North to Alaska: Week 3 (June 2026)
Day 15
Before heading to the airport we left the majority of our luggage at the hotel because we had a limit on the amount of luggage we could carry on the small plane and we were returning to this motel in three days. Our flight was with Wright Air Service and we were two of ten passengers. Several of the passengers were from small towns in Alaska that came into Fairbanks to load up on supplies and about half of our plane was filled with those supplies. Our flight took about 2 hours, and we landed on the small airstrip in the very small community of Bettles which is inside the Arctic Circle.
When we arrived at the small airstrip, we joined three firefighting airplanes that had arrived during the afternoon because of several forest fires caused by recent lightning. After our arrival we were met by our host who drove us around in an ATV to show us the sights. We went by the lodge cabins, dining facility, National Park Welcome Center, store, weather station, and some of the homes of the 25 full-time residents. After getting our luggage put in our rooms we explored the area on foot and found an abandoned school building. It seems in its heyday, Bettles had a population of over 200 with 35 children, so they built a school. Today the 3 children who live here are homeschooled. The school building was abandoned 20 years ago.
Before dinner we went to the National Park Welcome Center and listened to a lecture by the ranger about the two least visited of the national parks that we would visit the next morning.
Day 16
After breakfast, we got in an ATV with another couple and were driven to a local lake where our seaplane awaited us. Our pilot flew us in a DeHavilland Beaver seaplane north from Bettles to our 52nd park, Gates of the Arctic National Park. Each year less than 15,000 people visit this park which makes it the second least visited national park. We flew over amazing mountains and after about a 2-hour flight, landed our seaplane on a pristine lake. We took pictures, hiked, and then had lunch on the shore of the lake.
Our pilot then flew us another hour to our second park of the day (and 53rd park we've visited together), Kobuk Valley National Park. We flew over the sand dunes then landed on the Kobuk River. This is the most isolated and least visited of all the national parks with less than 7,500 visitors a year. The only way to get to the park is by seaplane. It is a wilderness area with no roads. We took a few pictures and hiked up and down the river bank before departing.
We then flew 2 hours safely back to Bettles for our last night above the Arctic Circle where the sun doesn't set this time of year.
Day 17
Today was another travel day. We flew out of Bettles and into Fairbanks, picked up our rental car, and drove back to our motel. We were tired but decided to visit the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, the Chena Riverwalk, and Pioneer Park. Tomorrow we drive to our next national park.
Day 18
Denali National Park became our 54th park we have visited together. We drove 2 1/2 hours from Fairbanks and stopped at the Visitors Center, hiked Mountain View Trail, got on a shuttle, and then hiked the Savage River Loop Trail. Unfortunately, we were like the majority of visitors to Denali, we never saw the mountain because of cloud cover.
We stayed the night at Grizzly Bear Resort just outside of the park. We got dinner from a Thai food truck at the resort. Tomorrow we take a tour bus that goes deeper into the park which may improve our odds of actually seeing the mountain.
Day 19
We took a bus tour into Denali. We met the bus across the street from where we were staying. The tour included a driver-naturalist who explained what we were seeing as she drove. The driver also had a camera that was integrated to the screens mounted inside the bus. This allowed us to get a closer look at the wildlife we spotted. This section of Denali is closed to regular automobiles and only tour busses are allowed. We were not allowed to go past mile 43 because of a landslide that took place several years ago. They are currently building a bridge that should reopen the road by next year. We saw a lot of wildlife along the route including caribou and moose but didn't see Denali because of the amount of cloud cover.
Day 20
This day we drove from Denali to Anchorage with stops in Talkeenta and Wasilla. We saw moose and yaks on our journey. We ended the day looking for moose in Anchorage's Kincaid Park. Didn't see moose but it was a great hike. We made preparation in our motel for our final small plane flight to our 8th Alaskan national park.
Day 21
This was our last full day in Alaska. When we made our initial plans, this final national park was actually the first we planned to visit. But our travel agents, All Alaska Tours, told us that if we wanted to see bears it would be better to make this our last national park on this Alaska trip.
We completed our 55th national park by visiting Katmai National Park. First, we flew with Katmai Air in a 9-passenger plane from Anchorage to King Salmon Airport then we were transported from the airport to a nearby lake and entered a 9-passenger seaplane which flew us to Brooks Camp in Katmai National Park.
We began our visit by attending Bear Safety 101. A ranger told us how to observe the bears safely including information about what to do if we encountered a bear on the path. We were told to get off the path and give the bear the right of way. We then hiked to one of the elevated boardwalks where we got to observe several bears. We then hiked to the falls where we got to observe bears at the Falls and Riffles Platforms. We also took an hour to eat lunch at the Lodge. After a long day we flew back via two flights to Anchorage.
We ended the day by eating dinner at our favorite place in Anchorage, Sami’s City Diner. We splurged and both had a Loaded Waffle which included a waffle, ice cream, chocolate drizzle, and whipped cream. This was our final full day in Alaska. Thus, we completed our goal of visiting all 8 Alaskan national parks in 3 weeks.
