Came here to visit the area with my wife. This was one of the last areas we visited. We didn't see…read moreany bears, haha. It's a great walk around the area. There's a walk around the lake, and various places to birdwatch.

Great free place to walk around! Watch for mosquitoes though. Plenty of birds to see. I loved the…read moretrails and the fresh air.

Being from Tucson Arizona this was an amazing experience! The trail rested on a wooden walkway so…read morehiking was relatively easy. This area was recommended to us for wild blueberry picking and it didn't disappoint. The trails were packed with blueberries as far as the eye could see. The views were spectacular and I even caught a salmon in the Chena River with a small telescopic fishing pole I bought from Amazon.

The cabin was very dirty. The lady at the front desk was…read morevery rude. We checked out earlier than we planned.

BEST experience EVER!!! Shannon was our guide and she was very knowledgeable,personable and just…read moremade this a very special experience! Would love to do this again. They also do a night tour which I can imagine how magical that would be.

Wonderful outdoor retreat, snow shoeing in the woods. Shannon and Evan are so passionate about the…read moregreat outdoors and could not have been nicer people to talk to and learn from. A surprise tea break among the powdered snow covered forest was a beautiful treat.

My friend and I had an incredible time with Grace! She made sure we were comfortable and safe…read morethroughout the hike to Castner Glacier! We even got to see some wildlife!! Overall, it was an unforgettable experience. I highly recommend booking a tour with this company.

They cancelled my trip without notifying me. I was waiting at the hotel and could not hold anyone.read more

My husband and I had the best time ice fishing with our guide, Tyson!…read more He picked us up right on time from our hotel in Fairbanks and got everything set up for fishing. The equipment was easy to use and everyone caught plenty of fish. I thought it was a really cool experience that we were able to eat the fish we caught right after it came out of the water. Tyson made a delicious meal for everyone and we all had some great conversations too! We will be talking about this one for years!

Greg was our guide down the Chena River. He was knowledgeable, professional and personable. We saw…read morebeaver homes, moose scat and footprints, an Eagle, and a momma Merganser with her babies. The water was crystal clear. Greg provided us with several opportunities to get out on small islands and study prints in the mud as well as talk about plant life. It was a wonderful day and we appreciate Greg's gentle manner and willingness to share local information.

Strongly not recommend this place…read more In general, Not like other place in the US, Alaska is not safe due to the lacking of police. I am so surprised to see Dan's review about the threaten from the host and started to feel lucky for not confronting with the host about his rudeness and racism. Here is my story: We stayed 3 nights at this place. The 2nd day, we went a north arctic tour, which was booked before we get to Alaska as we always plan things ahead. The tour guide drove his van to pick us up at the ranch. When the van arrived the ranch, there are some people already in the car who also joined the same tour. These tourists want to use bathroom so they just went inside the main log cabin. My friends and I then step into the van and leave the side door open when waiting for these tourists. The male host seems not happy about other people use his bathroom. He come to our van and ask the tour guide:"do you see a sign of public bathroom?" "Then why are you parking here?" We are not interested with the conversation between the host and tour guide until the host changed his angry target. At the end of their conversation, the host turned his head and look at me straight at my eyes and said:"I respect every culture, but Chineses made a bad name of it." Then he left and leaving me and my friends in the shock of feeling insulted and trying to understand what's happened between the tour guide and the host. He ruined our mood for that whole day. 1. It is the other tourists used his public bathroom without noticing him. We were simply stay in the van and waiting for them. We were tenanted in the place. Should had every right to use the bathroom. 2. We don't know other tourists. From what I see and hear, some of them are not Chinese. They just have a Asian face. 3. The host didn't ask whether we are Chinese or not and made his supercilious assumption that we are all Chinese. 4. He expanded his angry to other Asian tourists to us, who paid and followed every rules. 5. There is no sigh or notice saying people cannot use the public bathroom in the hallway. 6. We didn't say anything when the host is talking to the tour guide. 7. We had not had any conversations with other tourists at that time. After reading reviews in Yelp. I found that all Chinese have terrible experience in this place. Plus by our experience, the host's supercilious attitude towards Asians made me believe he is racist even when he himself is an Asian. Besides the treatment we got, the place itself is bad. It should be renamed as a hostel since none of the rooms have bathroom. The shower is small and spectated by waterproof cloth. At night it is noisy...... it is the worst experience in a hostel in my life.

