This is one of the world’s most remote places to stay – 6,000ft above sea level, £26,000 per night, and only accessible by helicopter

•  Sheldon Chalet is an exclusive-use mountain chalet sitting on a 6,000ft ridge in Alaska’s Denali National Park 
• Activities include full moon glacier trails, backcountry skiing, and glacier picnics 
• Acclaimed to be the best place in the world to see the Northern Lights  
• It costs over £26,000 per night to stay

Think you’ve stayed somewhere remote? Well, think again.  

This wondrous mountain chalet in Alaska’s Denali National Park is one of the world’s most remote holiday destinations. 

 Image credit: Sheldon Chalet  

Caption: The chalet is only accessible via an exclusive private helicopter  

 Perched on a ‘nunatak’ (an isolated rock) on a 6,000ft ridge above the Don Sheldon Amphitheater on the flanks of North America’s highest mountain, Denali, this chalet takes remote travel to another level. 

 Providing ultimate seclusion, there are no roads, railways, or walking trails to access the chalet, and the closest town of Talkeenta is 55 air miles away. As a result, the only way to access the chalet is by private helicopter, which is exclusively owned by the Sheldon family are the only ones allowed to land in the park, however there are other companies that are allowed to fly over. 

The Mountain House has been run since 1966, the chalet was built in 2014 then officially opened to guests in 2018. The Sheldon Chalet was later built in 2014 after the Sheldon family found Don’s original construction plans to build his dream chalet before he unexpectedly passed away in the 1970’s. Honouring Don’s dreams, his son Robert and daughter-in-law Marne, brought Sheldon Chalet to life. Three generations later, today the chalet is managed by Robert and Marnie Sheldon and their son, Ryan, who each help to carefully curate every guest’s stay. 

 Located on five private acres (the only privately owned land in Denali), It runs entirely on solar-generated energy during summer months, and accommodates just ten guests at a time on an exclusive-use basis. The five-bedroom chalet provides a truly intimate, one-of-a-kind experience for travellers, with each room providing spectacular views of the Denali mountains.  

Image credit: Sheldon Chalet  

Caption: Guests have exclusive access to the entire chalet during their stay  

 Guests staying at the family-run Sheldon Chalet also have one of the highest chances to witness the Northern Lights in the entire world. Also known as the ‘aurora borealis’, Sheldon Chalet guests can experience this phenomenon during the long Alaskan winter nights when there are just four hours of daylight, and the lights illuminate the hundreds of peaks surrounding the chalet. 

 Image credit: Sheldon Chalet  

Caption: Guests experience awe-inspiring light shows  

 Unsurprisingly, there is no wi-fi at the chalet, meaning guests are truly disconnected from the outside world. The family encourages guests to immerse themselves in the natural outstanding beauty that surrounds them during their stay. With access to truly unique, once in a lifetime activities including aurora viewing, full moon glacier trails, gourmet glacier picnics, ice climbing and meteor shower gazing, Sheldon Chalet is beyond anything guests have ever known. 

 Image credit: Sheldon Chalet  

Caption: Guests take part in unique activities to explore the surrounding Denali National Park  

 When it comes to food, guests enjoy meals carefully curated by the the chalet’s resident chefs who create delectable dishes using locally sourced Alaskan ingredients and tailor bespoke menus for every individual guest. One of Sheldon Chalet’s chefs has been known to cook for U.S. presidents and Hollywood stars, while the other is a keen hunter and fisherman who ties this into the culinary experience that he offers. All staff at Sheldon Chalet are Alaska-born. The first thing guests are greeted with once they exit the private helicopter is an Alaskan seafood extravaganza, paired with Champagne. 

 One guest who stayed at the chalet commented: “I felt so small. It was so massive. I felt completely inconsequential when I was there. I thought, how did I even get here? I had tears in my eyes”. 

 Another guest claimed that their stay was ‘spiritually intoxicating’.