Alaska Uncovered Podcast

Local year round Getaway in Talkeetna - Talkeetna Denali View Lodge and Cabins with Dawn Campbell

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Jay Flaming • Episode 144

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 Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co-host and full-time husband, Jay, and I bring you accurate, helpful, and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and life in Alaska.


Today I am super excited to bring you this episode where I interviewed Don Campbell, who is the new owner of Talkeetna Denali View Lodge and Cabins. And one of the things that I love about doing this podcast and also writing for my website is I love finding. Places that are harder to find, um, places that not everyone knows about.

And as all of you know, I, I think all of you know, I lead tours for another company during the summer and I love that job. It's super fun. We do mostly go to places where there are lots of other visitors. Not always. But that's kind of the nature of bigger tours. And so I love when I get to share with you some of these places that are really unique and.

Authentic. So recently we talked about Snug Harbor Outpost. What we're talking about today with Denali View Lodge and Cabins is on the road system. And so this is a very different kind of experience than. Snug Harbor. And I wanted to share this with you as well, 'cause I also like to bring you options from all over the state and at different price points and for different kinds of people.

So in a moment, we'll hear from Dawn. We recorded this, this interview actually at her lodge in Talkeetna this summer. And you'll hear in the audio. At one point we took a break, because there was a moose outside and we went and watched the moose for a little bit and then came back and finished our conversation.

So I'm really passionate about helping people find small, local businesses. There are so many of them in Alaska. You've met so many different people through this podcast and we'll meet so many more. Another wonderful. Locally owned small business on the road system is Blue Water Base Camp, at , eluana Lake.

So if you go back to the summer of 2023, you can hear my interview with Teal and Russ and we'll be bringing you more ideas in the future. So if you are looking to find more,. Smaller places that maybe are harder to find or how to put these together in a trip that hits all the items on your bucket list.

That's exactly what I do in my planning sessions. And so I just wanna invite you, if you're a listener, to, to book one of those. It's $47 for half an hour, and we just talk about your goals and get a plan going for you. I do,, offer full custom itineraries also. And this is the time of year where I'm doing a lot of those 'cause people are getting started with planning.

This is a really good time before the holidays to plan your trip. Lots of people wait until January, February, which is also okay. I could still help you then, but there is kind of a nice opportunity in late October and November to get started. . Yeah, the link is in the show notes for that. There's also my Alaska Planning Club on Patreon, which is super fun.

It's just me answering your questions that you submit. I answer them once a week and post a private podcast feed there that you can either listen to on Patreon or you. Add it to your regular, podcast feed. Anyway, just wanted to share some of the ways I can help you find other places, , like what we're talking about today in tna.

We've had several other guests on the podcast from tna Aurora. Dora was on the podcast, told her amazing story of immigrating from Brazil to Talkeetna and her incredible career as a Northern Lights photographer. Sarah joined us from K two Aviation and we talked about life in tna. We talked about flight scene in Denali and we talked about that previously with Cole, who also is from K two, so I'm sure we will have more episodes about Talkeetna in the future.

Talkeetna is one of those really special places in Alaska that. If you like to go somewhere kind of quirky and different, you'll love tna and it's just between two and three hours from Anchorage driving. You can also take the train there, although you can't take the train to this lodge we're talking about today 'cause it's a little too far from the depot.

But, it's a great, overnight or multi-day. You know, I'd happily stay for a month in Talkeetna. But it's also, I'll just mention a day trip you can do from Anchorage. And next week we're gonna be talking about day trips that you can do from the city of Anchorage. So, that I think is all I wanted to say by way of introduction.

If you missed, Dawn's previous appearance on Alaska uncovered, I would love to invite you to go back and listen to that. It was about flying in helicopters, but she also shared her story of becoming a pilot herself during the pandemic. So,, we touched on that briefly in this conversation, but not much.

Definitely go back and listen to that one if you enjoy hearing from Dawn. Okay. Enjoy this interview and welcome to Talkeetna.

 All right, Dawn, first of all, welcome back to Alaska Uncovered. A lot of things have changed for you since you were last on the podcast, which was in February, 2024,

So welcome back. I'd love to start by having you just tell everybody again for folks who didn't listen to the other episode that you were on, which was about flying and helicopters. Um, so tell everybody who may have missed that episode or just may not remember, like a little bit about your Alaska story and kind of how you got to the point where you are.

The owner of Talkeetna Denali View Lodge and Cabins. 

