Wildlife Conservation Center & Portage Valley Glaciers
Description
Embark on a scenic journey along the Turnagain Arm. View breathtaking Scenery, keeping a lookout for Beluga whales, Dall Sheep, Bald Eagles, and the occasional bear! Learn about the local ecosystem and local wildlife from your experienced tour guide, as they drive along the inlet. You will arrive at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to visit and learn about the many local wildlife that have been rescued. Lastly, enjoy a scenic drive through Portage Valley and view these beautiful glaciers and Salmon streams. Enjoy round-trip transportation from Anchorage. Learn about local wildlife and ecosystems. Visit Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, to see and learn about local Alaskan wildlife. Drive-thru parts Portage Valley. A walk in the rainforest.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Alaska Wildlife Conservation center is Southcentral Alaska's # 1 visitor attraction. The Wildlife Conservation Center is a non profit sanctuary dedicated to preserving Alaska's wildlife through conservation, research, education and quality animal care. Visitors can expect to immerse themselves in the natural beauty of the region and having the opportunity to observe a diverse array of native wildlife up close, including bears, wolves, moose, wolves and eagles, among others, in a spacious 200 acre carefully designed habitats that mimic their natural environment Its an unforgettable experience that fosters a deeper appreciation for Alaska's wildlife.
Brief stop in Portage Valley, where you will see several hanging Glaciers which once extended the entire length of the 14 mile valley. Portage glacier has receded back approximately 2 1/2 miles and has left behind a dead lake! The glacial remnants seen today are Explorer, Middle, Byron, Burns, and Shakespeare glaciers. While still massive in size, these glaciers stand as smaller reminders of the immense ice sheets that once covered this landscape. Next will be a walk through the rainforest, afterwards enjoy your ride back to Chugach State Park and marvel at the stunning views of Turnagain Arm.
At Beluga Point, visitors can enjoy breath taking views of Turnagan Arm with its sweeping coastal scenery, and rugged cliffs, often in spring and summer you can see glimpses of beluga whales swimming in the waters. Turnagan Arm itself, offers possible opportunities for wildlife viewing, including Beluga whales, Dall sheep, Bald Eagles and sometimes bears, as well as scenic vistas of the Chugach Mountains and the unique phenomenon of bore tides.
Scenic drive to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to and back to Anchorage is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Total round trip.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- There is 2: 20 Minutes of round trip travel time, included in this tour.
- Please let us know if you will be bringing a wheel chair or walker on board.
Reviews(142)
A GREAT tour of Anchorage and the wildlife conservation. Kris was the BEST guide. We travelled with our young child and it was enjoyable for all.
Great views and the wildlife center was awesome!
It was fun and informative for Alaskan history. The wildlife center was probably our favorite, but the glacier was nice also.
The tour is amazing, but if the tour is full, it is very tight inside the van. I was seated in the very back with 4 thin adults and we didn't fully fit. Other than that, the tour is amazing the guide is incredible! He had great knowledge and was super entertaining.
Amazing experience with beautiful vistas! If you want to get close to nature in a safe manner, I highly recommend the wildlife conservation center. Our tour guide Kim was very knowledgeable and accommodating to everyone in our tour. I also enjoyed the bonus stop to Whittier. Highly recommend this experience!
If you don’t have a car to visit around, it’s a way to visit the conservation center but not a lot of glacier to see. The conservation center is nice.
There are plenty of glaciers to see, currently some of the are still some snow on the, Unfortunately the day you were there not all the snow has melted, Sadly we dont controll the weather and snow melt., but enjoy your trip to Alaska.
It was a great experience. Would like to give special thank you to Dan from the pick up shuttle, he was wonderful!
This tour was disappointing, We were crammed into the back row of a van. There were numerous stops and it was difficult to get in and out. We are not large people - children would be ok in the back row, but that's it. Our guide shared too much information about himself and his family and not enough about what we were seeing. He shared some depressing stories about friends of his being killed by bears and a family who got attacked (let the good times roll). At the Center he dropped us off and said to meet back at the gift shop - no information about the animals from him or anyone else. We saw bears playing in water which was fun. The rest of the animals were in dirt enclosures and listless (it was a warm day). The Portage Valley Glacier area was beautiful but you can visit that on your own - as you can the Conservation Center. Skip this tour or make sure you get one of the guides mentioned by name in the positive reviews.
We thank you for your review and we'll look into and discuss it with the driver. We try to give great tours but please understand that we visit the Wildlife Center to see these beautiful Alaskan Animals and cannot control their dirt enclosures. In addition, as far as the seats in the shuttle I agree that sometimes it can be a little tight when were completly booked. Also, you can rent a vehicle and do anything in Alaska but you booked the tour with us maybe next time a self tour will work best for your family.
This was a great way to see the surrounding Anchorage area. Tim did a great job narrating our tour and was totally flexible in our itinerary. We stopped to see moose by the side of the road, enjoyed a leisurely visit at the Wildlife Sanctuary where he drove us to key exhibits and ensured we saw the highlights. Lovely walk in Portage with awesome glacier views finishing up with a delicious lunch in Girdwood. Hit Beluga point on the way back due to crowds and fog in the morning- and then we got to see dall sheep on the mountain. Wonderful way to spend our last day in Anchorage- the city is much nicer out of downtown.
Our guide Kris made our excursion. We stopped at a couple extra stops on our way to the Portage Glacier. Amazing photo stops. We also had a great group of 12 total. Great 4 1/2 hours in Anchorage
