Willow Creek Tours

07/12/2024

Introducing Max🕺🏻 one of the most social members of the Team. Always ready to meet new friends and make you feel welcome. He has a mellow demeanor and is always up for some love - ear scratches being his favorite. If there is an extra seat on your raft Max is always ready for a float trip - He lives in the moment and makes every trip count!
Max’s Motto: Wag More Bark Less.

07/12/2024

Sunshade or Rainshade - We have you covered! ☂️ 🌞
Take a 3 Hour Tour and a much needed break from your drive.
Going North? Headed South? Stop in and let us show you our backyard. 🦅 🦫 🫎

06/21/2024

A few captures from our guests over the last week.
🌸1. High bush Cranberry in Bloom
🦫2. & 3. Birch trees left by the Beavers
🐚4. Willow Creek Beach
🌿4. Bluebells and Lady Ferns.

Getting off the road system for break in nature gives you an excuse to really appreciate some Alaskan beauty.

06/07/2024

🪹 We found an old Robin nest and people are fascinated with the construction of these little egg homes!

🪺 In a robin couple, a male brings his
female partner nesting material as she constructs the robins' nest. The female builds the cup-like nest with mud using her “wrist” for the foundation and lines it with grasses, twigs and other plant material before laying bright blue robin eggs.

🐣 Caring for baby robins usually requires around 13 days in the nest and several more days after they leave or fledge. Both parents feed the young. A pair of American robins feeding a hungry family deliver 100 to 150 meals a day to the nest. Each baby robin may eat its weight in insects, worms and berries in a day.

05/19/2024

🐾 River Otters are always a treat to watch, but more often than not we see ‘sign’ of this shy creature along the banks of Willow Creek.

🏊🏼 Otters are graceful swimmers and propel themselves in the water by paddling or vertically flexing their hindquarters and thick tails.

🤿 They can swim at about 6 miles per hour and can go faster for short distances by “porpoising” along the surface. River otters dive to depths of at least 60 feet (18 m) and can stay submerged for more than 4 minutes.

🏃🏻 They can run as fast as a man and on hard snow or ice reach speeds of more than 15 miles per hour (24 km/hr) by alternately
running and sliding.

🛌 💤 About half of a river otter's time is spent sleeping.

Stopping to take pictures or check out a gravel bar is always an option on our tours. We love to explore as much as you do!

05/04/2024

👍🏼Test run on the River with the new Bimini Top! Willow Creek Tours has got you Covered!

👏🏻 Made it down without any snags 😮‍💨

🌧️ Rainy Days are a little more comfortable for our guests.

🦅 🪹 Watched the eagles by the nest today.

🦆 Followed some mallards, mergansers and a small flock of green winged teal. A great day!

04/26/2024

04/26/2024

🧊 Winter stoneflies are so named because they are among the earliest insects to emerge from cold streams, often appearing on ice and snow on the river before the ice breaks up.

☀️ Their dark pigment helps them warm up on cold days by absorbing sunlight.

🪰 If you walk down to the water's edge and do not see stoneflies, be still for a little while.
Stoneflies, which are not true flies, can be recognized by their wings that fold flat over their backs and their two tails.
In contrast, mayflies another group of winged aquatic insects, hold their wings vertically and have three tails.

🎣 Trout overwintering in streams where snowflies occur will cue in on hatches of winter stoneflies during a time of year when most other insects are not available.

👍🏼 The presence of stoneflies is often viewed as a sign of good water quality, because they are highly vulnerable to pollution.

04/14/2024

April 13th is our earliest run to date. Technically challenging and shallow, but we accomplished a lot with the chainsaw and clean up. Blue skies were rejuvenating and we happened to see some wildlife along the banks of Willow Creek. More on those pictures later! How did we manage the Take Out? Snowmachine of course! Springtime Alaska Style!

04/11/2024

🫎 In late winter when food sources are lean, moose strip bark from trees like willow and aspen and eat it. Cambium is what they want, which is the layer underneath the bark where the vascular system of the tree is found.

Cambium is rich in nutrients and it will keep the moose going during the wintertime. Porcupines and beavers also eat tree bark.
Although it's the inner bark, cambium, that's the most nutritious part, moose eat everything they scrape.

