EarthSong Lodge - Denali's Natural Retreat

333 reviews

#1 of 12 Specialty Lodging in Healy

Save

Mile 4.0 Stampede Road PO Box 89, Healy, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK 99743-0089

Lowest prices for your stay

Check In— / — / —

Check Out— / — / —

Guests1 room, 2 adults, 0 children

$189

View Deal

$189

View Deal

$189

View Deal

Orbitz.com$189

CheapTickets$189

Tripadvisor$189

View all 8 deals

Prices above are provided by partners for one room, with variable occupancy rules as provided by the property, and do not include all taxes and fees. Please see our partners for full details.

Full view

View all photos (213)213

Traveler (182)

Room & Suite (40)

Dining (6)

About

4.5

Excellent

333 reviews

#1 of 12 Specialty lodging in Healy

Location

Cleanliness

Service

Value

Travelers' Choice

An excellent alternative to the commercial hotel experience, operated by longtime locals who homesteaded in the immediate area. Located above treeline on open tundra with sweeping mountain views, far away from the noise and crowds at the park entrance. 12 log cabins with modern amenities available in five different sizes, affording comfortable accommodations and privacy. Daily morning sled dog kennel tours allow guests to meet the dogs that take winter visitors on expeditions into the park in the snowy season. Evening slide presentations offered by staff naturalist. Coffeehouse open in mornings offering light breakfast items and baked goods, along with full espresso bar and best coffee in the area.

Full view

Property amenities

Free parking

Free internet

Public wifi

Breakfast available

Hiking

Non-smoking hotel

Room types

Non-smoking rooms

See more room details

Good to know

HOTEL CLASS

HOTEL STYLE

Hidden Gem

Great View

333Reviews3Q+A48Room tips

Selected filters

Filter
English

Popular mentions

eLeetComputer wrote a review Dec 2020

Altoona, Pennsylvania5 contributions4 helpful votes

Life changing experience! A Must do!

Clean, quaint, comfy, private and majestic 360°views of the surrounding Tundra. Denali is visible on a clear day. Super Friendly Owners Jon and Karin and Sled Dogs with daily Kennel Tours at 9:30am. Delicious Cinnamon Rolls homemade by Karin! What led me to Earthsong is I had the pleasure of coming to Alaska March, 2020 for the Iditarod and wanted to run some Dogs afterwards. I found Earthsong after some extensive research and saw the great feedback left by other guests. I booked a 4 day dog sled expedition into the Northern Park additions. Mike who is one of Jon's Guides, now retired, is the quintessential Alaskan. We each ran 8 Dog teams a handmade sled and experienced all kinds of different Terrain such as wide open Tundra, Tussocks, Inclines and Declines, River Crossings, Lakes, Spruce and Birch stands. Denali views were breathtaking! You WILL dump the sled. It's gonna happen, it's all part of mushing. Just DON'T LET GO! I wrecked twice and held on tight! No injuries. This trail gives the guest a true Alaskan dog mushing experience unlike some other places that take you into their backyard on flat land and camp a few nights. During our four days, we stayed at 2 differnet cabins. One on Slate Lake and another on the Sushanna. One night on the Sushanna, I decided to take my experience one step further and setup my Bivy and sleep outside with the dogs at -15°! I Slept like a baby and was toasty warm all night! Mike supplied all snacks, beverages and meals. You only need to bring food if you want something extra to snack on, but I found I didn't have to bring anything. Winter gear is also provided if you don't have Winter boots and an oversuit. Mike had more than enough food to last us over a week and cooked some really good meals. The melted snow and ice we drank was some of the best drinking water I ever had. To haul water into the backcountry is unfeasible so don't expect bottled water lol. I also felt 100% safe in the company of Mike even while we encountered several Moose and Herds of Caribou on the trail with deep snow. We experienced close to -30° fahrenheit temperatures the 1st day and never got cold. The entire experience was unlike anything in my life and I've done some pretty intense activities. In fact, I loved this outfit so much that I decided to bring my wife back this summer so we could experience the lodge and the grounds especially during berry season. Our summer stay was just as enjoyable as the dog sled Expedition. We saw tons of wildlife, picked lots of Blueberries and Salmon berries, and saw Denali on one clear morning. The cabins are well furnished, comfy and most importantly CLEAN! Beds were also very comfortable too. There is Sky Kiosk on-site that has a community fridge and various snack fare and Cinnamon Rolls. Coffee is prepared each morning and a single serve maker is available 24/7. The Kiosk was cleaner than an Operating room. One of the best parts of the stay are the daily Kennel tours given at 9:30am. These are some of the nicest, well mannered sled dogs in all of Alaska. We didn't have a chance to visit Henry's coffee shop or experience the slide shows that Jon offers each evening due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions in place. I'm sure we'll do that the next time we come up. We will definitely return in the future! Thanks for the hospitality Jon & Karen! We had a great time and made some great friends!…

