5 Day McGrath Checkpoint Tour

Spend 5 days on the iditarod Trail meeting your favorite mushers and their dog teams. Be there to greet the mushers as they pull into the McGrath and Nikolai checkpoints. Wish them well as they leave the checkpoints and head down the trail to Nome. McGrath is a favorite place for the mushers to take their 24 hour layover and this gives us plenty of opportunities to meet them. Our Iditarod Tour clients who have wanted to be more involved in the race have volunteered to be checkers at the McGrath checkpoint, have helped out in the checkpoint kitchen and even assisted the veterinarians as they examined the race dogs. As long time residents of McGrath, we are able to arrange these activities for you and offer you a personalized tour experience you won't find anywhere else.

Cost and Details

March 4 - March 8, 2024

$3800 pp double occupancy in the Hotel McGrath Annex. Private bedroom in a 2 bedroom apartment. Single person supplement $500 Tour price includes all local taxes.

Tour Includes: All flights between Anchorage, McGrath and Nikolai. Meals in McGrath, lodging as indicated.

Feeding dogs in Takotna

Itinerary

Day One Monday : Today we fly to the community of McGrath on the Kuskokwim River. If the weather is clear, you will have spectacular views of the Alaska Range and Denali Mountain. After checking into our lodging and having lunch, you will take a guided tour of the town and learn about its colorful history as a trading post servicing the historic Iditarod Mining District. You will also learn about the lifestyle of people who live in the region and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. (Lunch, Dinner)
Day Two Tuesday : Today we will fly to the Athabaskan community of Nikolai and watch as the lead mushers come in from their grueling travels through the Alaska Range and the Farewell Burn. Nikolai is a great place to watch the musher's care for their dogs and experience a little bit of life in a remote Native village. In the late afternoon we will return to McGrath and spend the evening watching the lead mushers come into the McGrath checkpoint. (Continental Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Days Three : Today is a busy day in McGrath with all the teams passing through McGrath and most of them taking either a rest break or their 24 hour layover here. It is a great opportunity for Iditarod fans to spend time at the checkpoint and experience 1st hand how the mushers care for their dogs along the trail. Clients will also have opportunities to schedule optional activities such as dog mushing and snowmobiling. We will organize a hike to explore Old Town McGrath, site of the original community of McGrath.(Continental Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Days Four : This morning is another opportunity to spend more time at the checkpoint with the mushers and their teams. In the afternoon we will take a walk across the river and explore the remains of Old Town McGrath, the site of the original trading post and community that was abandoned when the Takotna River shifted and the main channel broke through to the Kuskokwim River further downstream. (Continental Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Day Five Friday : Today we leave McGrath and return to Anchorage. (Continental Breakfast)

Hi Richard, I just want to thank you so much for a wonderful vacation!! It far exceeded any expectation that I had. I smiled for 21 days straight!! It was my first time in Alaska, and I feel that there is no way I could ever top this trip!! I loved every bit of it. From the cruise in Seward, to the resort, in which we took the helicopter ride and landed on a glacier!!! How awesome was that!! I loved the banquet, where we got to meet all of the mushers. Just when I thought "it can't get any better" it did!! I loved McGrath and flying to the check points. It was amazing And of course, being at the finish line in Nome, was the perfect ending to our Iditarod experience! We made so many wonderful new friends on the tour, that was icing on the cake!! It is truly a vacation I will never forget!! Thank you sooo very much!! Liz Masalin