Ultima Thule Inc - Chitina, AK

Kirill L.

An incredible experience and definitely the way to do Alaska on land. Everything about the Lodge is 10/10, from the owners and staff, to the lodge itself to the absolutely mind-blowing daily sights.

Daily Activities: Every day you fly to 3 - 4 locations that are absolutely untouched and completely inaccessible by traditional means. I have never seen anything like it and I am pretty well-travelled. Refer to attached photos since a picture tells a thousand words.

Staff: Every single staff member is so nice, warm and personable. We really loved getting to know our pilot and every interaction with Paul and Donna was a treat.

Lodging: Very luxurious and comfortable by any measure, completely insane when you think about how you are in the middle of nowhere. Special shout out

Food: Really delicious food at all meals, with a special shout-out for the lunch time sandwiches and the succulent group dinners. Very high quality food prepared with a high level of culinary skill. Good selection of beers and wines.

Louis R.

Just back from a week at the lodge in early September where my wife and I celebrated our 50th anniversary. Everything about the lodge was just perfect. There are no simply words to describe the spectacular landscapes. The staff was amazing and welcoming. Food was excellent. And the pilots are beyond amazing. We'll be back!

Laura L.

Ultima Thule is the most amazing adventure resort on this planet! 5 star service with well appointed cabins and chef prepared gourmet meals with beautiful live piano music every evening really made every dinner special! Flight seeing 5 days in a row was surreal, experiencing the vast, ancient beauty of the Wrangell St. Elias national park was absolutely mind blowing, the serotonin rush lasted for weeks after the trip! Our incredibly skilled bush pilot, Steve Davidson, was able to land on glaciers and mountain tops with the most fantastic scenery one could ever imagine. Every single staff member at the lodge provided exceptional personal service, it is clearly evident that they love their jobs and sharing their wonderful remote home in the true Alaskan wilderness with guests. There are no words to express how much we appreciated everyone at the lodge!

Passport52697

Ultima Thule is great in all respects. 5 star resort! ALL of the staff were phenomenal. |Michael's meals were absolutely fabulous!|Paul Claus was our world renowned pilot and extremely knowledgeable on all topics. The Bush/Cub plane landed on land, glaciers, mountains, and ice fields.|Korin was very responsive, organized, and pleasant to work with. |The lodge and cabin were just like our home.|You will never experience all Alaska has to offer unless you take this trip.|If you are looking to be adventuresome, not on a set schedule, then this is the Ultimate place for you!!

Karyn C.

This was truly one of the most fabulous 4 days of our lives!! The folks are all wonderful, caring & attentive without being intrusive. The accommodations are luxurious and extremely well-appointed for being off-the-grid. No internet but that is a huge plus!! We were spoiled and pampered while experiencing the wilderness that is real Alaska. Daily trips by bush plane to see sites you’d never see anywhere else & close up & personal at that. Paul & I spent over an hour with a Grizzly & her new cub (at a respectful distance) that was just magical!!|We cannot recommend this place enough - it is so worth the price for an experience of a lifetime!!

Linda L.

What a spectacular unbelievable place. We booked this trip as a graduation present for my son from college. It exceeded expectations. A five star resort embedded in the wrangell st Elias national park reachable only by small bush planes. Incredible luxury as far as I have ever been from a paved road. The accommodations were top notch the sauna was luxurious and the food was unbelievable. There is a daily adventure which is dependent on weather and conditions. We were a little anxious about the tiny plane situation but our pilots Steve and Arturo rapidly dispelled any fear. Their aviation skills are spectacular. We flew to icy bay and saw icebergs, seals , glaciers calving and a beach completely free of human influence. The lunch picnics were gourmet level especially Granny’s cookies and granola bars. The staff were wonderful anticipating every need and want. If you go, make sure you get in on the after dinner presentations with Paul. A larger than life figure his personal adventures are inspiring and riveting. Truly a life changing experience. Thanks again to our pilots and tour guides we still use your quote—the odds are good but the goods are odd lol.

Stewart V.

My wife booked a trip to Ultima Thule under the theory that a place that had reviews this good couldn't miss. If anything, Ultima blew away expectations, and we couldn’t recommend this once-in-a-lifetime trip more highly. We are a family of 5 with three your adult kids. There is absolutely nothing like flying in Wrangell - St. Elias NP to inspire and take your breath away. We had two planes piloted by Loni and Arturo, and they were fabulous in showing different parts of the park from the air and our landing spots. Taking off and landing in tiny, bouncy bush planes is not for the faint of heart but across 4 days, we explored glaciers, went to Icy Bay where massive ice slabs were falling into the water as if on command, hiked an ice cave 500 feet high, had wonderful lunches, and did enough strenuous hiking to have a sense of exploration. Arturo is also a famous photographer so we got 100s of fabulous pictures, most incredibly a lot of Loni's plane with three of us in midair. The lodge and staff were tremendous - the food is meticulously prepared, partially from their greenhouses, and the service is impeccable with around 20 people for 8 guests. Particular kudos to Pete who materialized every single time we needed something. The meals were a blast, talking about our adventures and hearing from Paul and the pilots about adventures in Alaska. If you want off the grid, this is for you - we opted no Internet and literally heard nothing from the outside world for 4 days - glorious.

clanedavis

The Lodge is located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park under the MacColl Ridge by the Chitika River. It is in the middle of the wilderness, roughly 100 miles from the nearest road. The Lodge has several central buildings for meals and getting together. Guest stay in cabins built in the woods between the lodge and the river, all a quick walk to the Lodge. The Lodge has a limited capacity, so it is wise to plan as far in advance as you can.||||The Lodge has a substantial staff, who are both friendly and helpful. The Lodge prepares three meals a day for guests, and our experience was that the meals were consistently excellent. I should add that the Lodge was happily willing to work around some individual dietary issues. In short, the property is a jewel, in its incredible location, the care and quality of the buildings, and the warmth and hospitality of the owners and staff. ||||The primary daily activity at the Lodge centers around the small fleet of Piper Super Cub airplanes that the Lodge operates from its private runway. The planes are flown by a group of extremely experienced bush pilots who have years of familiarity with the Park. The combination of the particular aircraft and the expert pilots allows them to fly guests around the park and see the mountains, valleys, wildlife and glaciers that it is not possible to see any other way. The small planes let you see all this at extremely close range. The planes can land in very small, rough spaces, which allows the pilots to set them down on glaciers, by rivers, in mountain valleys, on mountainsides and other unexpected places. You can see the Park at almost touching distance from the air, and on the ground in places that you could never reach any other way.||||Paul Claus, whose family founded the Lodge and has run it for several generations, said that the Lodge was his home, and he wanted us to feel like we were guests in his home. It is a tribute to Mr. Claus and the whole staff that this is exactly how we felt.