Homestead Cabin Trips
Want to get out of town and experience a real Alaskan homestead? We offer customized vacations at our home on a bluff overlooking the Tanana River. These trips give you an authentic Alaskan experience that you will can't find in town. We take only private parties of 1-4 people at a time, and when you're here we cater to exactly what you want to do to make your Alaska dreams come true.
Spend your days mushing a dog team down the river, snowshoeing on a sunny bluff, ice fishing for Burbot, carving a wooden spoon, and enjoying the sunset by an open fire. Take a break from hotel rooms and savor the warmth of a woodstove and the rustic luxury of your very own hand made log cabin. Enjoy home cooked Alaskan food and, if you're lucky, see the after dinner show: the Aurora Borealis dancing in a clear night sky.
THE DETAILS
LOCATION: Saskatoon Bluff homestead on the Tanana River, south of Fairbanks, Alaska.
ACTIVITIES: Dog Mushing, northern lights viewing, snowshoeing, ice fishing, sledding, crafting, wilderness skills, snowmachine rides, tracking and more!
ACCOMMODATION: Private handmade cabins.
DURATION: 2-7 days.
CAPACITY: 1-4 people, family friendly, ages 10+
START AND END LOCATION: Fairbanks, AK.
AVAILABLE: December 10-March 25.
COST: 2 people sharing one cabin: $1500/day
2 people in separate cabins: $1750/day
1 person: $900/day
3-4 people in 2 separate cabins: $2500/day
Minimum trip length of one night counts as 2 full days, and lasts from about 9am on first day to 6pm on second day.
Food, lodging, guided activities and instruction, winter gear, transportation included.
The Sun lodge cabin where our guests stay is a great place to observe a starry night sky.
BOOK NOW: The first step is to fill out the form below or e-mail us at alaskahomesteadadventures@gmail.com. If you don’t hear back within 48 hours, please check your spam folder or try calling. Once you have confirmed with us that this is a good fit for your party and picked out dates, you can use the Paypal button below to complete your reservation by paying a $500 down payment. This is fully refundable (minus $100 booking fee) if you cancel at least four months before your trip's start date. You can pay the remainder by check or cash when we meet you for your trip.
To reserve your trip use this button:
A Typical Itinerary:
We tailor each trip to your individual preferences and work within the bounds of what the weather and trail conditions allow. Here is a sample itinerary to give you an idea of what a trip might look like:
Day 1
9- We'll arrange for you to be picked up from your lodging in Fairbanks. The drive is about one hour and takes you past impressive views of the Tanana River Valley and Alaska Range. We’ll meet you at the trailhead with a snowmachine and sled with plenty of room for your belongings. Put on an extra layer and hop aboard the sled for a scenic trip in the fresh air. Depending on the conditions and your desires, we have a number of trails we can take but usually it takes about an hour to make the final leg of the journey to our homestead.
11-1- Arrive at the homestead. Get settled in your cabin and we'll give you a tour and some hot lunch.
1-4- Dogsledding 101. Meet our family of friendly, fuzzy Alaska Huskies and see what they can do! We’ll cover the basics of mushing safety and dog care and show you how to drive the sleds. We have lots of options for trails to explore on the river, lakes, bog, and beautiful Boreal forest. This is your trip, so we can stop where needed, take pictures, and rest the dogs when they need a break.
4-5- If ice fishing is on your “to do” list we try to get a set in the first night. Walk or snowmachine along the frozen river to an eddy and learn how to chop a hole through the ice and put in a Burbot set. If you’re more into recreation we can do a snowshoe tutorial. We’ll fit snowshoes to your feet, tell you about different types and techniques and let you practice. We can go on a snowshoe hike and explore scenic overlooks and winding trails. Get comfortable on snowshoes and you can go anywhere!
5-7- Relaxation time on your own. Drink a glass of wine or cocoa. Play games in the cabin, dry your clothing, get settled in.
