Castner Glacier Ice Cave Adventure Summer Hike from Fairbanks
Description
A summer hike (4 miles round trip) into the Alaska Range takes you across open tundra and rugged mountain views, with chances to spot moose,Caribou and bald eagle along the way. At Castner Glacier, you’ll find a natural ice tunnel carved by flowing meltwater. Step inside, and the glacier glows deep blue, with smooth, winding walls and cool, echoing air—like walking through a frozen river hidden in the mountains. After you return from your hike we will head back to North Pole where you are going to have some free time to explore the world famous Santa Clause House. Drop Off at your hotel or AirBnB around 5:30 pm. Licensed by Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior permit #2025-00197
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will pick you up from your Hotel or AirBnB at 8:30 am and we will head out to Castner Glacier Ice cave. We will have a 2.5 hour journey on the Richardson Highway trough the beautiful Alaska Range. Enjoy the amazing views of the mountains and keep your eyes open for wildlife such as Moose and Caribou which are often seen crossing the road or next to it.
Quick restroom break at a local store where you can also purchase food and drinks.
Santa Claus House is one of the top attractions in Interior Alaska, and has welcomed millions of visitors from all over the world.
Return to Fairbanks will be around 6pm and we will drop you off at your Hotel or AirBnB.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We can pick up from any Hotel or AirBnB in Fairbanks and North Pole city limits
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Reviews(58)
Our guide Tony was awesome. He provided great information throughout our entire journey. He was able to guide us over some challenging terrain to get us to the cave. We had an awesome day
The hike was by far the highlight of our trip, looking forward to coming back in the winter to experience the full realm.
Thank you choosing us for your adventure!
We thoroughly enjoyed the hike to the majestic Castner Glacier and super grateful for the expert knowledge and experience of our tour guide (Antonio) for our hike after the fresh snow!
Always a pleasure to share our knowledge and expertise with our guests Thank you for choosing VIP Northern Lights Tours for your Alaskan adventure
The experience itself is good and the guide is knowledgeable, but it's way too expensive and time consuming for what you get to see. Lunch is not provided though you do stop at a big gas station for a short break midway through the drive to the glacier. You're taken in a minivan, not some sort of tour bus. "Snow shoes" are all that's provided to you, which are just a little platform added to your shoes, not like an actual pair of shoes or boots that are good for snow Glacier is receding so presumably much less impressive now than it once was (pictures on the internet look better than it does now) and the hike was a bit too long and gets monotonous, though quite beautiful with the snowy mountains all around.. You just go to one ice cave which was nice but not that big or interesting for the most part, and which takes about 30 minutes or so to walk to on quite a narrow path. Recommend you bring good shoes, but it's bot that hard of a 'hike', moreso just felt like a whole day excursion with not much payoff. If you can get someone local to take you out there for cheaper I'd maybe recommend that. But this trip is not worth the investment in my opinion
Hello, thank you for your review. If you read the description for the product, we never mentioned that we include lunch in our tour also snowshoes are not snow boots you had regular summer sneakers on hiking to a glacier even if we brought the snowshoes for you they would not work because you had summer shoes going to a Glacier. You definitely have to read the descriptions and going to Alaska in the winter with summer shoes is not a good idea especially hiking 3 miles to a glacier. As far as the Glacier changing and melting, that’s true, which we cannot be blamed on that one but the ice cave is amazing and spectacular to this day. Also, the drive is the most scenic drive in Alaska based on our experience and also on our guests experiences. We have 50+, 5 star reviews on this product. We have a mini van that we use for smaller size groups and it fits five people comfortably and that was the size of your group. It appears to me that you’re really upset. You didn’t have the correct shoes on and then you let that ruin your whole experience on our tour which is totally your misjudgment it seems you’re trying to find something to complain about. It’s your unpreparedness for this tour and lack of common sense. Also, just hiring a local to provide a tour for you is illegal tours to this ice cave are permitted by the bureau of land management of which we hold one of those permits.( Permit #2025-00197) Have a great day!
We had an incredible time on the Castner Glacier Ice Cave tour! Our guide was exceptionally professional and knowledgeable, sharing so much fascinating information about the glacier and the local area that we never would have known otherwise. On top of the great insights, our guide was also a fantastic photographer and helped us capture some truly stunning photos to remember the trip by. It was a seamless and joyful adventure from start to finish. Highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Fairbanks!
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us such an amazing feedback
The glacier was amazing and our guide assured we were comfortable with the hike. He was so friendly and helpful. We had a great time. It was an amazing experience !
We appreciate your feedback and we are glad you had an amazing time at the glacier!
Nice guide, beautiful scenery, very safe to walk and visit. Be ready for a long road trip, but it’s fun!
Thank you for the five star review
Our tour guide from Vip Northern Lights (Tony) was knowledgeable about the wild life and the terrains. He loves his job! Both Tony and Nate made the long drive to the destination educational and entertaining. Once at the destination, it was a nature’s magic.. amazing!!! Also picked up from our hotel was very promptly on time.
The drive along Richardson Hwy was very beautiful. Our guide Tony gave us lots of interesting information about the scenery & Alaska. We stopped along the way for photos in front of the snow covered mountains. The hike started out through snow & trees. Then we walked across a frozen river onto a compacted snow trail. Walking along the trail was like walking on concrete so it was easy but if you stepped off the trail into the deep snow it was nearly impossible to walk. As everywhere you look is white it’s easy to step off the trail unless you look down where you are stepping or follow the footsteps of the person in front of you. Seeing the cave is amazing. At first glance it looks like rock. But then you realize the walls of the cave are covered in a thick layer of ice. Be careful, inside the cave it’s very slippery. I won’t spoil the surprise of what’s waiting for you as you step further inside the cave and look up at the ceiling. I didn’t know about it before hand so I was in awe. The hike was hard not going to lie. Tony was a great guide and shared his gloves with my grandson when his weren’t doing a good job keeping his hands warm. It was -14 to -16 degrees during our walk dress appropriately.
Definitely recommend, and note that every glacier is different! Tony was a great guide and even gave great local tips and information of the geography of the areas we went too.
Thank you for the 5 star review we really appreciate it!