🦷 Moose scrape the bark off with their front teeth. Because moose only have lower front teeth, or incisors, they must scrape upward, digging deep scratches into the tree.

🌿 Moose thrive on green summer vegetation like willow leaves, and nitrogen-rich plants that grow in water. In summer when fireweed is thick, a moose wouldn't even consider eating bark. They do employ a somewhat similar strategy with fireweed, running the stem through their mouth and stripping the leaves off with their teeth and tongue.

🚣🏻‍♂️👍🏼 We are looking forward to a new season of sightseeing trips and observing some of our Alaskan wildlife along the river. This photo was taken on our property just a few miles from Willow Creek. Get your binoculars packed and get ready for your upcoming adventure!

07/16/2023

Guests are often surprised at how quickly we leave the road system behind and become immersed in the wilderness.

Willow Creek State Park boasts 3,583 acres of undeveloped land and over 5 miles of river frontage.

Willow Creek Tours is the perfect way to get you off the road into the wild!

07/05/2023

Do you have a furry friend you would like to include on your sightseeing tour? Because we ‘pawsitively’ love dogs. If your pet has some experience on the water we would love to include them on your nature float. Please give us a call to discuss the details.

07/01/2023

Mr. Sun decided to grace us with his presence! While our guests were basking in some Vitamin D we decided to try out a potential future guide on the sticks 👍🏼 so bust out the sunscreen and celebrate the sun with a float down the river. We offer three trips a day and can customize your trip with enough notice. Book with us online or call for your sightseeing adventure.

06/25/2023

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the arctic roses! Everything is in bloom along the river banks right now. Today this lively group of alaskan ladies had a blast floating in the sunshine. Just a reminder that tourist trips aren’t just for tourists! Let us show you around 🌸🌊🌞

06/18/2023

Rain or shine, there is always something to see along the river. We provide overshoes if needed and lifejackets. Our guests always seem to provide the smiles!

Check out our website for additional information or just give us a call. We always have time to answer questions and to help you plan the logistics for your journey.

www.tour-ak.com

06/13/2023

We enjoyed watching these two yesterday despite the rainy conditions! 🌧️ 🐦

Arctic terns have one of the longest migrations of any animal, which range from the Arctic to the Antarctic — a distance of, at minimum, 25,000 miles round-trip.

Arctic terns mate for life and will often form large breeding colonies.

These coastal waterbirds have long lifespans and typically live to be between 20 - 30 years old. One Arctic tern was recorded living to be age 34. By the end of their life, an average individual Arctic tern may have flown 1.5 million miles, the equivalent of traveling around the Earth 60 times.

05/26/2023

Matt and Tasha Elkins who own and operate Lone Wolf Tattoo Ak provided Willow Creek Tours with new signage!

We highly recommend Matt for any design work and business signage you may need. We were so pleased with not only Matt’s attention to detail, but also being easy and fun to work with. We love our little community of local businesses!

Thank you Matt Elkins and Tasha Elkins 👍🏼

05/19/2023

The beginning of every season we float Willow Creek with chainsaws and garbage bags. The river can change drastically after the winter months, and we like to keep our float safe and clean. During our exploration we were lucky enough to find not just one moose shed but the matching pair!

Male calves develop a hair-covered, bony protuberance by the end of summer that persists through their first year. Following this initial development, antlers are grown each summer and shed during winter throughout the bull’s life.

Keep your eyes open while floating the river, many treasures can be found!

05/09/2023

We are lucky to see many eagles on Willow Creek. Bald eagles will reuse a nest year after year to house their eggs. Eggs are laid mid to late May. Although they spend winters and migrations alone, bald eagles maintain the same breeding pair year after year. A mated eagle pair finds a nesting site and produces offspring each year.

05/06/2023

First launch! Helllloooo Springtime. 👍🏼

05/04/2023

Welcome to Willow Creek Tours!

We offer 3 hour wildlerness rafting tours, exploring the best of Willow Creek State Park. The sightseeing trips are experienced from the comfort and safety of our rafts.

Willow Creek is an ideal habitat for many mammals and birds. Most noticeable are the water dwellers; beavers, salmon and waterfowl. Nesting bald eagles along with the occasional moose, mink and river otter can also be observed.

Just sit back and relax, we will do all the work while you enjoy the scenery!