how much time you spend with your guide. This is a long day.

I don’t get any affiliate money if you book this tour, by the way!

Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour Review 

I’ll start off by saying I really enjoyed our tour. Our guide was really good and humored us with stories about living without indoor plumbing in Alaskan winters.

She makes soup to sell throughout the community and showers at her neighbors’ homes when it’s too cold for her outdoor shower, people. 

Most of the criticisms I’ve seen are about the lack of wildlife on the tour. The guides can’t control this. Denali National Park isn’t a zoo and there’s no tour available that guarantees wildlife sightings. 

That said, I do think the vast majority of tours will see something decent out there.

We were lucky enough to spend some time watching Dall sheep, lots of caribou, moose, bald eagles, ptarmigans, and a hungry grizzly bear munching in a berry patch. That means we ticked off all of the park’s “big five” with the exception of wolves.

I’d say that’s still a huge success. 

I can honestly say that it’d be hard for me to speak so enthusiastically about our trip if we only saw fireweed, but that just wasn’t our experience.  It’s lovely, but it doesn’t compare to watching animals in the wild.

You’ll cruise through as much of Denali Park Road as possible at the moment on your journey. There’s only one road in and one road out of the park, so you’ll share the road with transit buses and other Denali tour buses along the way.

There’s literally no other way for this to happen, so any criticism about the same route for everyone is silly.

Fun fact: This was the first national park to implement a bus system like this to replace vehicle traffic in the park. The only way for cars to get past Mile 15 on Denali Park Road, which is where Adolph Murie lived during his summer research in the park, is to book a campsite beyond that point.

On top of the wildlife we were lucky enough to spot, we learned more than we would have otherwise about the history of the park.

That includes a political history around naming rights in Alaska. 

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about here, Denali National Park & Preserve went by Mount McKinley National Park up until 1980. Even when the park name was changed, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names decided not to recognize it, so “Mount McKinley” lived on until 2015 when it was finally corrected to Denali.

The name Denali comes from the Koyukon form of the word for “the high one.” 

It makes way more sense than naming it after President William McKinley, a guy who was assassinated before he ever set foot in Alaska.

I imagine how much of that history you get depends on your guide, but ours definitely didn’t shy away from the park’s engagement with the Native people here.

You’ll also learn about the geology and geography of the park at rest stops along the way. We made stops at the braided Talkeetna River and a Dall sheep crossing that closes for 10 minutes on the hour. 

Apparently, the park’s researchers are trying to see if a lack of vehicle traffic at set times during the day will embolden the sheep to come down and do their thing closer to water sources.

We only saw them as LWDs, or Little White Dots, so it’s unclear at this point whether their famous research inside the park has been fruitful. 

LWDs are what the guides call them, by the way. I won’t take credit for that!

Tours in Denali National Park: Tips

If you’re interested in booking this bus tour, I have a few more tips to ensure a positive experience:

• Book tours well ahead of travel. Tour season is limited in the season and these do sell out.
• Come early to check in at the front desk of the Denali Bus Depot. You’ll then wait for the bus in a single file line, with no need for printed tickets.
• If you’re traveling with kids, come extra early. You really don’t want to have to barter with people for your seat in the back because you want three seats together.

Note: I read some criticisms that it was hard to find the buses to start, but I found everything easy and well-marked. Maybe the critiques were from people who don’t listen to instructions. We were told exactly where to wait for our tour.

• You’ll get snack boxes with each seat, but pack a few more items of your own if you don’t think that’ll be enough. Our tickets came with trail mix, chips, and cookies.
• There isn’t really a bad spot to sit on the bus, but if you want to be close to the monitors, you’ll have a better view of what the guides catch on their scopes.

Where to Stay When Visiting Denali

We stayed in a cabin in Healy during our Denali trip and drove into the park from there. We saved some money and didn’t lose much time vs. staying in the more touristy Denali Park Village.

If you crave max efficiency, use the map below to browse your options in and around the park:

Is the Denali bus tour worth it?

The Denali bus tour is worth it if you want a more guided experience in the park. Your only other option beyond Mile 15 is to take the courtesy transit buses.

There’s no guarantee those will stop for wildlife, though. They have a schedule to stick to that doesn’t always involve the wildlife inhabitants that await you in the park.

I would highly recommend the Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour as a great compromise in Denali. You can have your guided excursion with time left over for hiking in the park, too.

I’d love to come back when the park road has fully reopened!

Convinced by Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour Reviews?

