Seward Helicopter Dog Sled Tour Experience
This seward helicopter dog sled tour combines glacier flight-seeing with hands-on mushing on an active snowfield. You'll lift off from Seward and land at a remote dog camp where Iditarod mushers train their teams year-round. After meeting the sled dogs and learning about mushing traditions, you'll ride behind a team across the ice before your return flight over crevasse fields and alpine valleys. Book seward helicopter dog sled tour tickets directly to secure your preferred departure.
Most visitors to Alaska never reach the alpine camps where Iditarod mushers condition their dogs between October and May. These training sites sit at elevations above 3,000 feet on the Godwin and Punchbowl glaciers, accessible only by helicopter or ski plane.
Seward's location at the terminus of the Seward Highway, 127 miles south of Anchorage, positions it as the primary launch point for glacier dog sledding operations. The town's proximity to the Harding Icefield and its predictable coastal weather patterns make year-round flights feasible.
The practice of flying sled dogs to high-altitude snow began in the 1980s when veteran mushers needed consistent training surfaces during warm summers. Godwin Glacier, a four-mile expanse of consolidated névé at 4,200 feet, became the preferred site. By 1995, commercial operators secured permits from the Chugach National Forest to offer passenger seats on supply flights. Today's seward helicopter dog sled tour operations run Bell 206 and AS350 aircraft, each configured for five passengers plus the pilot. Flight time to the glacier averages twelve minutes outbound.
The dogs themselves are Alaskan huskies, a working breed distinct from the Siberian husky. Teams training on Godwin typically consist of sixteen dogs, rotated in groups of eight to prevent overheating even at altitude. Mushing companies maintain permanent canvas wall tents and plywood platforms on the glacier, replacing them each spring after avalanche season. Handlers live in two-week rotations, ferrying food and veterinary supplies via the same helicopters that carry tourists.
Visitors participate in a condensed version of the musher's routine: selecting dogs from the tie-out line, fitting nylon harnesses, attaching the gangline's tug loops, and riding the runners for a mile-long loop. The sleds are basket-style freight models, heavier and more stable than racing sleds. Snow conditions vary by month—dense corn snow in summer, wind-scoured hardpack in winter. Handlers brief passengers on voice commands: "hike" to start, "gee" and "haw" for turns, "whoa" to stop. Most rides last fifteen minutes, followed by thirty minutes of ground time for photographs and questions before the return flight.
1 hr 30 min