7-8:00-Walk over to David and Jenna’s cabin for a candlelight dinner. We're happy to accommodate special diets and requests, just be sure to let us know in our intake form. We serve all home cooked food and feature local Alaskan foods.
10pm-2am- This is the best time to check for the Northern Lights. If the skies are clear and the forecast is good, we can make you a bonfire to sit and enjoy them by. If it is cold, most guests choose to hang out in their cabin and check periodically for the lights from their front yard. We have multiple viewing points for this ephemeral show but the best is to walk down to the river for the REALLY big view.
Day 2
9- Hot breakfast in David and Jenna’s cabin.
10-1- Explore the valley with a day trip by snowshoe or dogsled. We’ll catch up on what has been going on in the country by examining animal tracks, river ice conditions, etc. Places we can visit include river bluffs, tributaries, overlooks, beaver lodges and more. If you feel like relaxing by the fire, we can get you started on a crafting project like making a wooden spoon, woven birch bark ornament, or birch bark box.
1-2- Hot lunch in our cabin, warm up and relax!
2-5- More time to explore by dogsled, ice fish, snowshoe or ski or settle in to homestead life with some camp chores- splitting wood, chopping a hole in the ice to get water, feeding and petting dogs.
5-7- Relax and enjoy the long sunset from your cozy cabin. Read a book by your woodstove, enjoy a good conversation, or nap!
7-8- Dinner and dessert.
9-? More northern lights! Or maybe just a really good night of rest in the deep quiet of a wilderness cabin. We also have a candlelit luminary walk for an after-dessert treat.
Day 3
9- Breakfast, something hot out of our wood cookstove.
10-1- One last dogsled trip! Hone your skills, try a more challenging trail, or relax on a scenic one.
1-2- Lunch, pack up your gear.
2-4- Time for one last activity- we recommend the scenic hike or snowshoe up to Amphitheater Bluffs. This is also a great time to finish up craft projects or check your ice fishing sets one last time.
4-5- Kiss your favorite dog goodbye and enjoy a calm snowmachine ride back to the trailhead to meet your ride. Drive back to Fairbanks in time for dinner and a shower!
Notes: Times are all flexible and vary with the amount of daylight we have during your trip.
Our average length of stay is 3-4 days. Additional days give you a chance to explore any of our activities at a greater depth. If you are interested in crafting or wilderness skills, longer trips give us more time to see results with things like trapping, fishing, and building skills. If you want to stay for more than 4 days we recommend you add a night of camping onto your itinerary, no extra charge.
Accommodations:
Where you sleep is part of the experience! Guests stay in one of our traditional sod-roof cabins, the “Sun Lodge” or “Sky Lodge”, and dine in the David and Jenna’s cabin. Both cabins are a few minutes walk from other dwellings to preserve a senses of solitude. To learn how we built the cabins, see our blog. Our guest cabins are rustic but elegant and clean. Staying in one is a real Alaskan experience! Here are some details to help you understand how they work:
Water- We get water from the Tanana River by chopping a water hole through the ice and then carrying the water up the hill. For our guests, we filter all of the drinking water. We will have a jug of cold drinking water available and there will always be a kettle and a big pot of hot water on the woodstove for hot drinks and washing.
Heat- Our cabins are heated by wood. We’ll teach you how to make good fires and supply ample kindling and firewood. We love heating with wood and think you’ll enjoy it too.
Power- The cabins have small solar system that we use to power LED lights. We also have an inverter that you may use to charge cell phones, cameras, etc.
Cell service- Depending on your carrier, you may or may not get good cell reception. We have phones that work in case of emergencies and generally discourage clients from using phones too much as they can detract from the experience.
Bathing- The cabin includes a simple sink, but no shower. We encourage sponge baths- we’ve got bowls, wash cloths, towels, and soap for you, it’s a nice thing to do by a roaring woodstove!
Bathroom- You have a private outhouse with a great view.
Food- We cook and serve meals to guests in David and Jenna’s cabin. Your cabin is stocked with tea, coffee, and cocoa.