Your Flight:  I use a variety of tools to find cheap airfare, but if you’re looking to book during a particular period of time, you should use   Skyscanner . It’s a great tool for when you’re more flexible, too, as it allows you to compare travel based on length of travel, departure date, etc.

Most travelers start at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport for travel to both Denali and Kenai Fjords National Park or Seward to the south . Deals at that airport aren’t super common, especially during the summer months, but it pays to monitor flights for potential dips from your base.

For adventurous folks who travel on the reg, I also subscribe to  Going , formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights. You’ll get cheap flight deals from your home base straight to your inbox.

Your Accommodations:  I usually use  Booking.com  and  Hotels.com   for our hotel needs. Both offer loyalty programs and now offer listings that are more of the home or condo rental variety, which is great.  Vrbo   is my preferred Airbnb alternative. 

Seeking even more wallet-friendly accommodations? Try   Hostelworld . Their picks are heavily vetted and reviewed to offer you a safe experience on a budget.

Etc.:  For general travel goodies, visit my   Favorite Things  page. For more information on planning your travel, visit my   Travel Tools  page.

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Planning more national parks travel? Check out these guides:

• A Guide to Oregon’s Lovely Crater Lake
• Plan to Hike the Best Hikes in Yellowstone
• Don’t Delay Trips to Glacier National Park
• The Best Itinerary for Grand Teton National Park
• Top Sites & Hikes at Cuyahoga Valley National Park

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Agnes Groonwald

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The Moscow Metro Tour is included in most guided tours’ itineraries. Opened in 1935, under Stalin’s regime, the metro was not only meant to solve transport problems, but also was hailed as “a people’s palace”. Every station you will see during your Moscow metro tour looks like a palace room. There are bright paintings, mosaics, stained glass, bronze statues… Our Moscow metro tour includes the most impressive stations best architects and designers worked at - Ploshchad Revolutsii, Mayakovskaya, Komsomolskaya, Kievskaya, Novoslobodskaya and some others.

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The guide will not only help you navigate the metro, but will also provide you with fascinating background tales for the images you see and a history of each station.

And there some stories to be told during the Moscow metro tour! The deepest station - Park Pobedy - is 84 metres under the ground with the world longest escalator of 140 meters. Parts of the so-called Metro-2, a secret strategic system of underground tunnels, was used for its construction.

During the Second World War the metro itself became a strategic asset: it was turned into the city's biggest bomb-shelter and one of the stations even became a library. 217 children were born here in 1941-1942! The metro is the most effective means of transport in the capital.

There are almost 200 stations 196 at the moment and trains run every 90 seconds! The guide of your Moscow metro tour can explain to you how to buy tickets and find your way if you plan to get around by yourself.

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Frequently asked questions.

Frequently asked questions about rafting on the Ottawa River

Great question, and one we take very seriously. Probably the easiest way to answer it is with a simple fact – more people raft with Wilderness Tours than all our competitors combined. WT also employs more full time professionals than everyone else combined. The quality of our staff is incomparable. Add on great food as well as wonderful resort facilities and programs. That is why Algonquin College chose WT to run its very popular 2 year diploma program in Outdoor Adventure.

Reservations

With a large, beautiful resort, we offer both a family zone and an adult zone. You can stay in quieter areas. Please mention this at time of booking.

We do require advanced booking to ensure you get a spot. We can try to fit you in last minute but please call before coming. Reservations can be made online or by calling 1-888-723-8669.

Yes, there is a 50% deposit due at the time of booking but that is refundable until 30 days before the trip date. Reservations made within 30 days require full payment at the time of reservation.

If you would like to set up a reservation with multiple people making payments please speak with our reservation staff.

Yes, each person must complete their own waiver using their own email address. Anyone under the age of 18 should be included on their parent or guardian’s waiver. It is very easy to complete the waivers online. We send you a link via email that you can send to everyone in your group.

No, you don’t need to give us their information. Just give them the reservation number and your customer number from the confirmation email. When they complete their waiver their name will be added to the list.

If someone has already made a payment on the reservation with their own credit card their name will appear; otherwise, only your name is on the list.

No, you can join your friends and family on any rafting trip or kayak class without participating in the whitewater based activities. Our resort day is our base non-rafting or non-kayaking experience which provides the chance to experience all the same fun with you friends and family without the whitewater rafting or kayaking. With day and multi-day non-rafting or non-kayaking, Wilderness Tours has an adventure for everyone.

No. We provide all the equipment which includes the helmet, life jacket, paddle and raft. We also do not provide put-in or take-out services for people with their own rafts.

Great question.  You should visit our What To Bring page for a full list and further information on this.

