Travel Dates: September 2021
Hotel:
Denali Crow’s Nest Log Cabins (Denali) – we chose this lodging given its close proximity to Denali National Park, good reviews, and accessibility to stores and restaurants. At Crow’s Nest, everyone has their own cabin with a cooler outside to store food/drinks. Guests are required to bring the cooler into the room at night to prevent attracting animals.
It’s important to note that lodging near Denali National Park is limited and are all cabin styles in order to preserve the nature as much as possible. Thus, there is a lack of infrastructure so be prepared to have limited cell service/WiFi and hot water/heat.
In addition, after Labor Day the town starts shutting down. When we went, the Overlook Restaurant (part of Crow’s Nest) was closed and only served drinks at the bar. They do, however, have a scheduled shuttle that drives you to two other restaurants nearby.
After mid-September, only the first row of cabins at Crow’s Nest is available to reserve. And by the last week of September, the whole town is closed because winter essentially starts then. In October, temperature drops to below freezing so the water pipes could be frozen and businesses cannot operate. If you’re thinking about visiting Denali, go before mid-September and book your lodging well in advance!
Westmark Fairbanks Hotel & Conference Center (Fairbanks) – decent hotel in Fairbanks at a good cost. Location is in downtown so relatively close to shops and restaurants.
Chena Hot Spring Resort (Fairbanks) – we decided to come here to try and see the Northern Lights because the resort is located in the middle of the woods. Also, guests get free access to the hot springs, although they were crowded and a bit small. The resort is worth it if you book activities through them–they have an ice museum, ATV tours, horseback riding, and dog sledding/kennel tours–but it does get costly. The bright side of our stay was our very close encounter with a moose.
Food:
As mentioned in the hotel section of this post, stores start to close in Denali after Labor Day. The only restaurants that were open were a Chinese takeout, pizzeria, and a brewhouse restaurant 13 minutes away. The last two are accessible via shuttle bus if you are a guest at Crow’s Nest or you can drive there yourself.
We got to Denali around 6pm so opted for Chinese food, which was walking distance from the hotel and we thought it would be quicker. We ended up waiting ~1.5 hours for our food because all the other tourists were eating there too, due to the limited food options. So if you are visiting Denali after Labor Day Weekend, be prepared for limited food choices and long wait times. Also, the gas station convenience store closes by 8pm if not a bit earlier and the Chinese takeout closes when they run out of food (we overheard a guest who came at 9pm said the store closed despite operating hours were until 10pm).
Chowder House (Fairbanks) has delicious soups and sandwiches for a good price, and you can customize the sandwiches with toppings, different types of cheese and bread, etc.
The Crepery (Fairbanks) sells both savory and sweet crepes. You can skip this unless you like crepes. If you do decide to come here, avoid the line by ordering on the phone ~20 minutes in advance for pick up.
Activities:
Denali National Park – we booked the Tundra Wilderness Bus Tour which took us through the park to see wildlife. After a certain point of the park (mile 15 mark), only tour buses and transit buses are able to continue forward in order to regulate traffic and pollution. The tour bus is great because it stops and looks for wildlife, while the transit buses (though they are free) just drop people off at different mile marks and you have to catch the schedule to not miss the bus.
The Tundra Wilderness Bus Tour provides water and snacks, but you should pack your own lunch as the tour is typically 7-8 hours long, and there are no concessions available in the park. 48 hours prior to the tour, you have to call in to confirm departure times. The check-in for the tour is at the Bus Depot in Denali National Park, where there’s plenty of parking and nice public bathrooms. This is the last chance to use indoor plumbing bathrooms because the bathroom stop later does not have running water.
Although tickets are costly ($192 per person), we still recommend the bus tour since they really do stop to look for wildlife. The bus is also equipped with an ultra zoom video camera so if the animals are too far away, you can see them close up on the TV screens in the bus. We were able to see moose, caribou, eagle, arctic ground squirrel, Dall sheep, and a bear!
Luckily, weather was on our side and we were also able to see Denali Mountain. It can get cloudy and foggy at Denali so the mountain is often obstructed.
After the tour, we did a quick hike at the Horseshoe Lake Trail. Full loop takes about 2 hours, but if you don’t have enough time, you can do a quarter of it to see the lake views. There are two designated parking areas on either side of the railroad tracks, which is a 2 minute walk to get to the trail. Be careful of trains passing by–you will hear the railroad crossing bell go off. The hike isn’t that bad except for the numerous amounts of stairs at the beginning to get down to the lake. Once you’re at the bottom, the path is pretty flat. If you don’t want to walk the entire trail, make a left where the loop starts (there will be a sign). Heading to the left gives you direct viewpoint of the lake. I believe in the summer, if you do the entire hike and go towards the farther end, you can see beavers.
Northern Lights (Fairbanks) – driving to Fairbanks from Anchorage takes 7 hours. But the reason why we wanted to go to Fairbanks is because it’s known to be one of the best places to see the Northern Lights; it’s under the “Auroral Oval,” a zone in the north where aurora activity is concentrated.
Aurora borealis (the scientific name for Northern Lights) is caused by charged particles from the Sun’s atmosphere colliding with gaseous atoms and molecules from the Earth’s atmosphere, which forms the wavy-pattern of light. In order to see aurora borealis, you need to have 1) clear and dark skies with no light pollution and 2) strong solar flare activity (aka the charged particles released from the Sun). If these two do not occur together, the chances of seeing aurora borealis are slim.
There’s a tracker that I used to help see when and where the aurora borealis activity is strong, and the chances of seeing it. We went to Chena Lake Recreation Area (~25 minute drive from Fairbanks, and close to North Pole–yes that’s the name of the town) as there is unobstructed view and very little light pollution there. Right before the toll booth to enter the campgrounds, there’s a very sharp right turn up a ramp that will take you to an open area. This is where we parked our car and was able to see the Northern Lights (make sure you are facing north).
Our actual experience of seeing aurora borealis was that it looked like a green tinted cloud. But through a long exposure camera, the colors were better enhanced. We were lucky the aurora borealis that evening lasted for at least two hours (we got there around 9:30 and waited ~15 minutes before it began, and left a bit after 11:30 while it was still visible, although getting dimmer). Using the tracker definitely helped us have an amazing experience.
Paws for Adventure (Fairbanks) – we booked this place for dog sledding given its competitive pricing–most dog sled tours are similar in their offerings so we had no real incentive to pick another location. The tour takes you on a sled during the winter months and uses an ATV during the off season. These dogs are specifically trained to be sled dogs, and the trainers at Paws for Adventure make sure the dogs enjoy mushing. If they do not, they are trained to become house pets. We spent about an hour there, which includes the “sled” tour and time to play with the dogs afterwards. One thing to note, there is no indoor plumbing here–the bathroom is an outhouse.
I would recommend this if you love dogs, because you’ll definitely enjoy playing with them.
Globe Trotter 