spirit of the north sled dog adventures

My 11 year old son and I recently had the opportunity to go dog sledding with this group. It was, without a doubt the experience of a lifetime. To see all the beauty of Big Sky in a dog sled was truly amazing. The guides and leader were excellent, explained all about their set up, how things worked, allowed us to be a part of setting up the sleds, interact with the dogs and overall have a great time. Our guide was friendly and attentive and did an excellent job explaining everything to me and my son. Truly a thrill! I would highly recommend this for anyone in the Big Sky area as a not to be missed outing! If you do go, make sure to wear snow pants, warm boots and such....we were grateful to have all of our layers.

What a memorable way to experience the beauty of Big Sky! Our guides were very professional and provided a thorough introduction to the sport of dog-sledding. The dogs were generally very social and friendly---and clearly very excited about hitting the trail! Despite the canine cacophony as the teams were harnassed, the actual ride was silent and peaceful. There was even something very romantic about snuggling with my honey in the sled as we glided through the exquisite snowy scenery (though a team of dog butts in your face might not be everyone's vision of romance). I began to feel that we had somehow arrived in Narnia, especially when we stopped midway for a warm drink and Turkish Delight (ok, hot chocolate and cookies). But truly, this was a magical experience, not to mention great fun!

Was here with my adult daughter as part of a father/daughter weekend. This is just a blast! The scenery is beautiful, the dogs absolutely fly, and the experience is unique. The dogs are affectionate, and clearly love to run. The mushers are professional, personable, and informative. You can drive the sled if you choose, and will be given instruction whether you choose to drive or not, which was interesting. We chose to let the pro drive our sled (everyone in our group who elected to drive themselves turned the sled over at least once). You will be shown how to walk the dogs to the harnesses and will assist in harnessing the dogs for the run. Cookies, hot chocolate, and a leg stretch at the midway point was nice. Just a really fun way to spend part of a day. My daughter and I would do it again tomorrow if we could. If you are without a car (we were) they will shuttle you from your hotel.

I went on the dogsled trip with my wife, 6 year old daughter and 4 year old son. It was fantastic. The kids loved everything about if from getting to walk around petting the dogs to watching me help hook the dogs up to the sled.The guides and everyone there could not have been nicer. It was a very cold day and the provided some extra clothing and hand warmers for some of the people who were not properly prepared (I don't know that they are always able to do this so prepare yourself). The ride followed a route that had some beautiful scenery and we stopped halfway through for some hot chocolate and cookies.Our kids had a great time and it was my 4 year old sons favorite part of our trip to the Big Sky area.

When I called to make reservations, I was told that the trip would last around 2 to 2.5 hours and that everyone would be given the opportunity to "drive" the sled if they were so inclined. In reality, the time riding with the dogs was less than 1 hour. The rest of the time was spent waiting around, hitching up the dogs and paying the price of a poor decision. Our trip included 5 sleds. Each sled carried 3 people with a 4th person driving. The poor dogs could barely pull the sled. The passengers (including me) were extremely uncomfortable to be smashed into a sled with strangers. My 10 year old daughter was freezing for most of the ride because there was not enough room in the sled for her to sit so she had to ride standing in front of the guide, exposing her to the elements. In hindsight, when I saw that there was not enough room for my daughter to ride in the sled, I should have saved myself $220 (1 adult, 1 child) and left. But hopefully I can save someone else from this miserable experience by writing this review.

Our 2 and 4 year old had a terrific time on the 2 hour dog sledding trip through the wilderness of Lone Mountain in Big Sky. This was the highlight of our trip. Beautiful scenery!

The scenery is the very best running through forested trails gazing up at the mountain peaks. Hands on with the dogs and driving the sled or just gliding along warm and cozy in the covered sled. The dogs are treated well and are very friendly, great for kids and adults of all ages.

Our family of four had a wonderful time. We each got to mush a sled! We started with a safety and dog familiarization talk. We even got to help hook the dogs to our sleds. We went out on a trail that they regularly use so the dogs knew just what to do. It is so impressive how much "dog" power a team of 8 or 10 dogs can generate. We were told that each dog can generate about 50 pounds of sustained pulling force...more than enough to zip a sled along...we were cautioned to NEVER let go of the sled while driving...the dogs would just keep going!Would highly recommend for people of all ages. Also...try to go at an off-peak time...we did and had the event to ourselves.

