Alaska Helicopter Tours - Glacier Walk vs Dog Sledding

[IWannaBeAMousketeer]

We are planning to do a Helicopter Tour in Skagway (Juneau as back-up). I'm having trouble deciding between the Glacier Walk and the Dog Sledding options. From the pictures, it looks like the Glacier Walk might land in a more interesting area of the glacier with more unique things to see. I know my family would love the opportunity to go dog sledding, but I'm afraid we'll miss out on seeing the interesting parts of the glacier. We are planning to do Mendenhall Glacier Park in Juneau, so maybe we will get our fill of glacier sights there?? I would love to get some feedback, especially if you did the dog sledding excursion in Skagway. Was it all about the dogs or did you feel like you were experiencing the glacier, too? I'm really trying not to let money be a factor on this decision. We've been saving to have one "budget busting" excursion.

 

[sparklinducky]

Following I would love to hear the answers to this also.

 

[Lunarias]

Personally, for my family we did a glacier hike, (we actually did a private hike out to Mendenhall) and that was amazing, we hiked on the glacier, in the ice cave (best part of the whole trip) and even got a chance to do some ice climbing, just the 4 of us! (but it was a two hour hike just to get to the base of Mendenhall so if you aren't big hikers, that wouldn't work.)

We looked into the helicopter tours, and was definitely leaning towards the walk for the reasons you mentioned, we talked to some friends we made on board and they flew out to do the sledding. They said it was great but you land on a big flat spot and the ride is in a big circle, a very neat experience but not as organic as they were thinking. Plus most of the walks were longer if I remember.

I should note that I looked mostly into private tours, they were wonderful about communication and cheaper too.

 

[IWannaBeAMousketeer]

Anyone else?

 

[Bridgett_Anna]

I recommend the the Glacier hike. It was the best part of the trip. Yes, it was 2 hours, but it felt like 30 minutes. It was amazing! You can drink the glacier water at one point of hike. The helicopter ride there was beautiful. You can see wildlife and all the beautiful mountains. If you have any questions about the hike, just ask!

 

[IWannaBeAMousketeer]

I recommend the the Glacier hike. It was the best part of the trip. Yes, it was 2 hours, but it felt like 30 minutes. It was amazing! You can drink the glacier water at one point of hike. The helicopter ride there was beautiful. You can see wildlife and all the beautiful mountains. If you have any questions about the hike, just ask!

That does sound amazing! Did you do it in Skagway or Juneau? Did you book directly or through DCL?

 

[Bridgett_Anna]

It was Juneau. We booked it though the DCL.

 

[krisinparis]

We have done the glacier hike and it was amazing!!! We had unusually clear skies the day we went and we got to land in a spot that normally isn't accessible. As others have stated, you can drink the glacier water-- someone on our tour dunked their head in! The colors on the glacier are amazing when you look into the crevices. The glacier walk isn't a long excursion, so later in the day we did a summer dog sled run (the dogs pull you on wheeled carts), which was also lots of fun.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've never done the glacier hike so can only comment on the dog sledding. We went with extended family with ages ranging from 5 to 70. We could never have done the hike with everyone so the dog sledding was perfect. The scenery was gorgeous, the ride(both helicopter and dog sled) were exhilarating and visiting with the puppies at the end was priceless. Our dog sled guide had grown up in a small town in Alaska that didn't have roads, so he had been dog sledding all his life and was working toward getting in the Iditarod. It was just a remarkable experience to have a conversation with him. I think the choice really comes down to your activity level and what kind of experience you want!