McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
Welcome to the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, your home for amazing views of North America’s highest mountain peak. This was the third stop on our Princess cruise tour in 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 McKinely Princess Wilderness Lodge for two nights, providing enough time for explore the resort, get some amazing views, and take a hike in nearby Denali State Park.
Travel to McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
After two days of exploring Denali National Park and the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, we boarded a bus headed to the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. The lodges are just over 100 miles apart, about a 2-hour ride. Scenery along the way was interesting. Our driver pointed out things along the way including Hurricane Gulch. We even saw two moose standing near the road.
There are many buses boarding at the lodge and heading to different destinations so be sure to know which bus you need. We were on the M-2 bus where M is for McKinley. We arrived at around noon. However, our room wasn’t ready yet. We could have joined the crowd on the deck waiting for a mountain sighting but instead we took another bus to Talkeetna.
Visiting Talkeetna
Buses to Talkeetna are available and leave every hour. There is a $10 per person charge unless you are visiting Talkeetna as part of an excursion.
We spent the afternoon exploring Talkeetna. There were a few highlights like the limeade from the spinach bread food truck. We also enjoyed chatting with some local teachers while sitting by a firepit at a local brew pub.
One of the things we really wanted to try in Talkeetna was birch syrup. There is a birch works that processes sap from birch trees into a syrup. It is supposed to be similar to maple syrup but is found only in a few limited parts of the world. We had seen a video that included a visit to the birch works. However, we discovered that it is actually about 13 miles from town. The shuttle from the McKinley Lodge doesn’t make stops and as we didn’t have a car we weren’t able to experience this stop. I guess next time we’ll have to visit Alaska in an RV so we can make a stop here.
Overall, though, there wasn’t much to see in Talkeetna. A river view and a few small shops. Glad we did it once.
McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
The McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge consists of a main lodge building with multiple restaurants, 22 buildings with rooms, a theater, hiking trails, and a treehouse.
The setting is more remote than the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. Don’t expect to be able to explore the area on your own unless you are visiting the area by car.
A prominent feature of the main lodge building is a large deck. Along the back of the lodge, you’ll find multiple chairs. This is the perfect place to relax and wait to catch the perfect view of the mountain.
Many people visit the area but relatively few get to see the mountain. When we arrived, it was mostly covered in clouds with just a bit of the peak visible. People we chatted with where excited to see anything. And yet, later in the day, the clouds cleared and we were greeted with an amazing clear view.
It is hard to describe how captivating the view can be. Kind of like the Grand Canyon, you can take dozens of pictures and still not capture what you are seeing.
If you do need a break, just head inside to warm up by the fireplace. Or get a coffee from the quick-serve restaurant.
Similar to what you might find in a national park, the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge has ranger talks on a variety of topics. These will be hosted in either the theater or in a room on the lower level of the main lodge. We attended a talk about moose. Well, it became a talk about all things Alaska and the challenges of living in Alaska but we did also learn a few things about moose.
From the lodge, there is a hiking trail named the Lodge Trail. It is about a half-mile easy trail with a river view from one point along the way. Another trail shown on the map is the Creek Overlook. However, we found that to be a walk along the road where buses and other traffic come to the lodge. A nicer trail is the paved path that connects the multiple hotel buildings for a .7 mile walk.
The Treehouse
One of the most interesting attractions at the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is the treehouse. This was constructed for season 9, episode 9 of a TV series called Treehouse Masters. There is a hiking trail that leads up to the treehouse. It has an inside area but the main attraction is the view from the treehouse porch. Fantastic!
We enjoyed visiting the treehouse and make the trek to see it several times. Note that the walk up to the treehouse can be a bit steep and may be a challenging climb for some.
Excursion to Denali State Park
During our stay at the McKinley Lodge, we opted to take the Byers Lake Nature Walk excursion. Our small group rode the 20 minutes to Byers Lake in a van. After a short briefing from our guide, we headed off for a hike around the lake.
As we were visiting in May, the lake was still mostly frozen. However, during our hike on this sunny day, we could see the lake ice melt and it looked like it would be gone within the next day or so.
The hike was an easy mile in and mile back. While we would have loved to journey around the entire lake, it was nice to see some of it. During our walk, our helpful guide showed us a variety of plants which was very interesting. Among the plants, we saw arctic staghorn clubmoss, devil’s club, fireweed, cow parsnip, lingonberry, green alder, and many more.
