Mt. Denali Flight Tours
No matter what your budget, if weather permits, you won't regret taking a flightseeing tour of Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley). From the air, nature presents itself on a scale beyond your wildest comprehension.
Most flight tours approach through the Great Gorge of Ruth Glacier, one of the densest collections of granite walls in the world. You enter over a boulder-strewn labyrinth of treacherous crevasses seven miles long, a mysterious jumble of rock and ice resembling a bomb blast's after math. Gravity rams this great jumble of earth and ice into the river country below, obliterating all in its path.
Soon, your plane is dwarfed on both sides by a ten-mile long phalanx of mile-high towers of black-and-brown granite. You stare in disbelief at one of the world's great granite monoliths, the Moose's Tooth, when your pilot tells you its 5,000-foot face was once climbed solo. What appear to be tiny flakes on the wall are actually ledges wide enough to park a tractor trailer.
The ice below is 3,700 feet deep, some of it more than a thousand years old. Were it to melt tomorrow, you would witness a spectacle twice as awesome as the Grand Canyon-a gorge a mile wide and nearly two miles high.
Exquisite ice formations loom on the crest of these walls. You are gazing at blocks of ice the size of shopping malls. The sun's warmth often releases them into a shower of rock and ice that ricochets for a vertical mile before slamming to the glacier floor, sending reverberations a dozen miles. You see their jumbled debris below.
You see fluted ice faces so sheer they resist the stabs of a hardened metal ice ax. For climbers these faces represent some of the most challenging alpine ascents in the world. For you they are mind-boggling scenery- when suddenly your pilot tells you to look up. Just ahead, you see the lofty summit of Denali. Remarkably, North America's highest peak lies less than 15 miles from its deepest gorge.
From Denali
See the dramatic north side Wickersham Wall; look for wildlife in the Park
Go flightseeing over Denali National Park in a very unique way: via helicopter. Lift off on a 50-minute flight —landing the helicopter on a glacier, putting on special boots, and going for a walk on the frozen landscape to get an up-close look at it. Or, visit Bus 142, made famous by adventurer Christopher McCandless. Flightseeing in a helicopter is much different from in a plane — learn all the benefits of this great way of checking out the ...more
Denali Air flights see the majestic mountain a whopping 90% of the time, thanks to the company’s highly experienced pilots and its unique ability to access both the south and north approaches to Denali. Passengers appreciate the private airstrip, the longstanding reputation of Denali Air as the original flight company in Denali, and the fact that 99.9% of the tour is within Denali National Park boundaries.
A lot of people swear to it: the best way to see Alaska is from an airplane, and there may indeed be no better way to get close to the face of Denali. This one-of-a-kind flightseeing operator makes it easy to see up close to the Great One without spending a great deal of time.
From Anchorage
More time spent getting there, but a great way to see the mountain in only 3 hours
Enjoy a bird’s eye view of Alaska’s scenic highlights on a flightseeing tour with Rust’s Flying Service, where every passenger gets a window seat. Tour options include a short 30-minute Anchorage Flightseeing Safari, a flight to Denali, Denali plus a glacier landing, and more. Tours begin at Anchorage’s Lake Hood, the world’s busiest seaplane airport.
Trail Ridge Air offers an on-demand perspective of Alaska’s wilderness, with personable and knowledgeable pilots. Watch for wildlife, check out massive glaciers, alpine lakes, Denali, or even Lake Clark National Park. Trail Ridge accommodates for the busiest of schedules, with flights ranging from one hour to a full day.
Explore Alaska from above with this family-owned company that operates out of Anchorage. Options include flying above Denali, Knik and Colony Glacier, the Chugach Mountains, and more!
From Talkeetna
See the dramatic south side of Ruth Gorge; many options for glacier landings
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.
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.
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