Your journey begins as your bush plane takes off from Anchorage. You’ll cross Cook Inlet and fly West up the Susitna Valley with amazing views of Sleeping Lady (Mount Susitna) and if the weather allows you will have a stunning view of Mountain McKinley (Denali, North America’s tallest mountain). Glaciers and wildlife are also regularly seen on your flight tour into the Alaska Mountain Range. After about an hour you will land at Alaska’s oldest recreation lodge, Rainy Pass Lodge which was established in 1937 while Alaska was still a Territory.
Rainy Pass Lodge is located on Puntilla Lake in Ptarmigan Valley, a 3-5 mile wide glacial valley with mountains in every direction. The lodge is right at the top of the tree line so you can experience a good mix of forest vegetation and open tundra for amazing scenery views.
The lodge is your well-appointed yet rustic-comfort base camp for all wilderness activities. You will be very comfortable and pleasantly surprised with first-class service throughout your stay. All activities and excursions are fully guided by a highly trained and knowledgeable Alaskan bush guide to provide you with top-notch service, a memorable trip, and added safety during your wilderness expedition.
Each morning awake to our freshly brewed custom-labeled Rainy Pass Coffee and enjoy a full breakfast prepared by our chef.
For lunch, you may enjoy an in-lodge exquisite specialty sandwich or a packed picnic lunch for out-lodge day activities.
In the late afternoon each day, you may enjoy some tasty appetizers and try our specialty drink of the day (alcohol and non-alcohol versions available).
Each evening you will enjoy an exquisite dinner from our chef, complimented with wine if you would like, and finished off with a specialty dessert from our bakery chef.
Complete each evening however you would prefer; maybe a peaceful canoe ride around the lake, roasting marshmallows by our evening campfire, or sipping wine and listening to the loons call.
Not included in your trip: Hotel stays in Anchorage, personal liquor, fishing license, and gratuity. We will be happy to help you with any of those arrangements to make your trip more of an all-inclusive, hassle-free experience.
Start planning your trip! Current weeks we are booking for 2025, 2026 & 2027:
2025
July 14th – 19th
July 21st – 26th
2026
July 20th – 25th
July 27th – Aug. 1st
2027
July 19th – 24th
July 26th – 31st
Your one hour scenic flight tour into the Alaska Mountain Range usually departs Anchorage around 10am. Upon landing you will be greeted by your friendly Alaskan bush guides and enjoy some refreshments and a light snack while they do a brief orientation and safety speech.
Next you will get a personal tour of the property and meet your already saddled horse. We’ll adjust your stirrups and ride out on one of our trails. Either a ride to see the historic log cabin and cache remains from the original trapper who settled in the area in the early 1900’s, or a ride through the 50 acre wildfire burn of 2019, along the Happy River ridge and by the fox den to see if the pups are out playing.
Late afternoon you may head over to tour our on-site historical museum tour. Buckey’s log home is filled with museum-quality artifacts and relics from around the world with an emphasis on antique firearms and Alaskan culture.
Begin the day with lodge activities. Then you may join your guide on a hike up ‘Monument Hill’. You will begin by boating across Puntilla Lake where you will find the trail head at which point you will hike from horse trail to caribou trail and make your way up the roughly 1000’ hill to the monument pile where you will add a rock to keep the monument growing. The top of ‘Monument Hill’ provides one of the best views to capture the Alaska Mountain Range, Ptarmigan Valley, Puntilla Lake, Rainy Pass Lodge and the Hanging Glacier all in one epic shot. Those who have enjoyed enough hiking for one day may return to the lodge and those who want more may extend their hike up the mountain to ‘Upper Monument’.
Saddle up and ride out towards ‘Look Out’ Hill. Once you are at the top of the 600’ hill you will enjoy a well prepared picnic lunch while you take in the amazing vista of ‘Ptarmigan valley’ and maybe even enjoy some wildlife viewing. After lunch you will ride down the back side of ‘Look Out’ Hill and cross Indian Creek then ride along the Iditarod Trail for some very scenic photography next to the Iditarod Trail log tri-pod markers in the middle of Ptarmigan Valley. Then after lunch take off on a helicopter ride for some amazing wildlife viewing and land on one of Alaska’s 10,000 glaciers! You will never get this close on a cruise ship!
Hop in for a helicopter ride to Rainy Pass Lake cabin, the highest spot on the famous Iditarod Trail. Grill out and stay overnight in an even more remote wilderness log cabin. In the morning, fish for Arctic Char and hike along the historic Iditarod Trail where you can see the Rainy Pass sign at the height of the land. A favorite photography location of many amateur and professional photographers.
Helicopter excursions and flight seeing tours to our camps at Moose Creek and Jimmy Lake. Touch down to enjoy some light hikes and finish the day fishing for Grayling and Arctic Char. -OR- A helicopter excursion to Upper Indian Creek or Marsh Strip for a hike into sheep country to photograph ewes and lambs. Then back to the Lodge for a relaxing evening.
There are many activities that visitors can do at the main lodge or near by.
Steve Perrins: (907) 230-6093
Steven H. Perrins II: (907) 717-7556
Lodge: (907) 770-6304
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