Wings Airways & the Taku Glacier Lodge

This was the highlight of our trip! Best adventure of the whole cruise! The plane ride was awesome — smoothest take-​off and landing I’ve ever experienced. The lodge was/​is amazing and there are bears! OMG we saw 4 and they were AMAZING! The food, AMAZING! The staff equally amazing! I would do this again and again. If you go, you have to try this. Just be sure to bring your mosquito spray and of course your camera!

Pure awesomeness. From the breathtaking views to, literally, one of the best meals we’ve eaten, my family and I simply cannot recommend this excursion/​trip enough. The sea-​plane ride was smooth, secure and safe and a must, in-​order to truly appreciate how majestic this region of Alaska is. The Taku Lodge is situated so that everywhere you turn your eyes pop and your jaw drops. The scenery is… just wow!!! All of this is guided by wonderful people who know how to make you feel instantly welcomed and at «home». Go on this… now.

THIS WAS AN AWESOME TOUR, THIS IS A DO NOT MISS IT IF YOU LUV SEAPLANES, RUSTIC, FANTASTIC FRESH CAUGHT SALMON GRILLED DINNER, OUTDOORS AND NATURE… We flew in on a seaplane the takeoff was smooth, flying over the glaciers thankfully it was a partly cloudy day making it much easier to see the varying colors of the blues in the glaciers from deep to ice blues to grays to stark snow white.
We landed smoothly in the bay in front of Taku Lodge which dates back hundreds of years. Its interesting to think what may have happened back then, we walked the same paths that settlers did. On that path while everyone looked up, I was looking down I saw the corner of a clear light green piece of glass obviously filled with dirt. Not knowing it then as I thought it was broken glass, I started digging and I dug up a piece of history. It ended up being a perfectly intact medicine bottle with not even a chip or scratch on it. «DAVIS ON THE FRONT, PAINKILLER ON 1 SIDE, VEGETABLE ON THE OTHER, DATES BACK TO 1850−1906» I picked it up and no one could believe that it was perfectly intact, the soil around it preserved it remarkably. I took it into the bathroom, washed it off wrapped it in some paper towel and took my new find home !!! From my research i see that mine is one of the original bottles produced as my never had a label it was embossed with the writing. The later bottles produced had the labels on the bottles replacing the raised lettering on the bottles. pretty neat !!! Imagine from the 1850’s here we are 150+ yrs later and I find this bottle just under the surface of the soil !! Who had this bottle, what were they doing when they had it, were they sick, so many questions come to mind … so after our walk we were waiting for dinner to be cooked and the dinner bell rang. Wow it smelled great. You had to choose btwn fresh caught salmon or grilled chicken which my sister had the rest of us had the salmon and it was a very healthy serving, if you wanted more you got it but you didn’t need it after digging in to all of the side servings. Everything was absolutely delish. The smell of cooking the salmon on the outdoor grill invited the local black bears to come visit so after dinner everyone went outside to go check them out. 1^st came the cubs who were just showing off then came mom who the proprietors chased up the tree as not to hurt anyone, For those who had never seen bears before it was a treat for myself I see them just about daily here in SW FL, but they were cute playing and showing off. They were used to being around the people, but still wild animals you can never trust them as they can attack at anytime. Good thing dad didn’t show bc mom was about 450 lbs. AK blk bears are the same as FL blk bears … its the Brown bears or Kodiaks that get enormous… After playing with the bears for a little bit we went galavanting thru the woods which is lush green, tropical believe it or not on Taku Island, One end is Glacier, the rocks, then Tropical Rainforest its Wonderful there. During the walk I took stunning pics of massive plate mushrooms, the sun peaking thru rain soaked moss off of 75′+ trees that towered over us, giant leaves of plants that were indiginous to the area … The pics look like something taken out of a National Geographic Magazine… Then we could hear the seaplane coming back to pick us up so we head back to the docks and it was a good thing as we could see clouds rolling in. Too bad for the group coming in as we heard they were cancelling all the next tours after ours because of the storms coming in. Just as we boarded the plane it started raining, even thru the rain it was a smooth flight and landing.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND !!
Medicine Bottle
Perry Davis Painkiller bottle
Small rectangular glass bottle with light green tint, raised lettering on one side: «Vegetable»; on the other side: «Painkiller»; and on the front: «Davis». Reproduction label attached for exhibit.
Perry Davis was 47 years old when he invented his pain killer. He fell ill and devised a medicine that he claimed saved him from the brink of death. Its ingredients consisted of mainly opiates and ethyl alcohol and true to its claim they are entirely natural. He first peddled the elixir at outdoor markets but as the demand quickly rose, he sold the medicine in bulk. In 1850 Perry’s son Edmund joined him in the business and the company became Davis & Son. When Perry Davis passed away in 1862, his son took over the business. A few decades later, Perry Davis’s name was widely known and his face was familiar throughout the world.
**** My parents, sister, her husband, son and I were on a Holland America cruise v Zuiderdam departing out of Vancouver rtn to same July 6, 2013 for my parents 50^th wedding anny … the cruise was fantastic, had 2 suites on the 8^th deck, perfect time of year to go, the weather was great and the tours we selected were all fantastic we couldn’t have done a better job. ****