Great. Well, thanks again for having me on again. Yeah. Oh gosh, what a fun story. You know, yeah, I was on on that, like she said on that last. Last podcast I was on and we were talking about flying. And, during COVI, I happened to get my pilot's license of all things,, because I lost my job and I had all the time in the world.

So yeah, long story short, I got my pilot's license started flying, and fast forward five. Four years later, I was sick of shoveling snow off my airplane. 'cause not only did I get my pilot's license, we bought an airplane. Yes. So yeah, I, I was sick of shoveling snow. So we are actively looking for a hanger home.

Like a hanger house. Yes. Yeah. And 

can just in case people don't know what that is. Yeah. Can you, 

that's a. 

Basically something in Alaska. People know, but tell everybody what that means. Yeah. 

So, and, and they're all over the place, but there's definitely far more of them probably in Alaska, especially in the Matsu Valley.

A hangar home would be where you're, you have a hanger at your house or. Included in your house, like a part of your house, and you can park your airplane in the hangar and then pull right out onto a runway and take off. Yeah. So, so it's like a garage for your airplane? Yeah. It's basically a garage for your airplane.

So hence not having to shovel off the airplane. 

Yeah. 

So yeah, I just, I got to a point where I was like, I really wanted a hangar. We were looking for houses or land on an airstrip where we could build our own hangar house. Mm-hmm. And I bumped into an old friend of mine, at a luncheon and she overheard me talking about that.

That we were gonna move and I didn't necessarily need to live in Anchorage anymore, and she leaned over and just said, Hey, you should buy my lodge. And first of all, I was like, you have a lodge, what are you talking about? And this is someone I've known for many years. So, yeah. I was actually at a luncheon in Talkeetna, which is, let me back up there.

That is like one of my favorite towns in all of Alaska. Yeah. I've been coming here my entire life. I grew up in Alaska, lived here my whole life. Spent a lot of time here fishing with my dad. As, as I got older and became an adult, you know, I played music in Talkeetna, um, you know, at the different bars and clubs, you know, areas down here.

Um, so anyway, I just had a love for Talkeetna and my husband has always wanted to own a remote lodge, always. And I'm like, you're crazy. I'm not gonna live off grid, you know, I have to live on the highway system. Anyway, so all of those things came together and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

I heard this, she told me this lodge was for sale and showed me the listing, and I just drove by to check it out. It was amazing. The view was amazing and I just decided, I talked to my husband about it. Fast forward, you know, that was April 19th, 2024, and by June 28th we owned the lodge. So that's amazing.

I love it. Yeah. 

And , so it doesn't 

have a hanger? 

Nope. But it has a hanger nearby. 

Yes. So there is a private runway, on the adjoining land. Our neighbors have, a 2,600 foot runway private runway. 

Yeah. 

Um, which we could possibly have access to. So Yeah. You know, we'll work on that. But we did sell our airplane in August, so we moved to Talkeetna August 1st.

We sold our, we actually sold our airplane on August 2nd because in Alaska, if you're selling a plane, you wanna sell it in the summer. Yes.. So anyway, we sold our plane because we want to get a different type of plane. We wanna get a conventional gear plane or what they would call a tail wheel airplane.

So anyway, we sold the plane and we're now looking for a new plane. Yay. But, uh, we are now the new owners of this lodge and it's an absolutely stunning location.

Okay, I'm turning the recording back on now. Dawn and I are actually at her lodge right now, which is super fun.

And there was a moose outside and so we had to take a moose break. So even when you've lived in Alaska your whole life, it's still cool to go look at a moose. So that was pretty rad. Okay, so speaking of which, so dawn. You were looking for a house with an airplane hanger and you found one of those, but you also then bought a business and became an innkeeper, which I just think knowing you through your past several jobs, I just think this is so perfect.

But I would love to hear, maybe just a little bit about, so this is a very small property in a really unique location. So can you talk a little bit about what's really unique about it and like what kind of traveler would want to stay here? And then we'll also talk about people for whom it's probably not a good fit.

But let's talk about people who would. Be into it first. 

Okay, great. Yeah. Yeah. We are definitely a smaller lodge. I mean, in many cases you could probably almost describe us like as a, b and B more so, unique thing about this place is that, we do have bathrooms in every single room. Yeah. Private bathrooms, you know, so that is unique to this specific location.

We're a smaller lodge. You know, six units total that we can rent nightly. So it's, it's small. 

Yeah. 

And, and that is great because I can give personal attention to every single guest. Yeah. And part of what just makes that kind of magical is that people, I have a lot of knowledge that I can share with the guests when they're here.