No, we provide that already.

You can bring it with you. However, our trip leaders reserve the right to refuse use of certain helmets because of safety reasons. We have a helmet for you if it doesn’t work out, not to worry.

No, we have very specific life jackets for this type of rafting that are extra buoyant. Not all life jackets will work in whitewater.

You will be fine in most rapids on the river. However, if you really want some, we have them in our River Shop.

We raft rain or shine. If the temperature is dipping down a bit that day, you might be interested in renting a wetsuit. You can do this once you are on site. Regarding thunderstorms–we still go out. We monitor weather closely and make adjustments as required. Guest safety is our first priority.

Yes, we take pictures and video on the river. You can pre-purchase a package with a discount or wait to see the pictures online on our website after the trip. You can purchase photos/videos online or over the phone after your trip or when you get home.

Yes. We do not take responsibility if your camera is damaged or lost. If you have your own chest harness you can use it so long as it fits over the provided safety equipment and doesn’t damage it.

No harness? You can rent one of our helmets with a GoPro mount on it. The mounts are glued to the helmet and have a leash just in case the mount snaps.

You can also rent a GoPro if you don’t want to use your own or don’t have one.

No. We don’t allow drones on the trip or on the resort due to the privacy and safety of other guests. On your trip you will be too busy paddling to operate a drone and there is nowhere in the raft to store it.

The trip leader carries a small dry bag to accommodate people who need to bring medication. You cannot bring backpacks or other items that would be loose in the raft or add too much weight in case you are dumped in the river. You can bring a small dry bag so long as it can be clipped to your life jacket. Don’t bring anything you cannot afford to lose.

They are secured in a lock box at the resort. We never recommend taking keys on the river as they will get very wet and are easily lost.

• Whitewater Rafting

There is no height restriction. We do have age and weight restrictions.

On High Adventure Trips everyone must be 13 years or older and 90lbs or more. On Gentle Adventure Trips everyone must be 5 years or older and 50lbs or more.

The High Adventure Trip takes you down class 3-5 rapids (on a scale from 1-6). There is a greater probability that you will fall out on the High Adventure Trip than the Gentle Trip.

• Classic High Adventure Rafting in a 12 person raft with a guide.
• Sport Raft in a 6 person raft with a guide, aka “The Flip Trip.”
• GYOR (Guide Your Own Raft) in 6-8 person rafts with guides coaching from their kayaks. Sportyaks are a 2-person inflatable kayak option on the GYOR Trip.

What sounds like alphabet soup is actually a tremendously popular raft trip and is short for Guide Your Own Raft. It is still a guided trip but guides paddle alongside you in kayaks while someone in your group steers the raft. Done in sporty 6-person rafts, this is an exciting trip down the beautiful Middle Channel.

No problem – that is why we are here for you. We ask that you posses good health and average swimming ability (so you do not panic if you go overboard). If in doubt, start with Gentle Adventure and work your way up.

You have a big puffy life jacket on but you may get a little uncomfortable if you find yourself in the water. Our guides are highly trained and client safety is a priority for us. We recommend you review some of our videos or take our Gentle Trip rather than the High Adventure.

Yes, everyone in the raft must paddle or the raft won’t go where you want it to. The guide cannot do all the paddling and the boats do not have motors.

Everyone gets a chance to paddle.

Always consult with your own doctor if you are not sure.

Yes, we have had many people who are blind, deaf or amputees raft with us. They may need to have someone with them to assist them at lunch stops and going to and from the river.

If you have 13 people on a 12 person Classic High Adventure Trip you can include them in your boat. That would be the only time someone does not paddle because they will sit in the middle of the raft in what we call the “princess” seat. More than 13 you will have to split into 2 boats.

With the 6 person Sport Raft you can fit 7. In that case, the additional person may sit up at the back beside the guide.

It is better to pre-book the camping in advance to ensure you get a spot but we will do our best to fit you in.  You can also purchase our Resort Rafting Package and stay the weekend or just book an Overnight or Latenight package at time of checkout!

No. The owner takes the welfare of the rafters very seriously and is worried that younger children may not enjoy the High Adventure Trip. Furthermore, it is difficult for them to keep up with the paddling required so it would be unfair to them and our other guests.

No. As noted above, the life jackets we use are specific to the whitewater in the region. Typical boating life jackets are not going to work. The life jacket selected for us has a minimum weight of 90lbs to work correctly.

• Whitewater Kayaking

The Teen Resident Camp is primarily an introduction to kayaking from Sunday – Friday. The Keener Program is youth development through kayaking and is a 3-10 week program which produces world class junior kayakers.

