Hi there!
One of the most epic so-very-Alaska shore excursions you can do when you are in Skagway is dog sledding on SNOW!
It’s important to emphasize the SNOW part, because there are also dog sledding tours in the summer that are not on snow.
I am sure doing a dog sledding tour without snow will still be memorable, but for the ultimate Alaska dog sledding experience, you need to do a dog sledding tour on snow!
And yes, you can do dog sledding from Skagway on snow even in the summer!
Dog sledding on snow in the summer means that you need to go up high in elevation to get to the snow.
And that means that you will be taking a helicopter to get there!
So you’ll also get the epic Alaska experience of seeing the mountains from the sky.
And you also get a helicopter landing on a glacier, because the dog sledding camp is set up on a snow-covered glacier!
The exact dates can change depending on weather of the year, but generally you can do glacier dog sledding from mid-May to early August.
Below I will show you a timeline of the dog sledding tour I did in Skagway!
Skagway is one of the best cruise ports to do a dog sledding tour in Alaska.
The best cruise ports for dog sledding in Alaska are Skagway and Juneau.
So if you already have plans in Skagway because the famous White Pass Railway is taking up your time, then you can also do a glacier dog sledding tour in Juneau!
I did a dog sledding tour in Skagway.
It was perfect!
👆 Dog sledding tour in Skagway: You can do a dog sledding tour from Skagway cruise port on the snow in the summer!
👆 Skagway helicopter tour with a glacier landing at a sled dog camp: Dog sledding on snow as a Skagway cruise port tour means that a helicopter tour with glacier landing is included!
👆 Skagway sled dog tour: You will be helping sled dogs with their training by doing a dog sledding tour when you are in Skagway cruise port!
👆 You can either sit or stand as you let the dogs pull you on the sled!
And, if you have seen the movie Call of the Wild that’s a little bit about dog sledding in Alaska, then you may remember Skagway.
It’s one of the main Alaska towns mentioned in the movie!
So then of course this makes Skagway an even more perfect cruise port to do a dog sledding tour!
And if you haven’t seen the movie, look for it on your stateroom TV when you are on your Alaska cruise on a Princess cruise ship!
It was available to watch on TV!
All the movies and shows on your TV are free. (And there are a lot!)
Your cruise might also offer Call of the Wild as one of the Movies Under the Stars too, which means you can watch this Alaska movie out on the open deck.
More dog sledding related things to do during your Princess cruise to Alaska: Princess offers a number of Alaska-specific onboard cruise activities, including about dog sledding! In the Princess activities schedule (either on the Princess app or the paper version called the Princess Patter), look for “Libby Riddles” and “puppies in the piazza.” Libby Riddles was the first woman to win the 1,000 mile iditarod dog sledding race, and she goes on cruise ships for a live speaker session about her experience training sled dogs. Puppies in the piazza is when puppies come onboard the cruise ship and you can cuddle with sled dogs in training. The exposure to lots of strangers is part of their training to become the best sled dogs!
Book your Skagway dog sledding tour directly or book through the cruise ship?
I looked at the Temsco website and there were no dog sledding tours offered and/or available for the day I would be in Skagway cruise port.
So basically, I didn’t even have a chance to think about booking direct.
There were still spots available for the Skagway dog sledding excursion through Princess, so I booked my dog sledding tour through Princess.
As a solo cruiser, in this case I think it’s better to book through the cruise ship anyway, because that way I know the helicopter tour won’t get canceled because of low numbers.
I actually originally had booked a Juneau dog sledding tour independently but decided to cancel that. It showed the availability, and with just a few weeks to go, it still was showing that I was the only one signed up for the timing I selected. I wanted to finalize the excursions I’d be doing during my Alaska cruise and I didn’t want to be worried about it getting canceled due to low numbers, so I just canceled it myself. That turned out to be good anyway, because it gave me the chance to do the Mendenhall Lake canoe tour that came with a small hike to get closer to the Mendenhall Glacier!
I did a Misty Fjords National Monument seaplane tour in Ketchikan booked independently and it wasn’t possible to book it as a solo traveler. A fellow solo cruiser was looking for an additional person, so I booked it with her to be able to do it.
More below about my dog sledding helicopter tour from Skagway!
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How long is the dog sledding tour in Skagway?
The dog sledding tour in Skagway is around 2 hours long. You’ll also want to plan for extra time before and after, maybe 15 minutes or so. So you can think of a Skagway dog sledding tour as 2.5 hours long.
Dog sledding tour from Skagway cruise port
I did a dog sledding tour in Skagway in May 2023 booked through Princess. Your experience may vary!
Times listed below are approximate, based on the time stamp on my pictures!
The Skagway dog sledding tour timeline! 👇
4:45pm: helicopter safety video
Since I did the Yakutania Point hike right before the dog sledding tour, I just went straight to the Temsco helicopter base.
The helicopter base was closer than going all the way back to the cruise port for the Princess excursion meeting spot.
Because I was already there, I watched the safety video at Temsco.