Yeah. Yeah. And as much or as little as they want. I won't bother you if you think you have it all put together and you don't need any advice. But it's really great because it's very cozy. I wish you could see what I'm talking about right now because there's wood everywhere, literally wood on the walls and wood on the ceilings, and, it's just very warm and cozy.

All the furniture in the entire lodge is handmade out of logs. So it, it was all custom made for the lodge and it came fully furnished. So we were very, it's very cool. Yeah, very lucky in that sense. So all the beds even are made outta log. 

Yeah, it's really cool. And I'll put your Instagram in the show notes so you can go over there and see tons of pictures.

Awesome. So, yeah. 

Yeah. So again, we are in a kind of a unique location even though we are technically in Talkeetna, the town of Talkeetna., The Spur road from the Parks Highway to Talkeetna is 14 miles long, and where you turn to come to our lodge is at mile three of the Spur Road. So we're three miles off the Parks Highway and then a mile off the Spur road.

So we're still about 10 minutes from downtown. Talkeetna. Yeah. , And in some ways, you know, some people want to be in the heart of downtown Talkeetna. Yeah. But if you really want a quiet, scenic location, this is where you would wanna be. Yeah. The other key to our location is that because we are 10 miles outside of talkeetna.

You have to come to us as a self-drive client. Yeah. You can't arrive in Talkeetna on the train and get to us. , We serve breakfast, but we don't serve lunch or dinner. So if you don't have a vehicle when you come here Yeah. That could be difficult. Yeah. Yeah. Now we do have microwaves and refrigerators in every room too, but, again, you know, we are a self-drive location.

Yep. And most people want to, you know, come here and then they wanna spend a little bit of time in downtown Talkeetna, or they wanna go on an excursion, but then they wanna come and relax and look at the beautiful scenery. Huge bonus to the lodge is we have an outdoor hot tub, which is amazing, pretty awesome.

And honestly, in the wintertime, it is by far the best thing in this lodge. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And that leads me into just letting you know that we're open year round. Mm-hmm. So cool. Yeah. Yeah. 

So what, yeah, that's awesome. And like the folks who are staying here just right at the moment while we're recording are like going out and doing fishing and you know, flight scene and all kinds of different things like that during the day.

Although this is a pretty cool place to hang out, I have to say. Okay. So can you talk a little bit, Dawn, about like people for whom like, this probably is not the right place to go, because I think that's important not only for talking about. Your lodge, but also just good advice for people in general, like, so maybe that could also connect to what should people look for when they're looking for a place to stay.

Based on their needs. Yeah. Since that's something I know, you know, a lot about. 

Yeah, absolutely. Well first of all, we, we, we market ourselves as an adult only, um, lodge or, or an adult catered lodge. I, I guess I could say, yeah. Mainly because we're not really kid friendly. Yeah. And our policy say, you know, 14 and older.

Yeah. , So. F unless you buy out the whole lodge, in which case you could have whatever ages you want with you. Yeah. And it's actually pretty affordable. If you look at the price of other properties, in Talkeetna, you could buy the whole lodge, Yeah. Out for the night and it's fine. Yeah. And we've had families do that.

Yeah. But we want our guests that are here trying to enjoy the tranquility. Yeah. The scenery, you know, to be able. To be, have a quiet space where they can do that. Yeah. Not only that, but we have like off the front of the lot or the, I'm sorry, the back porch of the lodge, I guess, which faces Right.

Towards Denali, we have the most stunning view of Denali. Yeah. Mount four acre Mount Hunter, the Alaska range in general. Yeah. Right off of that deck is a very steep, , drop. Yeah. Yeah. Which makes it perfect. Undisturbed views, but it definitely isn't very kid friendly. Right. So it would be 

stressful to manage like a toddler?

Absolutely. Yeah. 

Yeah. So I would say, you know, we are very much, for those people that looking for a quiet homey, very Alaskan feel, but we're not for those that want to go out to the local bars and, you know, have, you know, beverages and go listen to the bands because. They're not gonna have a way to get home.

Right. You know, or home for the night. Yes. Yes. And, and, and I say that at home because so many people already that have made, reviews on our lodge have said, oh, it felt like we were at home. Yeah. You know, we felt like we were visiting our family like we were guests at our family's house. Yeah. You know, so, yeah, and we serve breakfast, which I kind of am like giving myself a little pat on the back because No.

