Chena Kennel
Please call our Activity Center at (907) 451-8104 x 3 to obtain the latest information on trail conditions, which can change throughout the seasons. All dog cart or dog sled rides operate based on weather, trail and safety conditions.
It is our desire that our guests have the most fulfilling Alaskan experience possible. There is no other sport more unique to Alaska than dog mushing! When you visit to the Kennel, you will leave with a better knowledge of this amazing sport. The Kennel consists nearly 100 Alaskan bred dogs, who CAN’T WAIT to show you what they can do!
The Chena Hot Springs Kennel offers a year round sled dog experience. During the snow-covered months of winter, dog sled rides (1 and 1/2 miles) are in an authentic freight sled, which holds four adults (sharing the sled with other guests may be required). It is available for $60 per adult (operates depending on weather, trail and safety conditions).
After the snow melts from the trails, the Dog Kennel offers dog cart rides at $60 per adult (operates depending on weather, trail and safety conditions). Up to six passengers at a time are pulled by a twelve to eighteen dog team. In the fall before it snows, and early winter, when the snow is too thin to run our large freight sled and too slick for our dog cart, we offer one passenger rides in our touring sled at $60 per adult, with a team of five to six dogs (minimum of 2 inches of snow pack on trail to operate, also depending on weather, trail and safety conditions).
Please call the Activity Center to obtain information on trail conditions, which can change throughout the season (907) 451-8104 x 3.
Regardless of the trail conditions, a kennel tour is always available at 3PM daily for $20 per adult! Joining a kennel tour is a great way to ask all of the questions you may have about dog mushing, and to learn about this fascinating sport! We cater our kennel tours to our guest, so the more you want to learn and the more questions you ask, the more we’ll teach you!
The Chena Hot Springs Kennel is a touring, non-competitive kennel, giving us the opportunity to ‘employ’ mostly rescued dogs. We get our K-9 athletes from sled-dog rescue organizations, the animal shelter, and from other mushing kennels. We no longer breed our own dogs here at Chena; in fact, all of females are now spayed! There is an abundance of able bodied sled dogs in need of good working homes, and we are able to provide that here.
Even though the Chena Kennel doesn’t have our own breeding program, we do on occasion have puppies for our guests to enjoy. We borrow puppies from other mushers and let our guests help socialize them! If there are puppies in the kennel, it is usually between the months of April and October. We look forward to seeing you very soon!