We started with the land portion of our cruise in Fairbanks. Did the Riverboat cruise there which was very interesting and fun. We also had time to check out the Georgeson Botanical Gardens there which were beautiful and only had a $2 admission fee. Gorgeous!

From there we went to Denali which was also interesting. We saw moose, bald eagles and beavers. Most importantly, we saw Mt. McKinley! The Wilderness Lodge was very nice. Went to the Denali Dinner Theater which was ok, but a little pricey. The Natural History Tour was great, and we had time to take in the dog mushing camp and also walked a trail where we saw more moose. I don't think we would have enjoyed the longer version, although I've read here it's wonderful. For me 4 hours on an old school bus was enough!

On to Mt. McKinley Lodge next. The views were incredible, but not as much to do here as there was at Denali. I was surprised to learn that some of our group spent 2 nights at the Denali Lodge and 1 at McKinley, and some the other way around. We were glad we had 2 nights at Denali. Read more