I don't know who the owner is or if it was he that approached us a couple days ago but there seems…read moreto be some kind of mental instability going on with him. We (4 60+ seniors) were watching the Northern Lights, parked at the public school a mile or so from the ranch and this guy drives up and tells us we have to leave and recommends a place to go. The place he recommends is a pullout along the main highway so we head back toward the school but find a little pond so pull over to view the lights. This guy comes out and harasses us telling us that we were illegally parked on a public road and points a strong flashlight in our faces and tells us "you people from the lower 48 should just go home and stay there". When one of us shined a light in his face, he reached for his hip - as in where a gun holster would be. He says if you take another step, you'll be on my property and you'll be sorry. We never actually saw a gun but he was acting pretty bold walking our to a car full of people at 2:00 in the morning. We notified the state troopers and they said they were going to investigate but haven't heard of any resolution. The thing is that while this guy may be making nice with whoever pays to stay at his place, he actually despises those of us in "the lower 48" in a seemingly mentally unbalanced way. Just a heads up to those considering staying at Chandalar.

We went on the Northern Lights excursion. Jason, the owner…read morepicked us up in the van right on time. It was about a 30-40 minute drive. I'd rented a camera from him with the proper settings preset. He also helped anyone who needed their camera phones adjusted. They provided tripods for free. Jason, and his wife Heather have a great set up. Big cabin for warmth. Lots of beverages, snacks, seating. Indoor plumbing. They have modern technology for tracking the northern lights. They told us when to head out. They have a huge, dark field for viewing. We watched a great Northern Lights show. We also saw a lot of stars and constellations. I'd definitely book with them again.

If there were half stars I'd give the experience a 2.5- because the actual dog sledding portion…read more(all 20 minutes of it) was 5 star fantastic, but the getting there and getting back was a one star. Let me explain: Pick up was at Walmart because we stayed in a VRBO. There wasn't very clear communication ahead of time as to exactly where at Walmart and what vehicle I was looking for- tho I was able to reach someone on their business number after I arrived in the parking lot. A large passenger van picked my son and I up, the driver was very young and pleasant looking but literally said nothing but "hello", not even his name. There was one other couple in the van. Here's the weird part- the driver gave us ZERO communication on anything. Not how far we were going, or where, or some background on dog mushing, or pleasant conversation. I asked maybe 2 questions and he answered them but it was clear he wasn't going to offer anything further. The van was so uncomfortably silent I felt like I had to whisper to my son. After about a 35min drive "out of town" I guess I expected to arrive at some kind of professional kennel/facility but it was actually someone's house with dog kennels out back. Again, we piled out of the van, I was holding my purse and my son had a backpack (do I take them? Are there lockers? Do I leave them in the van? Who knows...) and our driver just walked off, giving no instructions. We decided to follow him. I asked if I could use the restroom before we started and he waved me in the general direction of an outhouse in the woods (which I never found- I just took care of business in the trees, clutching my nuisance of a purse). There was a team of dogs already hooked up, and he told the other couple "you're first" and loaded them on the sled with the owner/musher named Amy (we didn't know any of this til my son and I actually got our "turn" because again, ZERO conversation or communication). I guess I expected that if there were other people we would be on separate sleds but all go out together? Nope. Other couple took off with musher. So here we are, standing in the middle of the dog yard with significant dog kennel odors and yelping dogs and van driver than won't say a word and wondering what the hell is going on. I'm still wondering what to do with my purse, as it's obvious this is no place to be carrying it and there's no where to put it. I asked the driver if I could put it back in the van, and he said, "I guess I can take it for you, they'll be back any minute". (Again, I'm confused... they've only been gone 10-15 minutes... is that how long the "experience" is?) Sure enough, they returned a few minutes later. So my son and I load up. Here is where the 5* part comes in. Amy (owner of kennel/dogs/professional musher) quickly introduced herself with a smile and warm welcome. We took off into the woods on a well groomed trail, and she talked the whole time about her dogs, the breed of Alaskan Husky, the sport, her experiences, and more. It was thrilling and fun and interesting to hear her point of view and expertise! Tho the time on the sled was only 20 minutes or so, my son and I both really enjoyed every moment. In short- If you're looking for a full-service 5* adventure, this isn't it.