Family Bliss On the Go to Alaska

We went to Alaska in June 2024 with our two boys (then 9 and 6yo). I won't lie- this was a trip definitely chosen by my husband. I have always been a big fan of summertime, warm weather, and beaches. When Jon suggested we go to a notoriously cold place at the beginning of our Pennsylvania summer, I was less than thrilled. I also really didn't know too much about Alaska until I began researching and planning, which maybe was part of the less-than-excited feeling. But guys, Alaska does NOT disappoint! This turned out to be one of my favorite trips ever, and I strongly suggest families with kids (especially kids who love the outdoors, nature, and animals) take this trip!

When planning Alaska, we debated the two main options most people think about: cruise or not. Actually, most people may not debate this and just go with the cruise. My parents did an Alaskan cruise, and they loved it. So I don't necessarily think that's a bad option. If you are someone who is overwhelmed with the planning aspect or loves the idea of the cruise and having your bags unpacked in one place the whole time, then definitely do that. Whatever way gets you to Alaska is the way to go. However, we opted against the cruise option. We did take several one-day cruises in various locations, which you'll see below, but there were so many inland places we were dying to see that we just couldn't get behind the cruise option for us.

On our way to Alaska, we had a layover in Seattle. It was a LONG layover (see the post about what to do with long layovers and our mini-trip to Seattle). After finally making our way to Juneau, we briefly explored the downtown area and grabbed dinner from a food truck (reindeer sausage sandwiches!) before turning in early. I always recommend planning a low key first evening because nobody is at their best after a long day of traveling and landing in a different time zone. That being said, we had a very enjoyable evening there. Downtown Juneau is adorable, and seriously- notice the backdrops in these pictures. We're already immersed in pure beauty.

Day 2 (official first full day): Mendenhall Glacier at the Tongass National Forest and playing on the beach at Nugget Falls, then a whale watching tour followed by a salmon bake. The highlight for me of the salmon bake was when the live music randomly started playing Adam Sandler's "I wanna grow old with you" which was our wedding song! We slow danced together, and it was a memory I'll never forget.

Day 3: Flight to Gustavus. Seriously, check out this small little airport! The "waiting room" was sitting outside right next to where the one little plane would come in to land.

We're staying at the Glacier Bay Lodge inside of the National Park for the next two days. This lodge was fantastic, and Glacier Bay was one of all of our favorite places on the trip. Staying at the Glacier Bay Lodge is probably not one of the top things recommended or that you hear about when booking an Alaskan adventure, but I think everyone should. We went fairly off the grid during this time and spent some down time doing little beautiful hikes, playing card games and board games with the boys in the game room of the lodge, and just enjoying our time together in nature.

Day 4: 8 hour Glacier Bay boat tour with a ranger from the national park. This ride was AMAZING. We saw stellar sea lions, tufted puffins, mountain goats, orcas, bald eagles, humpback whales, harbor seals, sea otters, and a brown bear. The rangers were great at pointing out the wildlife and ensuring we got to places to see them, as well as entertaining the kids during down time with facts, quizzes, or games. There was also a live taping happening while we were on there for an NPR podcast called The Wild by Chris Morgan. He recorded some clips of our boys talking about puffins and sea lions! For me, the highlight of the journey was seeing the orca pods. I have loved orcas since I saw Free Willy as a kid, and seeing them up close in the wild was awe-inspiring! Oh, and the kids earned a Junior Ranger badge for the journey. I have a lengthy description about Jr Ranger badges in another post on here, but in case you didn't read it and don't know what they are, we LOVE jr ranger badges in our family. At National Parks, kids complete a couple activities and learn a couple things about that specific park or area or wildlife and then they pledge to take care of the land and animals, and they receive a free little wooden souvenir pin in return. They are super fun to collect from all over, and it helps the kids to learn about the place in fun ways.

Some things that pictures cannot show are the sounds, feelings, and experiences of the trip. For me, this included the silence and aww all around when everyone first saw and watched the orcas, seeing bubble feeding from the humpback whales SO close and the kids saying how it looked like they were drawing a smiley face or spiral for us, and the fact that you could literally hear the glaciers as they melted/cracked (called calving).

Day 5: 4.5 mile hike on the Bartlett River Trail in the National Park. We spotted bear/moose scat, but no sightings on our adventure. Afterwards is when we had our chill day at the lodge playing games and relaxing and enjoying time together (what I discussed at the start of describing Gustavus).

Day 6: Headed to Palmer via a flight to Anchorage through Juneau. In Anchorage we got our rental car (a Jeep- the kids were excited!) to drive to Palmer.

We stayed in a log cabin B&B which was super cute. Wish we would've had an extra night there because we got in late, slept, and woke up for breakfast and that was it. That being said, we had to leave early in the morning because we were taking a helicopter ride to the Knik Glacier to mush a dog sled! Kai had just learned about the Iditarod in school that past school year, and he was very excited for this adventure. The dogs where we went were owned by a 6x Iditarod champion named Dallas Seavey, and several of the dogs we met had competed in the race and a couple were champions. They use the summer tours to train the younger dogs with retired racers and only allow all the dogs to run 2-3 times per day. Every dog we saw there seemed calm and happy, allowing us to pet them with ease. We were very impressed with the care, as well as the explanation of how they train the dogs. We each got a turn mushing the dog sled, which the boys loved. And we had told the one worker about Kai learning about the Iditarod, and he gave him a free bootie from one of the dogs as a souvenir!