I put out a really nice breakfast. It's like a really nice continental with fruit and pastries and, eggs and cheese and, you know, hard boiled eggs. And then I also do a hot item every day. Ooh. Whether that's a french toast, casserole fun. Or like, today I did biscuits and gravy and I made it at elk and pork sausage, biscuits and gravy.

So, yum. Yeah. So I, I, I'm finding that I really am enjoying cooking again. Mm-hmm. Now that it's your job, my kids are all grown up and gone. And so, you know, it's really nice to be now, um, enjoying it again and like making people happy and getting them a really good start to their day. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

So I, I, I think that, you know, you have to, well, first of all be driving yourself, which can be a challenge in the winter, but you know, it's still doable. Yeah. And then you also really want to know that you're looking for a place that's quiet and off the road a little ways. You know, not like in the heart of downtown Ta Kena.

Yes. Right. So, like, you can't. Walk to bars and restaurants. Yeah, you're gonna have to drive. Yeah. Yeah. Sweet. Okay. And there's a 

bike path. You, if you're an avid biker Oh 

yeah. You could totally bike to Talkeetna from here easily. Yeah, right on. 

If you can bike like 10 or 15 miles. Yes. 

Yes. So, by the way, if you're interested in visiting Talkeetna overall, , back in January of this year, Sarah.

Who works for K two Aviation, which is also in Talkeetna. She came on and we talked a little bit about life in Talkeetna and different things to do here. So if you are gonna come to Talkeetna, definitely listen to that episode as well. Dawn could talk a little bit about different times of year here. So you're open all year, which is super cool.

What are kind of the, what would you say, like the biggest highlight and low light of the different seasons? Yeah, because, because that's something people ask me a lot is like, when's the best time to go to Alaska? Well, Alaska's a big state like the weather in Tell Kea and even Anchorage doesn't always that similar.

Yeah. You know, sometimes it's pretty different. Sometimes it's similar, but like different parts of Alaska have very different. Weather. And so Talkeetna is like halfway between the entrance to Denali National Park and Anchorage ish. It's not exactly right, but close enough. So in this kind of, would you consider this interior Alaska or South Central?

I feel like it's kind of on the border. I would 

still consider it South Central. Okay. We're, we are right on the border, but we're still in the mat. Matus, Sona Valley. Yes. We're in the upper Sona Valley. 

Right. Because we're not actually in the Alaska range yet. We're right next to it and we're still in the 

mat, Matusko Sona borough, which goes right to the edge of the Denali Borough.

Yeah. So it's a big borough. Yeah. So it's a really large area, but I would say that we're still considered South Central. 

Okay, cool. So. Here in sort of the general Talkeetna area, kind of ups and downs for different seasons. 

Yeah, absolutely. So summer, obviously, you know, people are coming here. To go to Denali National Park or to in general, if they have a goal of seeing Denali, which is the tallest peak in North America.

You can see it from our lodge. And one thing that is really, really key about booking Talkeetna as a stop on your itinerary. Yeah. Huge, huge, huge. Better chance of having a, a possibility to even see al, the Denali. 

Yeah. 

Mount McKinley now. Yep. Yeah. Um, you know, it's like Alaskans by the way. We'll always call it Denali.

So. Yes. Um, we always have. We always will. 

Yeah. 

When you're in Talkeetna, it, the mountain could clear up any time of the day and it could be open for 10 or 15 minutes. It could be open all day. Yeah. It could open in the morning and be closed by the evening. But if you're. Staying here at least a night or two, your chances are much higher than seeing it on a bus tour into the park.

Yes. From the Denali Park entrance. Yep. That is so, and the other key to Talkeetna, no matter summer or winter. 'cause I see D Denali way more in the winter 'cause we always have high pressure systems and a lot of more clear. Clear skies. Yep. But, the key to seeing it from the south side, which is where we are, we're on the south side of the Alaska range.

There's a lot more glaciers that run off the south side of Denali and it really is just so majestic looking and there's a lot more jagged peaks. So anyway, coming to Ta Keta to see the mountain. You can do it anytime of year, but mostly in the summer. That's what people are coming here for. Yep. Um.

Now, of course there's like all sorts of different activities in Talkeetna, like mahe, jet boat tours and flight seeing and fishing, and you know, there's all sorts of things to do here in the summer. What people don't realize is what there is to do here in the winter. Yeah. Yeah. Let's talk about that a little bit.

Yeah. The winter is fantastic, but it's very slow. It's slow paced. It's like, you know, you come here anytime between like September and April to see the Northern Lights. Mm-hmm. I mean, I saw the Northern, I can't even count how many times I saw the Northern Lights this last year, and a key to. Specifically our lodge is that we have zero light pollution.