We also got to see a trapper’s cabin. A couple flew into the area, built the cabin, and spent several winters trapping. Later in life, the Beeman’s donated the land which became the state park.
We enjoyed our hike around Byers Lake on a beautiful day. We just wish we could have covered a bit more ground.
Dining at McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
There are several restaurants at the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge including the North Fork, 20,320 Alaskan Grill, the Base Camp Bar, and the Coffee Bruin.
After our great experiences at the Pump House in Fairbanks and at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, we had high expectations for the North Fork restaurant. This is the higher-end dining option at McKinley. Our Princess meal package included an appetizer, entree, and dessert. Judy continued her Alaskan seafood adventure by ordering scallops and halibut. Erling had a blueberry spring salad and a filet mignon. For dessert, we shared a chocolate mousse and a triple berry crumble with vanilla ice cream.
I guess we were spoiled after the first few days of our trip. While the food was good, the experience didn’t match our earlier meals. Service was a bit slow, no wine menu was provided, and we were seated at a table for two just a few inches from the other tables for two.
For dinner the second night, we opted for the more casual Base Camp restaurant adjacent to North Fork. Erling had a very tasty burger – the Rodeo Burger served with bacon, cheddar, and an onion ring. Judy opted for a salmon melt panini. The dessert menu is shared with North Fork so we tried a creme brulee and another portion of the triple berry crumble. The food and experience on this side of the restaurant was much better.
We opted to have breakfast at the 20,320 Alaskan Grill. This is a separate building from the main lodge and has a cool mountain climbing vibe. We kept breakfast pretty simple the first day; oatmeal and berries for Erling and eggs for Judy. It was a good breakfast and the food was served promptly. We opted to eat here for our second day, too.
Hotel Room
We had a room with a king bed. The room was clean and comfortable. It had all the amenities needed for our short visit. There was a nightstand on each side of the bed with a lamp and places to plug in. There was a desk with two chairs, nice if you want to use it as a table. A coffee maker with senseo-style pods was on the desk. For an additional place to sit, there was a chair with a floor lamp.
The room had a TV, though we didn’t have the time to use it. While there was no closet, there was a place to hang clothes and a dresser. Like other rooms we experienced in Alaska, a fan was provided in addition to the ceiling fan.
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.
Other Amenities
Our hotel building had laundry available. Just one washing machine and two dryers. Detergent was automatically dispensed into the washer so we didn’t need to add any.
In the laundry room, there was also a Coca-Cola vending machine and an ice machine.
The lodge has a small playground available.
Train Ride to Whittier
After two nights at the McKinley Lodge, it was time to move on to our next destination. We were both pretty excited for the train trip that would take us to Whittier and to board our southbound Alaska cruise.
After a tasty breakfast at the 20,320 cafe, we headed to the main lodge to board a shuttle bus to the train. There were seven buses headed that way. They divided us into two groups based on which train car we would be on. Cars 1-4 were in one group while 4-7 formed the second. The bus ride to Talkeetna is about and hour. However, the buses don’t go into town, they stop at the train station.
The Talkeetna train station is a gravel road next to the train tracks. Signs mark where each car will stop. We gathered around the boarding area for car 5. After a short wait, the blue and yellow Alaska train came into the station.
We boarded our train and discovered that it was a bit different than we had imagined. Our car had dining car seating in groups of four and we were seated across from another couple. They were nice and we made small talk as the journey began. However, they had family in another car and were moved to join them. We had the table to ourselves for the rest of the journey.
The scenery was beautiful as we headed south toward Whittier. A guide was assigned to each car to share information on what we were seeing along with facts about life in Alaska. Of course, they also shared the opportunity to purchase some souvenirs from our train ride.
The dining plan we had purchase also covered the train ride. Erling opted for a turkey & cheddar sandwich while Judy had a Mediterranean bowl. We both enjoyed a small key lime pie for dessert.
After an enjoyable afternoon on the train, we pulled into Whittier. The land portion of our cruise tour was coming to an end as we boarded the Sapphire Princess for a seven night cruise through the inside passage.
YouTube Video
Check out our McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge YouTube video where we show you the highlights of this beautiful hotel, our adventure in Denali State Park, and the train ride from Talkeetna to Whittier.
Summary
We discovered that the McKinley Lodge is a great place to view, but not visit, Denali National Park. The deck afford the possibility of seeing the tallest mountain in North America but the remoteness means you’ll likely want to relax and just enjoy time at the Lodge.
Have you stayed at this lodge? We’d love to hear about your experience. Please leave a comment.
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