Sun Lodge
We put up most guests in our Sun Lodge cabin. Built in 2013, it was our first real structure on the homestead and served as our home for nearly seven years! We completely re-built the Sunlodge in 2021, making some improvements in the foundation, insulation, and giving a thorough cleaning (re-peeled all of the logs!) To learn about how the lodge was originally built, see our blog entry.
Accommodates: 2 People (1 queen bed)
Distance: 5-minute walk to David and Jenna’s cabin on a foot trail.
View: The Alaska Range’s Mt. Deborah is visible from the big window. If you go to the front yard and look downriver the view of Denali is good.
Sky Lodge
This cabin was built in 2020 by our friends Gerrid and Christine. They took the Sun Lodge design and made it bigger and better. This cabin is the closest one to the river and has a gigantic front window. You almost feel like you are outside when you sit by the table by the window.
Accommodates: 2-3 People (1 queen bed plus one twin xl)
Distance: 3-minute walk to David and Jenna’s cabin on a foot trail, a little more hilly than the Sun Lodge but a shorter distance.
View: Sweeping view to the West, good for viewing Denali and watching the sun set.
David and Jenna’s Cabin
We started cutting logs for our cabin during the winter of 2016 and moved in December 2019. It’s our biggest project to date and we love sharing it with guests. This is where we live! We use this cabin to cook and serve meals for our guests as well as a crafting and relaxation space.
Activities:
Your trip is custom, it is designed for you. Each day of your trip we can plan on doing about two of the following guided activities:
Dog Mushing
We use a tag sled system to safely introduce our guests to the world of winter dog sledding. This means that we take two guests at a time with one guide on two connected sleds with a team of 7-10 dogs. One guest sits in the front sled, a great place to closely observe the dogs and chat with your guide. The second guest drives the back sled, an ideal way to learn how to balance, steer and brake the sled. We make our own trail system on the frozen river, sloughs, creeks, forest, lakes and meadows. Our shortest trip is about an hour and long ones can be up to 4 hours, depending on conditions. Dog sledding is something that most guests choose to do each day of their trip.
Snowshoeing
Snowshoeing is the winter version of hiking. Snowshoes allow you to float on top of the snow and explore our winter wonderland. We use traditional long wooden snowshoes designed for maximum flotation and make/restore them ourselves. We have two established scenic trails ranging from 1-2 miles ready to explore. The true joy of snowshoeing is making your own trail wherever you wish, and you can do this as well. In addition to being good exercise, snowshoeing is an excellent way to explore tracks and learn about the ecology of Alaska’s interior forest. Snowshoeing can be done with or without a guide.
Crafting/Bushcraft
Many of our guests come to our homestead to try their hand at some of the skills that it takes to create a life in the wilderness. To this end we offer light instruction in some of the basic bushcraft skills such as: wood and kindling splitting, fire making, basic shelter building, tool use, and trapping/snaring. On snowy or cold days we can also offer some basic crafting classes in skills such as birch bark weaving and basketry, spoon/spatula carving, and wooden cutting boards/etching. This almost always takes more time than guests expect it might and learning how to use the tools is a valuable skill but a hard-won one!
Northern Lights/Aurora Viewing
This does not count towards your 2 daily activities, but seeing the northern lights requires some persistence. The lights are most active between 10pm-2am and to see them you need clear skies and good aurora activity. We do not offer specific guiding services in the middle of the night but our location is an excellent one for seeing the aurora. Most of our guests who are determined to see them stay up in their cabin reading or playing games or set alarms every 30 minutes or so to hop out of bed and check for the aurora. It should be visible from the guest cabin but the best view is down on the river, so plan on bringing some warm clothes with you and venturing out if its a good show!
Ice Fishing
We fish through holes in the ice for Burbot. This involves drilling or chopping a hole through the ice and installing a baited hook, covering the hole, then checking the set about 24 hours later. Fish abundance and luck varies, and this activity takes some time and persistence! If we want to increase our chances we try to set at least 4 lines in 2 locations and leave them in for multiple nights. Most guests travel by snowmachine and sled for this activity but you can also choose to walk. The work is hard but the reward is a delicious, lobster-like fish.