Spirit of the North dog sledding is truly a unique experience. We were first educated on the art of dog sledding and learned to hook the dogs up to the sled. The dogs were very excited, noisy, and eager to run. We were a little hesitant to drive the sled at first, but it was great fun when we finally did. The dogs are very noisy until they start to run. Then, while running, they are totally silent. The trail is fairly short, so the actual sledding was over rather quickly. Although we enjoyed the morning and the experience, we thought the cost ($135 per person) was pretty high for such a short trip.

We went to Spirit of the North with our 15 year old and 23 year old sons. What a great time for us all! It started with an overview of the dogs and a little bit of information about dog sledding. After introducing the dogs, we learned how to hook them up and we all helped to dogs ready to go. From here we learned how to drive, got on the sleds and off we went. What a thrill! We all got to drive and enjoy the experience.

My family enjoyed this great afternoon of fun! We were given an opportunity to pet all the dogs, and then were given a brief introduction of sledding. All who wanted helped hook up the dogs. I rode in the lead sled with the owners son, JJ in control. My daughter (14) and her friend shared a sled, and my husband chose to drive with our 2- 9 year old girls. Everyone had the opportunity to drive if they wanted to. The trails provided some beautiful scenery of Lone Peak.

My husband, two daughters (ages 9 and 6) and I enjoyed an incredible afternoon dog sledding around Moonlight Basin in Big SKy, Montana. Jim and his team, including newcomer Maggie (who was fantastic!), gave us a brief introduction to dog sledding but not before ensuring that everyone in our group was wearing warm boots. Jim offered me and my husband extra "overboots" to keep the snow off our feet. We learned how to handle the dogs, attach the to the gang line and learned all about the different skills required by the dogs -- lead dogs, swing and wheel dogs. Following our introduction to dog sledding and safety lesson -- off we went! Everyone in our group, including our daughters, were afforded the opportunity to drive the sled. My husband started at the base camp -- learning from Maggie driving the team in front of us. She kept a watchful eye to make sure our family's team was doing well. When we stopped for hot chocolate and homemade cookies (a wonderful surprise!) we switched drivers and I got to drive! What a thrill! The dogs were incredibly fast! This is an adventure that you must make when visiting Big Sky in the winter months! Many, many thanks Jim and team for sharing your talent, dogs, and knowledge with us!

We come to Big Sky, MT every year and had never tried dog sledding and we are so happy we did!! It is expensive, but where else would you get the opportunity to not only ride in a dog sled, but drive it. We brought our 11 month old baby and 4 year old son (who both rode for free) and it everyone had a great time. I would say had we not had our kids, it would have been nice to get a little bit longer of a ride for the price you pay, but we were ready to be done due to having young kids with. He guides were engaging, friendly and helpful and you can be as hands on as you want or they will just bundle you up and drive you if you don't want to do a thing. Halfway through hot chocolate and cookies served.

We really enjoyed this experience - something I've wanted to do for a long time! Our youngest daughter loved it (big dog lover) and wanted to move to Big Sky after the dogsledding. It was incredibly beautiful. The only caveat is the cost relative to the length of time. I have no problem spending money on great experiences, but this is quite a lot of money for a relatively short time. I think they overbooked our ride. We had a party of 12 - 4 adults and 8 kids. We were told we would be 2 to a sled and 1 person could drive to the mid-point and the other person drive back. We ended up having 3 to a sled and only one adult drove on the way out on one of the sleds while their drivers drove on the other 2 sleds, so on the way back we had to stop twice to switch drivers. Because of that, no one got much drive time other than the one adult who drove on the way out. In talking the other people on the ride, they booked it last minute. I think they took the booking and we ended up getting shorted because of it. This didn't impact our kids having a great time, but I felt somewhat cheated. The drivers were great and they worked hard. Our daughter was upset by the way they were treating the dogs when we got back, but I didn't notice. Overall, I'm glad we did it, but I wouldn't do it a second time due to the cost.

Spirit of the North dog sledding was a first time experience for my wife and me and we were extremely glad that we took part in this adventure. After a orientation talk about the dogs and sled you are off on a terrific ride through a snowy landscape. You can just ride or you can take the opportunity to mush the dogs yourself. The round trip is about 7.5 miles and takes a bit over an hour with a stop for hot chocolate and cookies. Chris was our friendly guide and did a great job of making us welcome and having a good time. They furnish overshoes and snow pants if needed. Goggles and a scarf would be very handy if it's snowing while on your run. I wish I would have had them.