Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve
Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve
4.5
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One of the best places to view the bald eagle.
Meets animal welfare guidelines
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4.5
283 reviews
Excellent
195
Very good
56
Average
24
Poor
6
Terrible
2
Cruiser209
South Lake Tahoe, CA17 contributions
May 2022
We booked this trip through the company’s website on April 14, 2022 which was a month before our trip. We were confirmed by the company and paid in full. Our friends from Maine booked with us to do this trip. The night before, the company asked us to meet them earlier than originally schedules. We reconfirmed and met them the next working at the agreed time. We were ready to go. The company reps were all confused, had no paperwork and were completely unorganized and overwhelmed. The company had overbooked the guests on the trip and had no clue how many they had and who was supposed to be on the trip. It was a complete amateur operation with panic, lack of communication and major confusion. After numerous phone calls, passenger counts and other BS, we were told that Princess Cruises had overbooked and we would not be allowed on the trip. We did not book through Princess but we were told all the Princess Cruise passengers had to be placed on the trip. Every raft was overbooked . We were there for this day only so they couldn’t and wouldn’t help us. We went back to Princess Cruise and told them what happened and they claim they did not overbook. This company is not to be trusted as it is a complete flight by night operation with no regard for booked guests.
Written May 31, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Betty49
Boston36 contributions
Jul 2022
We took the fast ferry from Skagway to Haines which is about 45 minutes, then a terrible bus ride on a dirt road due to construction, which will be ongoing for a few years. The bus was an old school bus and the ride was another 45 minutes (awful). The jet boat ride down the river was nice, but they advertised the area as an Eagle Preserve and we only saw one Eagle sitting in a tree. This excursion is overpriced in my opinion. The lunch was delicious, a chicken wrap, chips and a brownie.
Written July 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Seaside1128
Sydney, Australia4 contributions
September 2004
Hi, Just found this site and wanted to say I had the best time in Alaska, I'll be back.
I went on the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve tour and had a ball. CP who was the main tour guide was great, informative, energetic, enthusiastic and hillarious. I have attached some photos of him catching a spawning salmon by hand (which bit him), whilst his raft kept floating down stream. I have never laughed so hard in my life, I nearly fell out of the raft I was in.
John (Texan tour guide) that I had was great also. Kept us entertained and on the lookout for all the magnificent wildlife you have there in Alaska, being from Sydney Australia we don't get to see your animals in the wild. It was an experience I'll never forget.
Haines was just such a beautiful place, those views are worth bottling.
Thanks for the laughs and fond memories CP & John, love your work. Drop me a line sometime if you read this
Belinda
Hi, Just found this site and wanted to say I had the best time in Alaska, I'll be back.
I went on the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve tour and had a ball. CP who was the main tour guide was great, informative, energetic, enthusiastic and hillarious. I have attached some photos of him catching a spawning salmon by hand (which bit him), whilst his raft kept floating down stream. I have never laughed so hard in my life, I nearly fell out of the raft I was in.
John (Texan tour guide) that I had was great also. Kept us entertained and on the lookout for all the magnificent wildlife you have there in Alaska, being from Sydney Australia we don't get to see your animals in the wild. It was an experience I'll never forget.
Haines was just such a beautiful place, those views are worth bottling.
Thanks for the laughs and fond memories CP & John, love your work. Drop me a line sometime if you read this
Belinda
Written March 16, 2005
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ColdCorona
Idaho328 contributions
Nov 2014 • Business
The Chilkat valley is an incredible place and scenery regardless of the time of year but, if you want to see the most eagles, you have to come in winter when the salmon are spawning. The 'window' for best viewing depends on both the salmon numbers and weather, specifically the elevation of the river. The lower the river flow, the more salmon are available for the eagles. This window generally runs from November to December but can last longer into late January depending on the year.
The preserve itself has several pull outs for viewing as well as a boardwalk area near the river with a lookout platform. There are two larger parking areas with the first (closest to Haines) having a park service style bathroom (no water). The best area for viewing varies based on where the eagles are feeding as well as the river channel distance from the viewing area. The river channels are braided and change every year so you need to drive the preserve first to get a feel for where the gravel and sand bars are that are closest to viewing shoreline. The eagles locations change throughout the day.
Eagles are scavengers so will eat live or dead salmon as well as steal them from seagulls and other eagles. If you are expecting the eagles to snatch the salmon from the river, it is rare. The highlight of eagle watching is the aerial combat that takes place when incoming eagles attempt to push eating eagles off food. This can range from intindating lower strafing fly-bys to full on attacks with talons out and resulting the the feeding bird being knocked onto the ground or into the water. Occasionally, the defending bird will do a acrobatic maneuver that is basically a backflip and lock talons momentarily with the incoming bird.
