Table of Contents:
Tour Overview
How to Book
What to Expect
Tour Overview:
There is no better way to tour Mt Denali, the largest mountain in North America, than by air. I chose the Grand Denali Flightseeing Tour with Glacier Landing as I wanted to maximize our flight tour experience.
This tour was about 90 minutes in the air and 30 minutes on the ground exploring the glacier. The tour provider, Talkeetna Air Taxi, has several tour options that explore different routes around the mountain range.
I chose the Grand Denali Tour because it went all the way around the mountain range and was within my budget. These tours are not cheap but definitely a must do activity.
How to book:
When researching Denali flightseeing tours there were several different providers to choose from. I chose Talkeetna Air Taxi because of their clean flying record which gave me peace of mind in the air.
I decided to book through Viator because they offer free cancellations up to 24 hours which would allow me to monitor the weather forecast and adjust if needed. If you prefer you can also book online directly through the tour provider’s website.
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What to expect:
We arrived in Talkeetna around 3pm, ahead of our 4pm tour. The Talkeetna Air Taxi office is very easy to find right off the main road.
Everyone in your party needs to go into the office to get weighed. Make sure you bring everything you plan on taking with you on the flight so they have the proper weight for the plane. Try to keep your gear to a minimum as there isn’t a lot of extra space on the plane. I only took a small backpack that held my camera.
Before you board the plane you’ll meet your pilot and they will go over the safety plan. I appreciated hearing a bit about our pilot, how long she’s been flying and about her family. Nice touch to help soothe any anxiety you might have with getting on a small plane.
It’s definitely a small plane, it holds around 12 people including the pilot and copilot. All passengers get a window seat which means everyone will have a great view. My advice would be to sit towards the front of the plane as it has an unobstructed view, the seats towards the back will have more of the wing in your view/pictures. Also, if you are in a group I would suggest sitting on opposite sides of the plane so you get a variety of pictures.
Climbing up and down the airplane stairs could be challenging so be careful, especially if you have some mobility issues. Another thing to keep in mind is its a small plane so you are going to feel some movement in the air but that’s totally normal and should be expected. I get motion sick so I took a Dramamine before I got on the plane but thankfully it was a nice clear day so the flight was pretty smooth.
Talkeetna is about 60 miles from Mt Denali so within 10 minutes you’ll be flying along side the mountain. Throughout the flight the pilot will comment on what part of the mountain range you are seeing and make sure to maneuver the plane so both sides get similar views.
On my tour, the plane did the majority of its flightseeing before landing on a glacier near Sheldon Chalet. Once the plane landed on the glacier we had about 30 minutes to walk around and take pictures. The glacier landing was amazing and definitely worth the extra money. To be able to breathe in the crisp mountain air as you walk amongst the mountain peaks is an incredible experience. It also made for some great picture.
The day I was there in mid-September there was fresh snow on the glacier so it was a little difficult to walk around but perfect for snow angels! It is definitely cold on the glacier so make sure you are dressed appropriately, even if its a nice warm day in Talkeetna (was 60 degrees in Talkeetna and high 20s on the mountain the day I was there). I had knee high winter boots on so I didn’t have any problems with the snow but if you have smaller boots I would recommend using the glacier boots they offer at the office.
Overall this is probably one of the best tour experiences I’ve had. I was nervous at first about getting on such a small plane but the ride was smooth and the pilot did a great job making sure everyone felt comfortable. I would highly recommend this tour, great company, great view, great memories.
Crushed it!
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