Dogsledding was definitely the highlight or point of the journey, but the helicopter ride to and from the glacier was a big hit as well! From the helicopter, we saw swans in a lake, two moose, and a black bear on the edge of a mountain. And Atticus, in particular, loved that he could talk to all of us through the headsets! This tour was booked through viator; here's the link: https://www.viator.com/tours/Alaska/Helicopter-and-Glacier-Dogsled-Tour/d270-69866P4?pid=P00300712&mcid=42383&medium=link&campaign=Dogsled

After our helicopter ride, we stopped for ice cream at a small general store- cute impromptu moment. Then we made another impromptu stop at a reindeer farm where the boys fed reindeer and moose. On our trip south, we stopped at Beluga Point to scramble up some rock faces. Unfortunately, we didn't spot any belugas, but we did see mountain goats fairly close. We checked in that night at the Ski Inn in Girdwood for the night on our way down to Seward tomorrow.

Day 7: We had a slow start to the day, but we visited the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center, which we all loved. They had huge and amazing habitats for the animals they've rescued. Then we had a gorgeous scenic drive on the Turnagain Arm to the Kenai Fjords National Park, where we spotted a bull moose along the road on our way in. This was a highlight for Kai who had been dying to see a moose in the wild and kept getting his hopes up every time we saw Moose Crossing signs on roads! We swore the boys in for another junior ranger badge before heading on a hike to the Exit Glacier.

Day 8: Kenai Fjord- we did another day boat tour here, but this was probably all of our least favorite. Don't get me wrong- we saw several pretty glaciers and more wildlife, but it was much of the same wildlife we had already seen on the much better boat tour in Glacier Bay. Second- it was a much less smooth boat ride. I get motion sickness sometimes, but I was totally fine in Glacier Bay. However, this boat trip was a bit nauseating for me. The kids were somewhat bored, and the staff were not as good at entertaining them compared to Glacier Bay. I would say we probably would've enjoyed this boat ride a lot more if we never did the Glacier Bay one, but that one was just so amazing that it was hard to compare. All that being sad, this boat ride also went to Fox Island, which was enjoyable for us. The kids played on the beach there and enjoyed touching the kelp on the beach. I have heard online that Kenai Fjords is most people's favorite part of Alaska....again, I just think it depends what other experiences you've had.

Day 9: We took a float plane tour to Katmai National Park to see bears. This was booked through viator, and here is the link to the tour we did: https://www.viator.com/tours/Homer/Brooks-Falls-Bear-Experience/d4359-38308P2?pid=P00300712&mcid=42383&medium=link&campaign=Katmai

Important hotel note: we were planning on staying at our prior hotel in Steward for two nights, but Jon realized it was too far of a drive to where we needed to catch the float plane the next morning, so we scrambled and booked a hotel for the night before our float plane. Side note on this hotel (Homer Aspen)- they are amazing human beings. Kai forgot a stuffed moose that he bought as a souvenir, and we called them asking if it was there. We were already too far on our journey away from there, but they offered to mail it home for us. I said I would pay whatever mail fees, and they insisted there was no need. When we got home, there was a package waiting with his stuffed moose, a lovely card/note from them, and a seed packet of Forget Me Nots, so he could remember Alaska. I was so blown away by the goodness of these people!

Anyways, back to the float plane/Katmai adventure. The float plane was 1.5 hours. I will say there were some gorgeous views (Ialamna Volcano and Mount Saint Augustine Volcano to our right and Mt Douglas to our left), and it was very fun taking off and landing on water. That aside, the float plane experience was NOT what I expected. It was so insanely loud in there and so insanely cold in there, and the kids (especially Kai) were pretty miserable most of the journey. I saved notes that were in my phone that Kai and I used to write back and forth to each other, which was a way to have fun together and get him to laugh, but one of them specifically says "I want off of this ear murder thing!!!" That being said, Katmai itself was a big hit.

At Brooks Camp, we took bear school, and the kids earned another Junior Ranger badge. As a mother, I was slightly alarmed by the discussion of how bear can just cross the trail near us at any time. No bear spray is allowed in this park, and you are expected to respect the bears and back away or let them have the walkway if they are on it. This mama bear may have clutched onto my baby bears a little tighter as we started to walk!! You are also instructed to make noise so you don't sneak up on a bear...I did not stop talking, singing, making noise the entire journey! Anyways, we hiked through open bear country to Brooks Falls. Our first outing down the 1.2 mile trail provided plenty of signs from bears (scat, claw marks on trees, etc), but we didn't have a bear spotting until we saw two meandering along the lake on our way back for a snack. Kai spotted them first and was very excited! We then hiked back to the falls where we found a large grizzly lounging by the base of the lookout, just a few feet below us. We spotted our fourth bear lounging on the beach near where we boarded our seaplane at the end. It was exciting seeing these bears up close, but oh boy would it be better about 1-2 weeks later. We were just slightly early because salmon start running that area in late June or through July, which is when you can get those iconic sightings of bear catching salmon jumping in the water. Katmai is cool whenever you can go, but if you can, try to time it better than we did!

