The small village of Talkeetna is the hub of many tourist activities. The location has access to rivers, trains, trails, and gorgeous views of Mount Denali and the Alaska Range. The residents even elected a cat for Mayor, but he passed away from old age a few weeks ago and we never got to meet him.
Our campground was located in Trapper Creek, but Talkeetna was the nearest town. Princess cruise company owns a lodge just north of Trapper Creek, but they would send bus loads of people over to Talkeetna for excursions and shopping.
There is plenty to do in Talkeetna. We took the Mahay’s jet boat tour, but you can also go rafting on several rivers if you like water activities. Flightseeing tours were offered, as well as train excursions. The local Hurricane Turn train is available for daily trips as well as the Alaska Railroad system.
If none of those tickle your fancy, you can sign up for zip lining or go on a guided fishing trip on the river. We are now contemplating a fishing trip out of Fairbanks after seeing the guys on the river during our boat ride.
We opted to walk the downtown streets after our boat trip and popped in and out of gift shops. We tried to buy some fireweed ice cream, but the lady was in the process of making more due to running out. The Denali brewing company had a nice looking beer garden but we decided to get away from the crowds and stopped at their actual brewery just outside of town.
These photo backdrops with faces cut out were scattered all around town. I can’t resist them! Nothing makes a better cheesy vacation photo!
A birch syrup factory was located closer to Trapper Creek. We stopped in for a tour and tasted several samples of syrup and fruit jam. I bought some syrup to try on my next batch of waffles. Yum!
Late one evening I asked Darin if he wanted to go see if Mount Denali was visible, so we headed a few miles north to the viewing area. Within five miles, a momma moose crossed the road in front of us.
Then her two babies came out of the woods and followed her. That night we saw six moose during a one hour period. I think my bedtime is making me miss a lot of beautiful sights like this.
We didn’t have any luck seeing the mountain through the clouds that evening. Those moose photos were taken after 9:30pm. As we head farther north in Alaska, the days will get longer.
Talkeetna has a lot to offer for the adventure seeker. I recommend going as early in the day as possible if you are going to walk the town.It gets busier in the afternoon and parking becomes scarce if you have your own wheels. I could sign up for everything if we had time and unlimited money.