This was the only excursion that I truly feel was worth the money. This is an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING experience. The plane ride over the glaciers, cutting paths in the Earth, will change your perspective on life. Then you will get to experience the most scenic and peaceful little place in the world, The Taku Lodge. The staff are genuinely friendly & kind people. The food is fresh, delicious, and presented family style. Everyone eats together in a dining room with 5 or 6 tables, listening to the staff tell stories of the history of the place, very intimate. Take a stroll down one of the walking paths– either on your own or with one of the staff on a walking tour. Throw tennis balls for the house dogs to fetch. Put your feet in the river of glacier water. If you only do one excursion on your whole trip– make it this one.

Overall this was a pretty good excursion from Juneau! If you haven’t done a float plane before, this is a great one-​time experience. The flight was beautiful, and the lodge was a nice, cozy place on a rainy day. I’ve lowered my rating to 3 stars for a few reasons: 1) While the staff at the lodge was friendly, it didn’t feel overly welcoming given the hefty price tag. The lady serving us lunch never introduced herself to the group and also made me feel like I really inconvenienced her when I asked for a glass of water mid-​meal. I honestly felt a bit awkward since they staff didn’t seem super interested in engaging with us, other than to talk at us about the history of the lodge. 2) No bears, what a bummer! 3) The salmon was ok, but we had much better at Glacier Brewhouse in Anchorage (our favorite of the trip!). 4) The «nature walk» after the meal provided some beautiful hiking grounds, but was a bit awkward since the guide wasn’t super engaging. I’d recommend hiking the trails yourself — they are very pretty and you can cover more ground! 5) It felt a bit like the staff were just there for a summer job (not the case for all of them), and therefore they weren’t as welcoming as other people we met across Alaska. A bit unfortunate.
If you are wondering whether to do this tour, it is a good way to experience a float plane for the first time! Difficult to justify the cost, however, as the meal wasn’t our best in Alaska. Also, keep in mind that if your stop in Juneau is only a half day (as ours was), then you won’t have time to explore the town. You may want to consider a shorter float plane tour at another destination. But you also can’t go wrong with this tour — overall, we still mostly enjoyed it!

AMAZING!
We took the flight to Taku Lodge and it was AMAZING ! The view from the plane was AMAZING! The view from the lodge was AMAZING!
The food was pretty good. Unfortunately, the salmon that everyone was raving about was very over cooked. We also went on a walk through some old growth forest and it was very pretty. We got to see some bear poop. Most of the employees were very attractive and all were good at their jobs.
The price for all the amazement was a bit steep. Also, be sure to have cash for drinks.