If you booked an excursion through the cruise ship, you’ll get a free ride to the Temsco base. On the shuttle ride over to Temsco, you’ll watch a safety video.
Once the group arrived at Temsco from the cruise port, we put on boots and helicopter safety gear.
The boots are provided, and go over your shoes.
The helicopter safety gear is a pouch with a life jacket that is tied around your waist. You’ll wear this during the whole tour.
If you brought a bag, there’s a luggage storage area. You aren’t allowed to take any bags on the helicopter with you.
5:15pm: get on the helicopter and take off!
Then, it’s time to get on the helicopter!
You won’t be able to choose your helicopter seat.
Helicopter seats are assigned based on weight distribution.
You will be weighed in once you arrive at the Temsco base.
There were 4 people plus the pilot on the helicopter. 3 in the back, 1 up front next to the pilot.
My assigned seat was the back row on the left side.
Enjoy the helicopter flight from Skagway!!!
You’ll see the cruise port as you are flying away!
And then… come the real views of Alaska!!!
5:32pm: The dog sledding camp on Denver Glacier comes into view!
Helicopter landing on Denver Glacier! Take your first steps on an Alaska glacier!
The helicopter does a landing on a glacier and you will be dropped off at the sled dog camp.
You will immediately see (and hear!) all the dogs, and you’ll see the tents that the mushers sleep in too.
They stay overnight with the dogs on the glacier!
Introduction to the sled dogs who will be taking you for a ride… and the musher!
You’ll be divided up into groups to go with a dog sledding team.
I was paired up with another solo traveler, and it turned out to be just the 2 of us that made up our group.
We then met our musher (aka sled dog trainer aka Matt from Cleveland) who then took us to meet his dogs.
We were given a little bit of time to make personal introductions to them. (aka you could go and pet and talk to each of the dogs on your own)
👆 Skagway dog sledding tour: Meet a musher and his sled dogs and be a part of their training!
5:52pm: The sled dogs start their training! (aka they start pulling YOU to go dog sledding on the glacier!)
You can have the chance to stand at the back of the sled (one person) or sit in the sled!
I started off at the back of the sled. (We switched off later.)
Enjoy dog sledding on a glacier!!!
5:56pm: First break.
You can get off the sled and walk around a little.
5:59pm: More sledding on a glacier!
6:01pm: Another break.
6:06pm: More sledding on a glacier!
This part was a bit downhill, and the co-musher (aka YOU?!) are given instructions on how to be a musher going downhill!
I was sitting in the front of the sled for this part, so this was not me on this part.
It seemed to be a pretty active position! Basically you needed to “tap the breaks” a bit.
6:13pm: Arrive back at camp!
6:35pm: Get back on the helicopter to go back to Skagway cruise port!
👆 Spot the helicopter arriving from Skagway about to make a glacier landing! Hint: look above the orange cones on the glacier!
Enjoy the flight back to Skagway!
👆 Spot the cruise ships at Skagway cruise port from the helicopter!
6:45pm: Arrive back at the Temsco helicopter base!
7:00pm: Arrive back at Skagway cruise port
There was a free shuttle back to the cruise port.
Or rather, the spot to get a water shuttle to get back to the cruise ship since the cruise ship was docked at a spot that required a water shuttle. Not all cruise ships will need a shuttle in Skagway cruise port.
And finally…
Your dog sledding tour might get canceled due to weather.
Weather can change quickly in Alaska.
This means that so can helicopter flying conditions.
And a weather-related cancellation may not be made until very close to your tour time.
According to Temsco:
Unfortunately, the weather in Alaska does not always cooperate and there are times when we are unable to fly.
If we are unable to fly a tour due to weather, our guests will receive a full refund.
In most cases, we will not make the decision to cancel a tour until within an hour of departure, as the weather can quickly change and we do not want to preemptively cancel a tour if it is at all possible it will run.
If we need to cancel due to weather or any unforeseen circumstance, you’ll receive a 100% refund.
Plan for an alternate to dog sledding
Because it’s possible that your dog sledding excursion can be canceled, it’s best to know what you want to do in case that does happen.
Of course you want to hope for the best and that it doesn’t get canceled.
But unfortunately, it is a real possibility that it does get canceled.
And knowing this is step 1 in not being AS upset when it does get canceled.
It’s about managing your expectations!
So in the case that your dog sledding excursion get canceled, which is an already upsetting situation, you don’t want to get further upset because you don’t know what to do.
You might end up just doing nothing because you don’t know what to do, and then you’ll end your day even more upset feeling like you’ve wasted a day in Alaska.
If your dog sledding excursion gets canceled, you might be offered alternate excursions.
But in case you are not, also research things to do in Skagway on your own, just in case!
And that’s a bit about what a dog sledding tour from Skagway might be like!
I did a Skagway dog sledding tour as a Princess shore excursion during my Alaska cruise on May 17, 2023. Your experience may vary!
HAPPY GLACIER DOG SLEDDING FROM SKAGWAY!
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