If just viewing, bring good binoculars. If there for photography, a good digital zoom will get decent photos since many eagles rest in the trees above the viewing shoreline. For professionals, recommend 500, 600 or 800mm lens as well as a 1.4 or 1.7 telecoverter (depending on what body you are shooting with). In both cases, take plenty of warm gear including pack style insulated boots.
The preserve itself has several pull outs for viewing as well as a boardwalk area near the river with a lookout platform. There are two larger parking areas with the first (closest to Haines) having a park service style bathroom (no water). The best area for viewing varies based on where the eagles are feeding as well as the river channel distance from the viewing area. The river channels are braided and change every year so you need to drive the preserve first to get a feel for where the gravel and sand bars are that are closest to viewing shoreline. The eagles locations change throughout the day.
Eagles are scavengers so will eat live or dead salmon as well as steal them from seagulls and other eagles. If you are expecting the eagles to snatch the salmon from the river, it is rare. The highlight of eagle watching is the aerial combat that takes place when incoming eagles attempt to push eating eagles off food. This can range from intindating lower strafing fly-bys to full on attacks with talons out and resulting the the feeding bird being knocked onto the ground or into the water. Occasionally, the defending bird will do a acrobatic maneuver that is basically a backflip and lock talons momentarily with the incoming bird.
If just viewing, bring good binoculars. If there for photography, a good digital zoom will get decent photos since many eagles rest in the trees above the viewing shoreline. For professionals, recommend 500, 600 or 800mm lens as well as a 1.4 or 1.7 telecoverter (depending on what body you are shooting with). In both cases, take plenty of warm gear including pack style insulated boots.
Written November 27, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AndyLong_FirstLight
Lakewood, Colorado52 contributions
Nov 2015 • Business
Again the preserve lived up to its expectations for the people I had with me on my photo workshop this year. The eagles gathered at 21 mile put on a great show and everyone in my group went home with lots of great eagle photos. Can't wait to come back again next year.
Written November 30, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mike S
Prospect, KY181 contributions
Aug 2012 • Friends
We toured this with friends as part of our Princess cruise. If your tour voucher says "Wildlife Not Guaranteed", assume you will see little or none. We took the ferry from Skagway to Haines and then a bus ride to the tour location. Our bus driver was excellent in providing a review of what it is like to live in the area. Actually, she was the highlight of the trip. The family run business tries to accommodate everyone with blankets and ear/hand protectors for the boat ride. The jet boat goes several miles into the preserve and then turns and comes back to the tour camp for a hot dog roast. We were only to view 3 eagles on our trip, and our guide, Jamie, never stopped the boat on our return trip to see anything. So we were left with about a 1/2 river trip. This was also the only tour we took in our 10 day excursion where the guide directly mentioned a tip and we felt pressured to provide one.
Written August 19, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
carzim59
Milan, Italy269 contributions
Jul 2017 • Family
Booked this tour through Royal Caribbean and paid just over $200 per person. We really enjoyed the rafting, with Evan as our guide. He's clearly skilled at navigating the raft and we felt confident being aboard with him. I think our disappointment was that so much of the day was spent traveling to and from and not so much of our day was spent rafting. Even on the raft, the actual distance you raft is limited because the start to finish isn't too long and the guides are mindful of keeping up with the boats to make sure no boats are left stuck behind. So, while initially gathering at 7:30, you wait for almost an hour while everyone is collected, take a 45 minute ferry, wait some more while people make bathroom stops and then take a bus another 30 minutes. Then you are given boots and life jackets and slowly make your way to the boats...another 20 or 30 minutes. After the rafting a quick lunch is offered and your back on the bus and ferry. So there's a lot of travel time for a limited number of time rafting. We were also hoping to see a bit more wildlife. Eagles were abundant, but that's it...nothing else was around. However, the area is quite stunning and made for some good photographs along the journey. So, all in all, the rafting was pretty good and I'd happily do that again, but since it is such a limited portion of your 6 hours excursion, I'm not sure I'd recommend it to others in the future.