Day 10: Mostly a travel day....we took the scenic drive back up the Turnagain Arm before hopping on a flight from Anchorage to Utgiagvik (Barrow). This was my dream part of the trip--it definitely added extra time and effort that probably most people won't take to go, but if you can, DO IT! Utgiagvik is basically the top of the world. It is the northern most point in the US, on the Arctic Ocean, and it has a strong Inuit population/culture. I was fascinated as I researched this place. It also is the place where the whale rescue occurred in the 1980s, which is the basis for the Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, and Kristen Bell film Big Miracle, which was exciting to watch with the kids before our trip to get them excited as well. Be prepared: Utgiagvik is MUCH colder than the rest of Alaska where we had been, especially at night when we arrived and shivered outside the very tiny airport waiting to figure out travel to our hotel. We were staying at the one and only hotel in Utgiagvik (Top of the World Hotel). We touched the Artic Ocean and participated in a traditional blanket toss as part of their annual whaling festival. If you can time your visit to the whaling festival, I definitely would suggest it. It falls around the summer solstice every year, but there's no real guarantee because it depends on whaling season that year. We lucked out and timed it perfectly! The boys lived their best lives this day--Jon surprised us all with an upgrade to first class seats for our flight (because it was such a little airplane that the upgrade was minimal money) and then they got to go to the blanket toss party. Jon participated in the toss, holding a part of the blanket and tossing people up in the air, and as the people were tossed up into the air, they tossed candy down for the kids to gather up (sort of like we toss it at parades). The kids were running around gathering up candy in pure daylight when we realized it was close to midnight! (in the summertime, the sun doesn't set much at all up there!)

Day 11: To be clear, there are not a lot of frills at the top of the world. This is definitely an experience for people who want cultural immersion and educational experiences, not high class or gourmet experiences. We enjoyed a tour around the Arctic Circle, and our local guide made stops at a tiny fur shop, the local college/trade school, an old theater from when the Navy was there a long time ago, another larger market, and the cultural heritage center where we purchased a piece of art that was being finished as we arrived. After our tour, the boys and their dad did the polar bear plunge into the Arctic Ocean to earn a certificate. We then all went to the whaling festival across the street where the entire community sits around with coolers, and they pass around food from their harvest to share with the entire community for free. Even though we were outsiders, we were warmly welcomed to participate and a village elder even laid out caribou skins for us to sit on while we were served yummy boiled fruit. The elder also shared a delicacy made there from the lard of caribou and caribou meat--it's considered a delicacy or treat because of how long it takes to make it--it was not to our liking, but so kind of them to share! A boy then came over to introduce himself and asked Kai and Atticus to join him when all the kids played in the center with dirt and sand. This is exactly what I imagine world travel to be, and my heart was full and happy. We then left Utgiagvik and had amazing views of Denali on our flight to Anchorage, where we had a connecting flight to Fairbanks.

Day 12: We saw Denali lit up by the sun "setting" just before midnight on our flight to Fairbanks. We got settled into our hotel around 1230am and unfortunately snoozed through breakfast! Fairbanks was covered in smoke from forest fires, so we had a quick lunch there and left as quick as possible because my lungs were literally hurting. Along the drive, we stopped at a brewery in Healy where they have a prop bus from the movie Into the Wild on display (the real one is in storage for a museum in Fairbanks).

It was smoky for the majority of our two hour drive, but the sky started to clear up just before Denali. Then, we encountered a live forest fire that had the entire park shut down! We were so looking forward to Denali, but sometimes you have to be flexible and pivot. We cancelled our hotel for the night because it was literally across the street from the fire and had no power. We called and found an open room down in Talkeetna which was where we were headed next anyway. This was a good lesson for the kids about climate change and forest fires. They also enjoyed watching small airplanes picking up water from the river and going back to help fight the fire. In Talkeetna, we had a nice dinner with live music and began our calm ending to our whirlwind trip in Alaska. Also important, we met the mayor of Talkeetna....the mayor is a cat! Yes, it's true, look it up!!

Day 13: Talkeetna is an adorable town! We stayed at a cabin (called Ron's Place) tucked away down by the river and surrounded by gorgeous birch trees, where we could play board games and the boys worked on their Denali Jr Ranger books (The Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station is where all Denali climbers meet to prepare for their attempt to summit, so they were still able to earn their jr ranger badges for Denali despite our change in plans). This was their 5th national park badge and 2nd special park patch on this trip (patches have extra required activities with special kits you can check out for free to borrow). We walked throughout town, had a good brunch, and it was a nice chill day. The only downside was the cabin had no curtains and there's nearly 22 hours of sunlight here, so Jon had to makeshift some in the boys' room by hanging bedspreads and sheets.

Day 14: We drove from Talkeetna to the Anchorage airport. On the drive, we made stops at the Iditarod Race Headquarters and added in a waterfall hike as well. We chose an overnight red eye flight back to Pittsburgh.