Welcome to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, your gateway to the wild and wonderful Denali National Park. This was the second stop on our Princess cruise tour in Alaska and it was the perfect base for exploring the rugged beauty of this part of Alaska.

During our Alaskan adventure, we travelled thousands of miles from Fairbanks to Denali, Skagway, Ketchikan, Juneau, and Vancouver. Along the way, we explored two incredible national parks, multiple icy glaciers, and five fantastic cities.

We stayed at the Princess Princess Wilderness Lodge for two nights, providing enough time to explore Denali on the Tundra Wilderness Tour and to enjoy the amenities offered by the lodge.

Travel to Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

After enjoying several days of exploration in Fairbanks, we ended our time there on the Riverboat Discovery tour. This was a great half-day experience that was the start of our Princess cruise tour.

After sharing a tasty turkey pesto sandwich & chips, we boarded a Princess bus at 12:45 headed to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. The journey was about 120 miles or about a 2.5-hour drive.

Our driver provided commentary along the way. Funny comment. Have you noticed that Alaska has a lot of potholes? I’m going to try to hit every one of them to give you an authentic experience.

We also learned about frost heave which can cause the roads to be a bit wavy. It was an interesting & enjoyable ride to the lodge.

Arriving at the Lodge

The land portion of our Princess Alaska vacation was going smoothly. On the ride from Fairbanks, we received the next Princess packet with information about the lodge and meal vouchers for our stay.

Princess did a great job of ensuring smooth travel. We were checked in to our room so we could go straight there on arrival. When we got to our room, we discovered that our luggage, which we had left outside our room that morning, was already waiting for us.

Upon arrival, we took the opportunity to walk around and explore the property. While it was a bit chilly and windy, we enjoyed a walk with scenic views of the Nenana River and surrounding mountains. The air, while crisp, was fresh and we the enjoyed the sound of birch and spruce trees. There are many flower beds at the lodge, though in May they had not yet been planted. Signs in the beds apologized for the lack of flowers, indicating that they couldn’t plant until June 1.

The main lodge is two stories with an open feel and plenty of places to sit. On the upper level, you’ll find guest services and a waiting area for departing excursions. The lower level has a gift shop and more places to sit. On the lower level, you’ll also find River Run Espresso where you might choose to get coffee, breakfast, lunch, or even a nice treat.

In addition to the main lodge building, there are multiple dining venues and an area with several shops. According to Princess, the Denali Wilderness Lodge has 663 rooms and is the biggest hotel in the state of Alaska. There are fifteen hotel buildings that are a mix of hotel style with inside room entrances and motel style where the entry door is outside.

A convenient shuttle loops around the resort to assist those who prefer a ride from their room to the lodge, restaurants, and shopping.

Crossing the George Parks Highway, you can find a few additional shops and restaurants available.

Dining at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

We enjoyed dining at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. Our Princess cruise tour package included breakfast and dinner each day. We could choose to eat in any of the restaurants that had availability.

Our first night, we ate at King Salmon. We started our evening with a cocktail. Judy had the Denali Margarita which she described as the best margarita she’s ever had. Erling ordered the Last Front Old Fashioned. It was a great start to the meal. Our meal voucher covered an appetizer, entrée, dessert, and soda or coffee. To start things off, Judy had coconut-crusted halibut while Erling had a roasted pear and goat cheese salad. Our entrees were King Salmon with green beans and a Filet Mignon with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes. Dessert was a tasty end to the meal as we shared apple crisp and blueberry bread pudding served with blueberry ice cream.

We learned a few things about dining at Princess Lodges. Our itinerary listed restaurants and we were assured by Princess and by our travel agent that those indicated that we had reservations. Unfortunately, they were more like suggestions of where to eat. Fortunately, the staff at King Salmon were able to seat us and we enjoyed a great meal. We learned that you can use Open Table to reserve and we ensured we had a reservation in place for the second night. The food was so good, we opted to go back to King Salmon for day two.

We try to ensure that our cruises are as all-inclusive as they can be. That way we can avoid a large surprise bill at the end of a trip. For the drinks with our meal, we opted to pay for them with a Princess gift card. Judy purchased a few of those prior to leaving so that we could cover any incidental expenses on our journey.

King Salmon is also one of the options for breakfast and we chose to eat there for both mornings of our stay. For breakfast, Erling had apple glazed pancakes one day and lingonberry French Toast the second. Both were good but the French Toast was the better option. Judy had an Alaska Crab omelet with a side of reindeer sausage. She said the jam they served was fantastic.

