I've never skied here, but I probably will now!…read more I went here for an "Arctic Entries" storytelling event. It's the first I've ever really driven into this area, it's delightful! And, it's a non-profit! It looks like they are now starting to have beer and food onsite! I'll definitely come back to learn how to ski with the 6 year olds!

Perfect place to ski! Always go every year and love it. it's safe, the service is great and the…read moretime had is always worth it.

Had an amazing day out kayaking! Our guide Anthony was awesome; he was super knowledgeable and…read morereally put in 100% to make it a great day for us. The food also really set this apart. I was expecting a little salmon, and we ended up having salmon, pasta, cheese, fruit, pb&j, Nutella, hummus, veggies, hot cocoa, tea, hot cider; it was phenomenal.

Great tour. We had one on one. Beautiful scenery and guide took us for a hike up to the water fall…read more Came back to a view of the pier on fire which made an interesting sight. Got to watch a seal try to get into the fish farm

Snapple has got it wrong, THIS place is made from the best stuff on earth !…read more Everything from the pingauzer ride, breathtaking views of the valley, sweet dogs and meeting Nick was the highlight of my Alaska trip! Now, prior to heading out to Girdwood and taking the trip, I read the description and thought "Eh, this sounds a bit campy." We did it regardless and do not regret it. Riding up a mountain, playing with puppers small and large, going on a ride in a cart pulled by aforementioned dogs.. sounds silly but it was more fun than watching a kitten chase a laser beam. Mother nature also graced us with a clear, 70 degree day as well. That helps! I've read about some blatant dog abuse that goes on with certain teams or kennels that are associated with the iditarod. Taking that into consideration, these pups did not appear to be mistreated in the slightest. In fact, you could tell Nick absolutely adores all of the dogs and isn't just putting on a show for the tourists. He talks about them as if they were his kids in a sly, goofy way that's rather hard to describe. The doggos, despite short leashes and funny looking houses seem as if they are quite well taken care of and are absolutely ecstatic about doing their job -- running! Shockingly enough, they're equally as estastic to meet strangers as well! If you're looking for a great way to spend an afternoon, check these folks (AND CUTE PUPS) out. Man, I'm a sucker for a cute furry face.

Nic and staff are all great. His office staff were very accommodating as we had scheduling issues…read more They provided us with several options and would have been happy to refund our fees. Fortunately we were able to make the tour. The ride to the kennel is a bit rough but you really get the feel for the area. Nic gives a interesting introduction and you are encouraged to interact with the dogs. He tells stories about himself and the dogs. You then learn how to harness the dogs and off you go in his cart. Taking turns through the sometimes dusty trail on a thrill ride. You finish the tour at the puppy pavilion, where you learn more about the racing and then PUPPIES!! We had enough time to ask questions and never felt rushed. A great day, and then Tyler recommended pizza at Chair 5 in the town of Girdwood, to die for pizza. https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g31000-d8421789-r595086029-Girdwood_Mushing_Company-Girdwood_Anchorage_Alaska.html#

This place is legit. I highly recommend this activity as you will have fun and will enjoy being so…read moreclose to nature. You will get into a dry suit for 4 hours so keep that in mind. No bathroom break once you have been zipped. They provide everything, helmets, life jackets , booties and a great guide. You also need to arrive 15 minutes early so you can get ready and leave on time. Once you get on the Jet ski, you are briefed and you start to head over to the Glacier. When you reach the middle of the trajectory, it can get a bit rough as you are close to the ocean but once you passed that, the water gets calmer. (Not by much but a lot better) The closer the you get to the glacier the colder it gets so you need to bring insulation. I used by Under Armour base layer 4.0 and some merino wool socks and I was very comfortable. Once you reach the glacier, you are provided with a surprise and I will not spoil the surprised. Then you reach the glacier and it is breathtaking. It seems like it is not real at all! After you spend a good amount of time there you head back and you have to go thru the rough patch next to the ocean. The total time of the trip was roughly 4:15min and you need to hold your pee and make sure you are not SICK ‍ to your stomach because you have an accident, there is fine to clean it up. If you decide to go, ask for Mango as she was great, very patient and easy going. I am pretty sure everyone is nice therr but I may be a bit bias.

This was by far one of the best experiences I have had. I highly recommend this to other people. We…read morehad Mango as tour guide and she was so knowledgeable and helpful. We had the best time ever

I'm not a big tour gal- lots of people/ Cheesy announcers…read more This was NOT that. We did the 5 hour tour that included lunch, a ton of gorgeousness, lots of glaciers and WHALES. This one is worth it.

I had limited time while working in Anchorage so I booked the 26 Glacier Cruise and Bus from…read moredowntown Anchorage. All in it was close to $400 and while difficult to rate "value for money" on a flavor cruise I'm very glad that I did it. The bus takes a couple of hours to get you to Whittier with a couple of scenic spots stops along the way. The welcome on board the cruise vessel was warm and friendly with lots of interesting facts announced over the course of the day. The chowder that was served was passable so pack some additional food or you're stuck with a limited offering at the snack bar. The highlight was Harvard Glacier where we we spent about 30 minutes and we were lucky enough to see some spectacular "caving" - when the ice breaks off the front of the glacier and falls into the water. And then a Gin & Soda over glacier ice that the crew had fished out of the water.

