Photo Credit: Jacob Williams

The Best Things to Do in Winter In Talkeetna

Talkeetna, just a 2 hour drive north of Anchorage, is a great spot to spend a few cozy winter days.

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Book a room at the famous Talkeetna Roadhouse, and you’ll get the added benefit of enjoying their world-famous sourdough pancakes. At night, keep your eye on the aurora forecast. With minimal light pollution, Talkeetna can be a great spot to see the lights.

During the day, hop on your cross-country skis or fat bike and enjoy the trails at the Talkeetna Lakes Park. Pay attention to the signs, as some trails are ski-only. If you get a clear day, don’t miss the opportunity to take to the skies on a flightseeing tour of Mt. Denali. If you don’t mind venturing beyond town a little, join a dog sledding tour in the town of Willow, just 45-minutes south of Talkeetna.

Rather not drive to Talkeetna? Hop the Aurora Winter Train from Anchorage or Fairbanks. The train operates weekends only from mid-September to early May, with select mid-week service dates in February and March.

Guided Hiking

Season: Year Round $99+ 2 hrs - Multi-Day

Get out there on one or more of these super-acces­si­ble trips, which range from easy nature walks to stren­u­ous alpine mul­ti-day treks. You’ll not only get a healthy dose of scenery, you’ll also exer­cise your body, mind, and soul. In win­ter, mar­vel at frozen water­falls, snow­shoe treks and even heli-snowshoeing!

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Snowmobiling Tours View All

Ride snowmachines through forests

Season: December–April (weather dependent) $275+ 3.5-4.5 hrs

Ride snow­ma­chines on pri­vate trails through forests while keep­ing an eye out for wildlife on your way to vis­it sled dogs and mush­ers and learn what it’s real­ly like to run the Idi­tar­od while mush­ing your own team.

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Flightseeing Tours

Denali (Mt McKinley) • Land on a Glacier

Season: Year Round $255+ 1 to 2 hrs

While you may nev­er join the ranks of climbers who have sum­mit­ed Denali, an up-close view of North Amer­i­ca’s tallest peak can still be yours. K2 Avi­a­tion offers once-in-a-life­time flight­see­ing tours among and above the Alas­ka Range. Add a glac­i­er land­ing to get a sense of how immense these peaks real­ly are.

Season: Year Round $270+

Local­ly known as The Glac­i­er Land­ing Com­pa­ny,” TAT has been fly­ing climbers and sight­seers to the Alas­ka Range and Denali since 1947. Tal­keet­na Air Taxi fea­tures a cus­tom-designed fleet of planes, a ded­i­cat­ed cus­tomer ser­vice team, and a vari­ety of tours for every budget.

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Sightseeing Tours View All

Season: Sep 23 to May 05 $72+

Win­ter in Alas­ka is a mag­i­cal time, with few­er vis­i­tors and a serene, snow-cov­ered land­scape. If you’re here from mid-Sep­tem­ber to mid-May, you can take it in from the com­fort of the Auro­ra Win­ter Train, which runs between Anchor­age and Fair­banks. It’s an easy and mem­o­rable way to trav­el north and expe­ri­ence the auro­ra bore­alis, or even do a week­end get­away to Talkeetna.

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Dog Mushing Tours View All

Season: December–April (weather dependent) $275+ 3.5-4.5 hrs

Ride snow­ma­chines on pri­vate trails through forests while keep­ing an eye out for wildlife on your way to vis­it sled dogs and mush­ers and learn what it’s real­ly like to run the Idi­tar­od while mush­ing your own team.

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Points of Interest

This recre­ation area is just a mile and a half from town, but it feels like wilder­ness — with deep woods and sev­er­al lakes, it’s a great place to hike, run, canoe, fish, or look for wildlife. In win­ter, cross-coun­try ski, walk, or fat bike on the mul­ti-use trails. 

His­to­ry, fun, and mas­sive por­tions of food come togeth­er at this insti­tu­tion, which was built over 3 years start­ing in 1914. Aside from stop­ping by for a bite to eat, you can book accom­mo­da­tions at the Tal­keet­na Road­house. Choose from a vari­ety of cozy rooms in the main road­house and wake up the smell of fresh baked goods from the Kitchen in the morn­ing. Or, for a more pri­vate expe­ri­ence, book one of the cab­ins out back or the Muse­um Apartment  ...more

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