The second day, Judy tried the North Pole Scramble made with reindeer sausage. It was tasty and the reindeer added a nice kick to the eggs. The voucher covers a beverage with your meal. If you opt for coffee, you don’t also get juice.

Tundra Wilderness Tour

The highlight of our stay was the adventure into Denali National Park. The weather forecast predicted a cold and cloudy day. At the start of the day, it was 41 degrees Fahrenheit with a predicted high of 50. Low for the day was 34.

Access to this park is somewhat limited. There is one main road that runs for 92 miles. However, after a rockslide in 2021, the road is not open past mile 42. Construction to repair the damage is expected to be completed in 2026.

An inexpensive way to explore the park is to use the park shuttle and explore on your own. There are also a variety of adventures available through private tour operators. Princess offers two main excursions. The one that is included for most cruise tours is the half-day Denali Natural History Tour. We heard that if we wanted to see more of the park, we should upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour which goes farther into the park on an approximately eight-hour adventure.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour uses buses similar to school buses. They are equipped with a camera and screens that can be used by the guide to help you see things that are far away. Our tour lasted from 9:40-3:00.

We had a knowledgeable guide who shared interesting information about the area, helping us to get the most out of our day. We were lucky enough to see many of the animals who live in the park including lynx, Willow Ptarmigan, spruce grouse, Arctic ground squirrel, Dall sheep, magpie, snowshoe hare, caribou, red fox, and a porcupine.

As we made our way deeper into the park, we caught our first glimpse of the tallest mountain in North America. At first, we couldn’t see anything but clouds. That is pretty normal and we were a bit nervous that we wouldn’t get to see anything. Most people don’t as only about a third of visitors get to see this spectacular sight. And then, the sky opened, offering us a clear view of the mountain. Seeing this amazing peak was an fantastic experience.

At the end of the tour, you could get dropped off near the visitor center or take the bus back to the lodge. We opted to stay in the park a bit longer. It was a bit of a hike, but we made our way to the visitor center. After checking out the displays, we found a hiking trail and explored a bit on our own.

Our cruise tour gave us only one day to explore this great park. If we had another day, we would definitely do more hiking including adding the 2-mile Horseshoe Lake Trail. Shuttles from the Princess lodge run every 30 minutes to the visitor center which drops you right where you need to be to start your adventure.

As the tour was a full day adventure, a lunch box was provided. It consisted of a granola bar, cheese curls, trail mix, a turkey stick, and a package of brownie bites. At the end of the tour, they collected unwanted snacks so they could be donated rather than thrown away.

A question people often ask is if restroom breaks are included on the excursion. The bus stops once on the way in to the park and again on the way back. There were plenty of toilets though they were pit toilets rather than flush. Hand sanitizer may be available but it doesn’t hurt to have some of your own just in case.

Room

Our room at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge was comfortable. We had a nicely sized room with plenty of natural light. We had two queen beds which were reasonably comfortable, though the pillows could have been better. There was a nightstand between the beds and a floor lamp with a shelf next to one.

The room had all the essentials, including a TV and coffee maker, though we didn’t use either. A desk and chair were provided. Typical of the hotels we experienced in Alaska, there was no air conditioning but instead a fan is typically provided. Though there wasn’t a closet, there was an open area where you could hang clothes.

The bathroom was clean. We appreciated the curved shower curtain rod and the provided shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. The towels were basic but fine.

Overall, the room provided what we needed and we enjoyed our stay.

Other Amenities

Our building had a laundry room with two washers & dryers. To use the washing machines required use of an app. Detergent is automatically dispensed into the washer. You’ll also find a soda machine and an ice machine in the laundry room.

Checking Out

Departing the Denali Lodge was a breeze. After a hearty breakfast and a morning walk, we gathered in the main lodge, ready for our next adventure to the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.

Princess automatically checks you out making the departure process very easy. As Princess directed, we left our bags outside our room so they could be transported to the next lodge.

Just remember to check your bus number as there can be many different groups departing around the same time. Before we knew it, it was time to get on the bus for the two-hour ride to our next stop.

YouTube Video

Check out our Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge YouTube video where we show you the highlights of this beautiful hotel and our adventure in Denali National Park.

Summary

We had a wonderful stay at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. It was a great home base from which to explore Denali National Park.

Have you stayed at this lodge? We’d love to hear about your experience. Please leave a comment.

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