My interest in visiting Kobuk Valley Nat'l Park prompted me to contact Explore Tours for an…read moreovernite trip to Kotzebue. I mentioned to Anthony (at Explore Tours) that I was also interested in a day trip to Nome. Anthony got me a good price, explicit directions and added guided tours in both Kotzebue and Nome. It was an excellent itinerary, and I can't imagine a more complete experience. Anthony (and Explore Tours) are to be commended. Added note: I loved Nome, much more than I thought I would. The surrounding countryside is breathtaking, and it's a great little town. Our guide, Richard Beneville, kept us consistantly entertained, and was so knowledgeable about Nome and it's historic past. Definitely worth the trip! THANK YOU EXPLORE TOURS!

Let me preface this by saying that what Michelle at Explore Tours planned for us may have been just…read morefine, but their lack of human decency left me very sad and disillusioned. I had been planning my dream trip to Alaska with a friend of mine for over a year. We had four different legs planned for this trip. Two of the legs we planned on our own (Brooks Lodge in Katmai and Wrangell-St. Elias) and some we planned through Explore Tours. As a side note, Brooks Lodge had to be booked over a year in advance. The two legs that I am reviewing here, and that Explore booked for us, were six days on the Kenai Pennisula and six in Denali National Park. Explore Tours booked all our hotels on the Kenai and in Denali, an all-day Kenai Fjords Tour and the Gold Star train service and bus trips up to and in Denali NP. The bottom line is that I worked with Michelle over many months to plan the perfect trip and she was perfectly nice. Obviously, this trip was not inexpensive...we booked nice hotels, top of the line train service, top of the line Kenai Fjords tour, etc. Four months before the trip was supposed to take place, my mother got sick. I alerted Michelle to this fact...she told me to keep her informed. I was hoping at that point that my mom would recover and I could still go to Alaska...especially since my mom kept insisting that I go, knowing how much this trip meant to me. Two months before the trip, my mom took a turn for the worse and ended up in the hospital again. I told Michelle then that I may need to cancel parts of the trip...thinking maybe I could still join my friend for part of it. A month before the trip was to take place, I found out my mom had cancer and would not be here long. For obvious reasons, I had to cancel the trip entirely and take care of my mom in her final days. I notified Michelle at Explore Tours what was going on. Since my friend was still planning on going, I was not asking for my money back for the hotels, but I thought I could at least get some of my money back for the train trips, the bus tickets, the Denali Shuttle and the Kenai Fjords Tour. Michelle assured me that she was going to "work on" getting some of my money back from the vendors. My mom passed away a week before the trip, I let Michelle know (since I had still not heard back from her about getting any of my money back)...and I never heard from her again. She never followed through with trying to get any of my money back, nor did she bother to let me know...her final parting words to me were "If you do ever try to come to Alaska, save my email. I will get you a smoking' deal!" Wow, really? Let me just say, that Katmailand/Brook's Lodge, the place where you have to book over a year in advance, was wonderful and so understanding about what was going on. While they could not refund all of my money, they refunded my plane fare and even some of the lodge room and I so appreciated it. I guess that is a long enough review. I think the thing to realize is that Explore Tours will not be understanding or helpful if life gets in the way of your trip...so just know that up front. I am now planning a trip to Alaska with three friends for next year...but I will not be calling Michelle at Explore Tours!

We stayed in the Placer cabin for 3 nights. It was wonderful! Perfect, cozy, comfortable log cabin,…read morebeautifully decorated, with everything we needed. Our plan was to spend our time here hiking up the Portage Pass Trail, taking a Phillips Glacier Cruise, and going up the Alyeska Resort Tram and hiking around at the top. This cabin was the perfect home base, and so lovely to come "home" to each evening.

I booked Glacier Cabin during my first visit to Alaska. It is perfectly situated on the outskirts…read moreof Girdwood, nestled in the woods. It has all of the amenities you could possibly need in a little one-bedroom cabin. I absolutely loved the my time in the cabin and would recommend it to anyone seeking a quaint, quiet and charming place to stay.

Black Bear Campground is a very small, 10 site campground located in the Chugach National Forest…read moredown the road from Portage Glacier. The sites are spacious and open, so they do not afford much privacy. Each space has a fire ring, a parking spot, a picnic table and enough room for several average sized tents. The campground is in a conifer forest, so there's plenty of trees to attach tarps and whatnot to, which would be wise given there is LOTS of light, but persistent precipitation in this part of Alaska. Although this campground is located in valley, you really can't see the mountains or glaciers that ring the location because of the abundance of trees. Despite that, I personally think these campsites are prettier than those located over at Williwaw Campground. There are bear dumpsters on site, hand pumps for potable water and outhouses. There is no firewood or campsite host here; however, the campsite host is located less than 1 mile down the road at Williwaw. Black Bear Campground is located along the Trail of Blue Ice: http://www.alyeskaresort.com/Alyeska/SiteAssets/files/mountain/Trail%20of%20Blue%20Ice.pdf . The campsites with the highest numbers (8,9, 10) are closest to the river, so keep this in mind if you have small children. The sites are big enough to accomodate a RV, but the Williwaw campsites are set up more with RV's in mind. Black Bear Campground certainly isn't the best campground in the area, and for $18 a day, I'd probably stay somewhere else. However, that being said, if you plan to spend time hiking the very easy, very family friendly Trail of Blue Ice, or plan to spend a day in Whittier or Portage, this is a very convinient location to make base camp for a day or two. After that you will have exhausted the activities in the area. To reserve a spot in advance log on to: http://www.recreation.gov/. In addition to the $18 they charge a booking fee of $9. Otherwise the campsites are first come-first served. During July, without a reservation you run the risk of arriving and finding all the campsites taken.

I've been here multiple times. Get there early during the summer months to grab a spot. There are…read morehiking trails and bike paths nearby. Always a good time. Bring your rain jacket because between those mountains can get rainy sometimes.