Date of stay: March 2020

Value

Service

Room Tip: When you come up for the Summer, book a Winter Dog Sled trip where the REAL Fun begins!

See more room tips

Helpful

alaskantravelnut wrote a review Sep 2020

Anchorage569 contributions262 helpful votes

Good option, away from Glitter Gulch

We stayed two nights in a two-bedroom cabin. Actually, it was more like a one-bedroom with a large bed in the common area. The cabins are clean and comfortable. There are a lot of cabins squeezed into a relatively small space, but there are some common areas and you are surrounded by miles of mostly undeveloped wilderness. It's located about 20 minutes north of the park, so a car is a necessity. There are good restaurants in nearby Healy that offer dine-in and take-out. They have a free dog-sled demonstration that we did not observe, because we are familiar with that scene. Staff were helpful and efficient communicators in arranging our stay. There are two suggestions that we would offer: 1) there was no apparent place to put trash that doesn't fit in the small trash can inside the cabin (this would have been helpful during the time of Covid, when visitors were bringing take-out back to the cabins); 2) the common area that serves coffee in the morning appeared to open around 8:00 a.m....an earlier start would be helpful. In short, a comfortable, reasonably-priced place to stay, especially if you want to avoid the scene closer to the park entrance. …

Date of stay: September 2020

Helpful

Response from Jon Nierenberg, Owner at EarthSong Lodge - Denali's Natural Retreat

Responded Sep 28, 2020

Thanks to alaskatravelnut for the review. By the description I think the group stayed in a two-room cabin, rather than a larger two-bedroom cabin. Difference is the two-bedroom cabin does have two separate bedrooms with a living room, and is the choice we recommend for couples traveling together and families that want a bit more space. The recommendation about trash is a good one, we should at least had more outside containers for guests. Our kiosk is open all the time for guest access. There is always a coffeemaker available. When staff was on, the commercial coffeemaker (that is usually in our coffeehouse, which was closed this summer due to COVID) was turned on. The time for that varied between 5:00 and 8:30am. The COVID crisis caused us to not only modify our operation but also make due with less staff, and for those inconveniences we do apologize to our guests. We all do hope that next summer will be much smoother, and while we likely won't be back 100% to our old operation, we will be happy to be mostly there. We do miss interacting socially with our visitors from all over!

rakhi t wrote a review Aug 2020

1 contribution

great place

I really loved staying here! we stayed in one of the 2 bedroom cabins which were so cute and clean. We got to spend some time with the sled dogs which my kids just loved. the owner is just a nice human being. it is about 20 minutes from the entrance to Denali National Park. i would highly recommend this place.

Date of stay: July 2020

Location

Cleanliness

Service

Helpful

Dana wrote a review Aug 2020

14 contributions1 helpful vote

Hideaway and worth it

We stayed 2 nights. It’s well off the highway but worth it. The teens loved it. Cabins are made with love. We were sad the coffee house and activities were closed, but they did a nice job overall. Best part was hanging with the huskies, Courtney is wonderful. Would have like a spot to grill some food. And a fire pit to hang out at night and keep warm. But we managed. Would def go again (and do a sled day with the dogs). Well be back.

Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Traveled with family

Helpful

Michael K wrote a review Aug 2020

Wilmington, North Carolina28 contributions6 helpful votes

Great stay outside the park

Cabin had everything you could want including a great view! You even get to go visit with the sled dogs while you are there which was a great experience. It is right down the road from the 49th State Brewery and a really good Thai food truck. It is about 20min from the park entrance and I can imagine during a busier/non-COVID time staying a bit further away from the park entrance is exactly what you would want. When we hopefully make a trip back to Alaska this will be at the top of our list again when we visit the Denali area

Date of stay: August 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple

1 Helpful vote

Helpful

PreviousNext