Denali Princess Lodge is pretty touristy, with a lot of gift shops on the property as well as along the main road George Parks Highway, in front of it. It is directly on the route between Anchorage and Fairbanks. There was a nice large patio with view of the Nenana River and beyond out the back side of our building (J).
In the morning, we all got on the bus for a Natural History Tour: Bus into Denali National Park. The only large wildlife we saw was a caribou sauntering down the road between the buses. We did get some nice photos of him.
We did not travel into the park as far as we might have due to part of the roadway collapsing down the side of the mountain. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable ride with beautiful valley views. Very cloudy skies obliterated any view at all of Denali. It would have appeared behind that snowy mountain range in the middle.
Video of the Valley:
Denali ATV Wilderness Ride was in the afternoon. This was my first time to ever drive an ATV. I had no passengers to witness any of my fantastic driving skills at times at40 mph. The gravel road was the pits for much of it, rattled my bones, so I decided to take the posture of a wobble head and it was much more comfortable, though it still took all my attention to tackle the bumps and dips. Rugged. Absolutely! There was little riding along and viewing the sights. That remained for our stops, which were beautiful and informative. Reindeer Ridge (or was it Caribou Ridge?) is where we drove to the base of it in a more or less dry gravel riverbed.
Back at the ATV base, I noticed some very nice painted rocks.
Beer and a meal back at the Princess Denali Lodge.
Juneau Juice Hazy IPA