What an amazing experience. While stopping at port in Juneau, we had an excursion cancelled due to weather, and this was offered as an option. I sure am glad we happened into this. You take off in a float plane out of Juneau, and take a beautiful ride over the mountains and glaciers to start. It is absolutely breathtaking to see this natural beauty from above, truly amazing! During the flight, they have a pre-​recorded message that gives you a lot of the history and educational info about the terrain you are seeing.
After zig-​zagging over the Glacier Fields, you land on the Taku River, at the Taku Lodge, built in 1923. It is a small lodge, situated opposite an amazing glacier. The views are amazing, and the lodge offers some short hiking trails as well that you can take either before or after the meal (tip: use the free bug spray they have!). As mentioned the lodge is an old, small hunting lodge, that has had its historic appearance well preserved with quite a few original items.
The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, and truly appeared to enjoy what they were doing. You are able to watch them prepare the salmon and chicken over a large open air grill outside, while enjoying some wine or beer. Your meal is served buffet style, and as you start out the meal, the staff provides an interesting history of the lodge. They are knowledgable and were able to answer any questions asked.
This was a very enjoyable excursion, and am so happy that myself and my family were able to experience it.

Wonderful Alaskan tour. Exciting to fly in a sea plane and the beauty of the Juneau Ice Field is something not to missed.
Move people and highly organized. Never had a worry.
Worth every penny!

This was an amazing trip on ⁵⁄₂₄ and we had a fantastic day. The flight, our pilot, the lodge, and all of the staff were amazing! My wife’s parents came to visit from out of town and we chose to take them on this trip, something we had never done as well. The only negative experience I had on this trip and why I would not give it a five star review is that we chose to go the same day that a woman was at the lodge with her own private guest. Im guessing she either worked there, is related to the owner’s somehow, or is some other kind of VIP. We ended up at the same table with her and her guest and they carried on the entire dinner with their own private conversation while the host was explaining the history of the lodge and the surrounding area. It was very distracting and in hindsight I wish we would have just got up and moved to a different table. If it were not for this I would give this a 5 star review for sure. I would still highly recommend this to anyone visiting Juneau that has the time and money.

The lodge was great, the food was fresh and marvelous. The local black bears provided comic relief and the guided hike was informative. The flight over was smooth and comfortable.

Excellent trip. Float planes give great views of glaciers, mountains and river. Salmon bake great. Taku Lodge interesting location. Guides are very knowledgeable about history of lodge. Highly recommend.

Absolutely one of the best tours I’ve ever taken. If taking a float plane ride over Glaciers and Alaska’s wilderness wasn’t enough, then the bear sightings and salmon bake at the Taku lodge has certainly got to do it.
The staff members were shockingly knowledgeable and efficient, not to mention that the tours and historical lecture were fun, witty and engaging. And I hope you like taxidermy, this place could be set up as a museum.
I know this tour was great on its own, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the flawless operations contributed to the tour as a whole. There wasn’t one logistical misstep of flying 40 people in 9 planes there and back, feeding them all on time and making sure nobody was attacked by a bear.

Our trip to Taku Lodge was the highlight of our cruise. Not only was the scenery on the floatplane flight awe-​inspiring, but the hospitality was warm and the food was incredible. We would recommend this excursion wholeheartedly.

Of all the Alwaska excwursions thwis swervice dwog and his fwamily twook, it was defwinitely our fwavorite! Stwarting off with the swea plwane flwight (see me Wings Airways review) gwoing over the glwaciers to lwanding at the Twaku Lwodge, it was wery mwuch fwun!
The stwaff at the Twaku Lwodge even kwept their bwear dwogs (labradwors) up while Winnegan was there swince the Swea Prwincess twold them me was cwoming. Excwellent grwilled wild swalmon at thwis lwodge, lwocated right acwross the lwake from a glwacier, mwaking it sweem to be in their frwont yard!
And for your added enjwoyment, a mwommy blwack bwear kweeps coming out of the woods to clean the gwrill after the swalmon is dwone. Wery pweaceful plwace to wisit. Only criticism we hwad was thwat the salmon dwinner shwould be swerved to the gwuests lwike other lowdges, instwead of mwaking everywone wait in a lwong swerving lwine, espwecially aftwer the pwrices that were pwaid for the mweal.
Hwighly recommended. Not dwog frwiendly.

100% Alaska! This is the activity to choose if you can only choose one. Take a float plane and tour from the air for an hour (or a little less). These aircraft are well maintained and very professionally flown by veteran bush pilots. You’ll see things you can never see from the road, trail, or boat.
Don’t miss this!

Best salmon dinner we’ve ever had and to eat amongst the bears tops it off! This trip is a once in a lifetime adventure.