Yeah. 

So you can be here, you can even be sitting in the living room at the lodge or the main, you know, main floor of the lodge and be looking out the window and see the Northern lights. Yeah. We even saw the Northern Lights coming directly outta the Alaska range. It looked like they were coming out of Denali.

It was pretty stunning. So a Northern Lights, dog mushing, ice fishing. I have a kick sled, which I. I find is a hoot. It's so fun. There's a So fun. Yeah, there's a local place that rents, Nordic ski, so you can go cross country skiing. There's tons of groom trails in Talkeetna. But what you have to be prepared for in Talkeetna is that it is a sleepy little town in the winter.

Yeah. There's only a few restaurants open. You know, the breweries open year round. Denali Brewing Company is the second largest brewery in the state. Yeah. And it's only two miles from the lodge. The actual brewery. Yeah. But then there's, you know, just a handful of other places like, you know, little hotel called Latitude 62.

They have great food, mountain high pizza pies open year round, you know, so there's a very limited amount of dining in the winter. Yeah. And it's just quiet. Mm-hmm. Now there is always something going on with Denali Arts Council, so they're, you know, typically having like concerts or, comedy shows or, you know, there's all sorts of different things going on.

So there's, there's numerous websites that you can see kind of what's happening in Talkeetna for whatever time of year you're planning to come. Now, I will say, if you're looking to see the Northern Lights and you're absolutely terrified to come to. Alaska in the winter time, September. Don't be well first, don't, yeah.

First of all don't be. But September is a fantastic month to visit because the Aurora tend to be most active around the, Equinox. Yeah. So whether it's the fall equinox or the spring equinox, that's why September and March tend to have the best Aurora activity. That's just simply because the sun is more active.

They have more coronal, mass ejections or solar flares, at that time of year. Yep. So if you're scared of winter. You could still come in September and it's a beautiful time to capture pictures of the aurora, but you won't get to go skiing or, or, you know Yeah. Kick sledding or anything fun in the snow.

So, yeah, don't be afraid of the snow. It's, it's actually pretty mild here compared to the interior portion of Alaska. Right. It's 

not nearly as cold as at Fairbanks. Yeah. Yeah. And 

we get a good amount of snow here, so it's really nice because we had, we had snow on the ground here at the lodge. We got snow in October and we, it was still snowing here on April 27th.

It snowed again. Mm-hmm. So we, we actually couldn't see our lawn until like. The end of April. Yeah. So, 

yeah. Love it. Okay. Dawn, is there anything else you wanna tell us about your, your new life as an innkeeper or your new life in taa, or, anything else like that before we wrap up? 

Yeah, I mean. I, I just wanna say that like, take a minute and slow down.

Yeah. And like really take in like what life has to offer because I mean, I was a busy, busy person for so many years and now I just have time to breathe. Yeah. And it really feels good to like. Just kind of disconnect. Well you don't have to fully disconnect here at the lodge 'cause we have starlink internet.

Yes, you do. It's very good. So yeah. And we do have like, you know, entertainment for everybody here. So, but it is really nice to be in a place where you can be quiet and listen to nature and hear the birds And that's another thing. People come here and see birds that they don't see anywhere else.

Mm-hmm. But, . It's just, it's really just take the time and, breathe and relax. And, hopefully this winter we'll have some like yoga retreats and, Ooh, we're talking so fun. We are planning to do some like cooking classes where we do, like we harvest, we have a garden here as well, so we harvest rhubarb and we have current bushes and, we're planning on doing some.

Classes where you book a night and then you get to make like, you know, some sort of an Alaskan dish. Mm-hmm. Whether that's like a pastry or whether it's like some sort of a game meet, you know, something. So it'll, it'll appeal to locals as well. Mm-hmm. Like that have families that hunt, you know, for wild game.

So. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Keep an eye on our Instagram and our website and we'll keep you posted on what we got going on this winter. 

Yay. Cool. 

Well, Don, it's so great to have you back.

Thanks for, thanks for sharing all  📍 this. Yeah.

 

dawn, thank you again so much for joining me and all of you. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next week.



If you are enjoying the podcast, please leave us a rating and or a review. It really helps other people find us. And if you want to join the Alaska Planning Club, it's super fun. It's a private podcast feed where I answer all your questions. You can find that over on patreon.com/alaska uncovered. 

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

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Jay Flaming

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