Written July 12, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Splanky
Claymont, DE374 contributions
May 2014 • Couples
We booked an excursion through our cruise, "Eagle Preserve Rafting & Wildlife Quest" and we were glad we did! We understood that this was not the prime season for eagles. However, the fast ferry from Skagway, the folks who met us and narrated on the bus up the river and guided us down the river on rafts were all great! We saw many eagles and nests, fish, many other birds, mountain sheep in the distance and quiet, uninterrupted nature surrounded by snow capped mountains! It was wonderful and relaxing.
Written May 22, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
grizzMaryland
Maryland28 contributions
Nov 2012 • Couples
We went for the festival a few years ago, beautiful snowy days, hundreds of eagles.... an amazing experience. Check out the photos on their facebook site... beautiful
Written January 23, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeff T
Doha, Qatar520 contributions
Jun 2012 • Family
We went with our young kids and they enjoyed the float trip as much as seeing the eagles. We had excellent weather. The tour guides were fun and helpful and the photos were wonderful. Bring a telephoto or you may find you have some pretty hard to explain shots of mountains with little white specks for eagles. A relaxing way to float down a river, see some wildlife and hear about the area on the way up and back. Perfect for kids.
Written September 24, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We booked our cruise for May since we are from Texas and would like a cool location. LOL Will we see eagles in May? First week in May. Thanks.
Written April 10, 2022
Were the pictures posted by Vacation622652 all from this tour such as the bears, etc.?
Written July 14, 2019
Hi there
We will be there late August 2019 on a cruise excursion. I've been advised not to do the float trip as there won't be many eagles around int he preserve at that time. Would really appreciate your advice as I'll have my 75 year old Mum with me and won't want to put her through any unnecessary activity like a 4 hour boat or raft trip if that if not a good time to go, so we can choose another activity. Thanks so much and hope you don't mind the question!
Written December 16, 2018
As other have said it is a nice ride but you won’t see many eagles. We had a much better time doing an excursion through a 3rd party. We were in Skagway 2 days and took the ferry to Haines both days. Once to do this trip and once to do a trip to the Chilkoot river to see bears. The bear trip was a hundred times better and we saw eagles then as well. The river trip although comfortable was very cold. We were there in late August as well. The excursion was called wildlife safari and bear viewing. The salmon are running on the chilkoot in late August.
Written December 17, 2018
Do the tours with rafts or river hard bottom boats offer any significant differences? We are trying to decide which one to go on in August. TIA
Written July 17, 2018
I am not aware of any hard bottom boat tours offered on this tour. Our rafts were 18ft long and almost new. You sit on the side of the raft as the tour guide paddles. There is no white water. It was a very comfortable ride for us in our 70s. Have fun!
Written July 20, 2018
Please let me know the tour company that provided this tour.
Also, did you book it through a cruise ship co or, through a land tour operator, or with someone else?
Thanks,
Ken
Written September 17, 2016
I went with Rainbow Glacier Adventures. Did all their available tours and they're all amazing. If you want to see bears, go on their bear viewing tour!
Written December 19, 2018
Are eagles seen in late July? What else could you see on this trip at that time of year?
Written July 3, 2016
There will be some eagles in the area in July but the massive gathering of 4000+ is in late fall. Seeing the eagles from the water on a boat makes some sense but I have seen large numbers of eagles from pullouts along the highway.
Written July 5, 2016
Hi
We were there about midday early September 2015 and there was no problems seeing eagles. As the guide said, if you see a golfball in a tree in the distance, it's an eagle!
Written August 7, 2016
A Tripadvisor member
Conroe, Texas
My wife it's planning a photography tour in November. It's there any fly fishing for salmon at this time, or is there a better time?
Can you recommend a guide service that could answer more detailed questions on fly fishing in and around Haines.
Thank you.
Written June 4, 2016
If you take a look at Ed's reply I can't do better than that, in fact coming from Australia, I have no idea about whats happening up there.
Geoff
Written June 5, 2016
Kelly S
Quitman, Arkansas
Eagles in May?
I have a nice DSLR, how much do I have to worry about getting it wet. Avery curious.
Written April 12, 2016
There are eagles in May but not very many. The best way to get close enough for a photo is to go on a rafting trip. The eagles don't seem to mind the rafts as much as a person on foot. These are float trips so DSLR's are fine as long as you don't drop it overboard. A 200 mm lens with image stabilization would be best for shooting from a moving target.
Written April 12, 2016
This is the wrong review. This is the review for the American Bald Eagle Musuem in the actual town of Haines, Alaska. Tripadvisor was notified.
Written August 26, 2015
Both answers are correct. There is a lovely museum, but the real event is on the river in the fall when the is a warm upwelling of water that allows the birds to fish in the winter.
Written August 27, 2015
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