That is definitely possible. We have what’s called a paddlers package where you can do just that, plus, you get meals too. Call us for more information on this.

Keep in mind that the adult clinics do not include supervision so any teen coming alone would have no supervision. They will also be in classes that will be all adults. If parents are comfortable with their teen being unsupervised and the teen is comfortable in a class with adults parents can sign a waiver and have them join the class. If teens are accompanied by a parent in the course they can also be considered but we would only recommend this option for those 16-17 years of age.

We have both private and semi-private instruction, please ask our reservation staff for pricing and availability.

Unfortunately not, the kayaking is an instructional course not a run down the river like the rafting. It takes a lot of training to do the tricks we show on the kayaking section of our website.

Beginner Novice is open to anyone who wants to try whitewater kayaking.

Intermediate Advanced classes guests must have a roll in both flat and white water and some experience with whitewater kayaking.

For beginner classes we provide the kayak as part of the package.

For Intermediate/Advanced classes if you don’t have your kayak with you or are getting back into the sport after some time off we offer a rental option.

Whitewater kayaking is a sport that requires prior training so it is not something we can offer as a day trip, the rafting does not require any previous experience.

Sadly no, we currently only offer wetsuits as our layering option.

Camping and Lodging

Yes in our Deluxe Cedar Cabins there is a toilet and sink, in the Cedar Suites there is a toilet, sink and shower but none of our regular Hillside Cedar Cabins have a washroom. However, you are only a short walk to our shower building which houses flush toilets, sinks and hot showers.

Yes in our Deluxe Cedar Cabins (offsite accommodation) there is a toilet and sink, in the Super Deluxe Cabins (onsite Accommodation) there is a toilet, sink and shower but none of our regular Cedar Cabins have a washroom. However, you are only a short walk to our shower building which houses flush toilets, sinks and hot showers.

Cabins are priced on a PER CABIN AND PER NIGHT BASIS. For example, a Cedar Cabin is $119/night on a weekend and if you have 4 people in your group, each would pay $29.75/night plus tax (13% HST). The same holds true for our 12 person units. Just divide the nightly rate by the number of persons staying in the unit. When the cabin is purchased, we require the full amount upfront. Anyone staying in a cabin must also be booked into a rafting/meal plan or non-rafters meal plan.

Yes, all of our cabins have sheets, blankets and pillows.

Definitely not! We have a huge resort with volleyball courts, ball hockey court, flat topped kayaks, stand up paddleboards, dock with a slide, inner tubes for floating, hiking and biking trails…the list could go on.

We do have an onsite store where you can pick up snacks, drinks, souvenirs, forgotten items, water shoes and more.

Our food is fantastic, hearty and plentiful both on and off the river with a vegetarian alternative at every meal. Our style is soup/salad buffet plus hot items from our BBQ pit at every course. Please mention any special dietary needs when you book so we can let our restaurant know. We try our best to accommodate special diets.

No, you would need to bring your own camping equipment although we do usually have sleeping bags, tent poles and tent patches for sale in the on site store if you forgot something.

Yes, you can bring your own alcohol to your campsite or cabin but according to the AGCO our resort is held to the same standards as downtown Toronto which prohibits moving about the resort with an open container.

No, we don’t have the setup for individual campfires on the resort, we do maintain a large fire up on deck where the nightly entertainment takes place.

No, we don’t have the setup for individual cooking or anything with an open flame so it would be a safety hazard.

No, if you want seating at your campsite you would need to bring some folding camp chairs.

Events and Enterianment

We have some themed weekends and we have live entertainment and a DJ on Saturday night every weekend in May/June/Sept and every night during July/August.  Our sport courts have lighting and are open in the evening.

Actually, we have a full bar where you can let us get you whatever you want while you enjoy the sunshine on our licensed deck. If you really want to purchase alcohol, there is a store about 20 minutes away.

Other Things

For years, we have asked to sell part of our Land Trust for cottage lots and had regretfully declined. To satisfy that demand, we have partnered in Whitewater Village which is a fractional ownership community at the end of our property.

Absolutely, yes! WT’s main Resort Center is 650 acres with lots of opportunity for entrepreneurs seeking to run their own business under the WT umbrella. Ideas like paintball, zip lines, massage, mini-golf and driving range are a few ideas that come to mind. These are ideas that would work at WT but we don’t want to do them ourselves. If you have a proposal, please send it to [email protected] .

We have a variety of job postings each year.  Please send your application in and you will be considered. 

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