Alaska Family Journey: Wilderness Explorer

ANCHORAGE Location Information Description

Anchorage, United States

Arrive in time to meet your fellow travelers for a welcome gathering this evening. Your arrival transfer is included. The adventure begins tonight. Feel free to explore before your welcome meeting, but make sure you’re back in time to meet the group. Check for the meeting time on the welcome note at the hotel. After introductions, your CEO will review the details of your tour.

Sheraton Hotel & Spa Anchorage (or similar)

ANCHORAGE/SEWARD Location Information Description

Anchorage, United States

Travel down the scenic Seward Highway, past Turnagain Arm, where one of the largest bore tides in the world surges a massive wave into the waterway each day.

Location Information Description

Seward, United States

Continue to Seward for a visit to the famed Alaska SeaLife Center, an aquarium that collaborates with National Geographic on wildlife initiatives. On the shores of the scenic town of Seward sits the renowned Alaska SeaLife Center, Alaska’s premier public aquarium. This esteemed marine science facility offers a combined focus on research, wildlife rehabilitation, and educating the public. Various wildlife initiatives such as critter cams, expeditions, and the important Photo Ark project, which aims to create portraits of the world’s species before they disappear to extinction.

The afternoon is free to explore Seward; or opt for adventure in the Alaskan wilderness while hiking, kayaking, or even dogsledding across a glacier!

Breakfast

Breeze Inn (or similar)

SEWARD Location Information Description

Kenai Fjords National Park, United States

Board a catamaran for a cruise through Kenai Fjords National Park, where nearly 40 glaciers flow down coastal mountains, forging icy pathways into the sea. Your boat takes you to the exit ramp for one of these massive ice sheets, where you may see—and hear—great chunks of ice fall straight into the water.

Kenai is also a wildlife-lover’s paradise, home to orcas and humpbacks, puffins, porpoises, and much more. Enjoy lunch on board, and meet your accompanying park ranger, who will guide young travelers toward earning their first junior ranger badge of the trip!

Breakfast, Lunch

Breeze Inn (or similar)

SEWARD/TALKEETNA Location Information Description

Seward, United States

On our journey back north, we’ll stop to explore the wilds surrounding the mountain town of Girdwood. Make your way along a winding boardwalk through the northernmost rainforest in North America; then board a hand-operated tram and take turns pulling your family along a rope strung high above a rushing river. Get out and stretch on Lower Winner Creek trail, hiking to Winner Creek gorge before taking the hand tram over the mighty Glacier Creek pulsing below.

Enjoy North America's northernmost rainforest before circling back to the starting point. Mt Alyeska Aerial Tram Girdwood:Take a scenic tram ride to the top of Mt Alyeska. Enjoy the view of the Turnagain Arm, glaciers, mountain ranges, and even bear and moose if we're lucky. Take in the panoramic scenery from the top, where on a clear day, the view is as far as the eye can see. Opt to enjoy lunch at the top or head back down.

Location Information Description

Talkeetna, United States

Later, ride the gondola up Mount Alyeska for a look at hanging glaciers clinging to high mountain cliffs. Continue to Talkeetna, a quirky town that welcomes many a mountaineer hoping to conquer Denali’s lofty summit.

Breakfast

Swiss Alaska Inn (or similar)

TALKEETNA/DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE Location Information Description

Denali National Park, United States

As you travel toward Denali National Park, you'll get ever closer to Denali—or “the great one”—North America’s highest peak. Even among the soaring summits of the Alaska Range, Denali dominates the horizon.

At the gateway to the park, pick up junior ranger packets then meet a field educator at the Denali Education Center to learn about the surrounding ecosystems and the native people who have survived in these harsh conditions for centuries. Visit the esteemed Denali Education Center for lunch and an interactive overview of the park and its subarctic ecosystem. Get an introduction to National Geographic’s legacy with American national parks, as well as other projects National Geographic has supported in Denali NP and across Alaska. Listen to stories about the park’s history and culture, as well as characteristics of its subarctic ecosystem. Learn about the complex geology here and how First Nations people have survived for generations in one of the most formidable climates on the planet.

This afternoon, we’ll travel to the home of a true Alaskan hero, Jeff King, who has won the grueling, 998-mile Iditarod dogsledding race four times! Snuggle a husky puppy and watch grown champion sled dogs go through their summer training routine. Head to Husky Homestead, led by four-time Iditarod Champion Jeff King, to learn about the Iditarod traditions in the demanding Alaskan wilderness. Get a behind the scenes view of the champion sled dogs during their summer training. Hear tales about the people who live in this unforgiving terrain year-round and the heroic huskies that help them survive.

Breakfast, Lunch

Denali Grizzly Bear Resort (or similar)

DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE Location Information Description

Denali National Park, United States

This morning, venture into the heart of Denali National Park and Preserve on a wildlife safari. The park’s incredible creatures stand out against the sparse landscape, and a drive along the park road is often the best way to see them.

As you drive to the Eielson Visitor Center, make it your mission to spot Denali’s “big five:” grizzly bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, and elusive wolves. Opt to join a ranger on a hike for a closer look at the treeless tundra and hearty plants that grow here. The return trip to your hotel offers another chance for wildlife-viewing. The area is well-known for its diversity of wildlife and Denali, the highest peak in North America, formerly called Mt McKinley. There are 39 species of mammals, 167 species of birds, 10 species of fish, and one species of amphibian known in Denali. Summer is a time for raising the young and preparing for migration, hibernation, or survival during the winter and, with a little luck, we witness it all. Discover the dynamic glaciated landscape providing large rivers, countless lakes and ponds, and unique landforms which form the foundation of the ecosystems that thrive in Denali.

Breakfast, Lunch

Denali Grizzly Bear Resort (or similar)

DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE Location Information Description

Denali National Park, United States

This morning, meet up with an Alaska resident to hear all about life in America’s northernmost state. Living next to the highest mountain in North America requires intense planning and preparation, and even then it's no easy feat. Learn how people live in this remote region, some without running water, and over a hundred miles from the closest grocery store. Meet a year-round resident of Denali and ask questions about surviving in a region with eight months of winter. Then head out with a naturalist on a guided hike to take in the awe-inspiring beauty of the Denali wilderness.

Then set off for a hike with a naturalist guide from the Denali Education Center to take in the awe-inspiring beauty of the Denali wilderness. Kids will have the opportunity to wrap up their junior ranger activities. Enjoy a free afternoon to relax, or opt to fly above Denali’s soaring summit on a helicopter flight-seeing excursion.

Breakfast

Denali Grizzly Bear Resort (or similar)

DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE/ANCHORAGE Location Information Description

Anchorage, United States

Enjoy a free morning to get in a final hike or an optional scenic river float before setting out on your drive back to Anchorage. Join the group for a farewell dinner this evening.

Breakfast, Dinner

Sheraton Hotel & Spa Anchorage (or similar)

ANCHORAGE Location Information Description

Anchorage, United States

Depart at any time.

Breakfast

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