Alaska Railroad Goldstar Service
What your family should expect—and what you shouldn't miss—on board and off
From $132 for ages 12 and up, and from $66 for kids 2 to 11, for each leg of the trip (children under 2 ride free); akrr.com
The Itinerary
The Denali Star runs daily in both directions between Fairbanks and Anchorage, leaving just after 8 a.m. and arriving at 8 p.m. Along the way, it stops at Denali, a 6-million-acre national park in which you can spend as many days as you like before hopping back on board. There are no overnight trips on this route; instead, you sleep in hotels at each stop where you choose to spend time.
Getting there
Fly to Fairbanks International Airport; Alaska Airlines offers flights from most major cities, with a change in Seattle. Return home from Anchorage International Airport. (You can also do the trip in reverse.)
When to visit
Mid-May to mid-September: GoldStar service operates only in these months, when the region gets between 14 and 22 hours of daylight a day. Temperatures are between 50 and 80 degrees—colder on the mountains in Denali—so be prepared to layer.
The train
Details: Your GoldStar ticket gives you seats on the second story of a glass-domed car and access to the rear open-air deck and the first-floor dining room. Beverages are delivered right to your seat by the bartender.
Seating: The reclining seats are pre-assigned, and can often be arranged to create a section for a party of four.
Food: The wood-paneled dining room serves hearty breakfasts (scrambled eggs and reindeer sausage) and good lunch and dinner options (sautéed trout, wild-game stew), all of a quality that puts that bag of Ruffles on the Acela club car to shame. Most menu items cost between $11 and $24.
Scenery: Each bend brings a new vista to marvel at: snowy mountains mirrored in glassy lakes; steel-girder bridges that seem exactly the structures a train "should" be crossing; sweeping curves that offer kids a view of the cars unfolding behind.
Wildlife Along the Way: On the train and in Denali, tell kids to keep their eyes peeled for the "big five": moose, caribou, Dall sheep, wolves, and bears. Give them bonus points for spotting smaller snowshoe hares.
Next Page: The stopovers, including restaurant and activity suggestions