Reviews:
“I can’t recommend Alaska Homestead Adventures highly enough. Jenna and David invite you on to their homestead and help you craft a dream Alaskan experience with expert guidance. They are genuine and kind and immediately make you feel at home. From dog mushing, to ice fishing, to snow shoeing, and puppy snuggles I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. To top it off they are phenomenal cooks and every meal was delicious! This started off as a once in a lifetime trip but I sure hope they meant it when they said come back anytime, I’m already dreaming of next year.
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“We spent two nights/three days with David & Jenna on their Homestead Overnights tour. To say we had a wonderful experience would be an understatement. We are discerning travelers who have traveled to 40+ countries, many of which are with private guides, and David & Jenna far exceeded our expectations. They kept us safe, made sure we were warm at all times, and catered to our food preferences. They are excellent cooks and there is always plenty to eat. We did as many activities as we wanted, dog sled for as long as we wanted, snow shoed, and ice fished. It was a very authentic experience because David & Jenna are not just running a tour operation. This is their home and way of life. The dogs are amazing and well-trained when they’re on duty and ultra affectionate when they’re off. They also had a super cute 5-month old puppy who would not miss an outing with us. The whole process starting with booking and answering our bombardment of questions (they are very responsive to e-mails, which is how we communicated), to picking us up at our hotel and dropping us off at the end of our trip, was extremely smooth. I would highly recommend them if an active winter vacation is what you’re seeking.”
“Our three-day homestead adventure with Jenna and David was a bucket-list item for me, and I had high expectations. Those expectations were surpassed in every way. Riding in the sled, standing on the runners of the dogsleds (like a real musher), snowshoeing, glorying in two nights of fabulous Aurora Borealis displays, and eating simply delicious homecooked meals with our hosts in their tent kitchen: all were just terrific. The dogs are sweethearts, the woodstoves are cosy and easy to manage, and the outhouse has a fabulous view! I’m not sure whether I found it more thrilling to watch the dogs break trail after a new snow, or to break trail ourselves the next day with snowshoes....Jenna and David are kind, hospitable, generous, knowledgeable, and efficient. What more can I say? Oh, and there was a chocolate-cranberry birthday cake baked on the woodstove, complete with homemade ice cream, perfectly hand-whipped heavy cream, and of course a candle. We have traveled all over the world, and this honestly was one of our best trips ever.”
“My 11 year old son and I wanted to visit Alaska for his Spring Break while searching for a simple Northern Lights excursion stumbled across the Alaska Homestead Adventures website. ....This place was amazing - totally off the grid with no electricity (a small solar panel however that charges phones and cameras), no running water (great filtered river snowmelt), and no indoor plumbing (but an outhouse with the most amazing view). For 3 days we mushed, ice fished, snowshoed, and even built a snowcave. And - we were able to see the Northern Lights on the most incredibly clear night I’ve ever experienced. David and Jenna are wonderful hosts - we had great food, conversation, and learned a ton about living off the grid in Alaska. I don’t think there is anything this couple can’t do to survive off the land.”
“I joined Jenna and David for a 3-day Homestead Overnight during my trip to Fairbanks earlier this month. It was an all around awesome and indescribably beautiful experience and a highlight of my trip. I can’t recommend Alaska Homestead Adventures enough. The bluff overlooking the Tanana River is gorgeous. The cabin is very comfortable and cozy. I really enjoyed everything from exploring the bluff and the river, snowshoeing around, mushing and spending time with the dogs to ice fishing, delicious meals and star filled skies. Jenna and David are amazing hosts — they are so warm and kind and pleasant and I truly enjoyed my time with them at the homestead. I went out to Fairbanks in hopes of exploring Alaska in the winter and catching the aurora and I really can’t imagine a more fulfilling experience.”
