Denali National Park

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Denali National Park contains 6 million acres of wilderness — with only one road! Travelers along it see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America’s tallest peak, 20,320′ Mount McKinley.

Denali National Park

Things to Do

The best time to visit Denali National Park and Preserve is between late May and early September. Whether you seek wildlife, scenery, or solitude and communion with this wild land, you will find what you are looking for in abundance.

The Denali Park Road is 92 miles long and parallels the Alaska Range, traveling through low valleys and high mountain passes. It is the only road in the park. Along its route, beautiful landscapes can be seen at every turn, and there are many opportunities to view Mount McKinley – if the normally cloudy skies permit. Wildlife can often be seen, too, though sightings are not guaranteed.

Denali National ParkDuring summer, roughly late May through early September, private vehicles may drive the first fifteen miles of this road, to a place called Savage River. The road to Savage River is paved, and features numerous pull-outs for folks to stop and snap some scenic photos.

Mount McKinley can be seen as early as Mile 9, if the day isn’t too overcast, and animals of all sorts can sometimes be seen on this stretch of road – although chances to see wildlife increase greatly with a bus trip farther down the Park Road.

Beyond Mile 15, the road turns to gravel and traffic is primarily restricted to buses. All are encouraged to take one of the many bus rides along the Denali Park Road, the sole vehicle access into the heart of the park.

There are two main types of buses in Denali – shuttle buses and tour buses. In addition, courtesy buses operate near the park entrance, connecting visitor centers and points of interest in the same area where visitors may drive their own vehicles.

Denali National Park shuttle busShuttle buses are cheaper than tour buses, and more flexible in that you may disembark and re-board anywhere along the road. Shuttle bus drivers aim to help you experience the park on your own terms. Shuttle buses stop for wildlife viewing, restroom stops and beautiful scenery, just like tour buses, but they are not narrated. There are four shuttle bus options, of varying length.

On tour buses, your driver is your narrator and he or she will provide a detailed and captivating program to accompany your journey along the Park Road. Tour buses make the same restroom stops as shuttles, and of course will pause for views of wildlife and scenery. All tours offer either a snack or full lunch. There are three tour bus options, of varying length.

Three types of courtesy buses operate on the publicly-accessible portion of the Park Road. These enable folks without vehicles, or those who wish to leave their vehicle behind, to travel between various facilities, campgrounds and day-use areas. All three types of courtesy buses are free, and none require reservations.

Day hiking, bicycling, dog sledding, and camping are allowed, but except for day hiking, a permit is required to enter the backcountry areas, and there are specific requirements for each type of activity.

Denali National Park and Talkeetna

The 6 million acres of Denali National Park and Preserve is divided into 87 separate backcountry units. Forty-two units within the Denali Wilderness have a limit on the number of individual people that can camp in each unit per night. During peak summer visitation many of these units are heavily used, so please come to the Backcountry Information Center with several alternative trip itineraries.

The lack of developed trails, bridges, or campsites means that you are free to determine your own route and discover Denali for yourself. However, with this freedom comes responsibility – responsibility for yourself and for the wilderness. Self-reliance is paramount.

You must be prepared to travel cross-country through remote terrain in harsh weather, and rescue yourself in the event of problems. It is also your responsibility to help protect the special resources and opportunities that are present at Denali by carefully following the principles of “Leave No Trace” so that your travels do not diminish the experience of those who follow you.  This means you must carry out anything you bring in, including your used toilet paper.
Denali National Park in fall colors

Bicycle Camping
If you wish to travel the Park Road by bike and camp outside of an established campground, you must obtain a backcountry permit at the Backcountry Information Center (BIC) and camp at least 0.5 mile (1.3 km) from the road with your tent out of view of the road. If you leave your bicycle overnight, it must be left 25 yards from the road and out of sight from road traffic. Bikes also must be adequately marked with the group name, backcountry permit number and date that they will be picked up. Reservations are required if you wish to stay overnight in campgrounds along the park road. To make reservations, call 1-800-622-7275 or 907-272-7275. Each Camper Bus can accommodate two bicycles.

Camping in Southern Denali
Hiking and camping south of the crest of the Alaska Range requires additional preparation and skill. This area contains ice fields, sheer rock, heavily crevassed glaciers, extremely large rivers, and very dense brush. To obtain permits to camp in these areas, contact the Talkeetna Ranger Station at 907-733-2231.

Winter Camping
Denali is an amazing place to enjoy winter activities such as snowshoeing, skiing or dog mushing. During any of these activities, folks are welcome to camp overnight in the park, though they must acquire a (free) backcountry permit in person at the winter visitor center.

Packrafting
Travel by packraft can be both fun and rewarding. Denali’s backcountry offers many possibilities for combining a day or overnight hike with packrafting. While there are many opportunities for beginners, the hazards and risks of any whitewater travel are great. You are responsible for understanding these risks and acquiring the skill and experience to be self-reliant. Never packraft alone.

Mountaineering
If you intend to ascend Denali or Mt. Foraker, contact the Talkeetna Ranger Station at 907-733-2231. Applications for permits must be received at least 60 days in advance of your expedition date. Registration is also recommended for other climbs.

Fishing
Denali National Park is not noted for its fishing. Most streams and lakes have a high glacial silt content resulting in poor fish habitat.

However, for those willing to scout out the occasional clear creeks and ponds deep enough not to freeze solid during the winter, a few fish may be caught. Lake trout are occasionally caught in Wonder Lake and grayling inhabit some of the clear streams running in the park.

History

Denali National Park

People have made their homes on lands now within the Denali park boundaries for perhaps as long as 12,000 years.

More than a century ago, two remarkable men spent the winter in a cabin not far from the Toklat River. Their experience and interaction with the wild landscape changed them. In turn, they came to have a profound influence on preserving the landscape for generations to come.

Charles Sheldon, an early conservationist and gentleman hunter from Vermont, along with Harry Karstens, a legendary outdoorsman and dog musher, struck upon an idea over the long winter to make of the place the world’s first national park established to conserve wildlife.

On June 7, 1913, four men stood on the top of Mount McKinley, or Denali as it was called by the native Koyukon Athabaskans, for the first time. By achieving the summit of the highest peak in North America, Walter Harper, Harry Karstens, Hudson Stuck and Robert Tatum made history.

By 1917, after almost a decade of hard work, Sheldon and others persuaded Congress to create Mount McKinley National Park.

One of the party, Harry Karstens, would continue to have an association with the mountain and the land around it by becoming the first superintendent of the fledgling Mount McKinley National Park in 1921, which would be renamed Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980.

Natural Features & Ecosystems

Denali showcases and protects 6 million acres (2.4 million hectares) of subarctic ecosystems with many outstanding natural features.

Fall Tundra plants in Denali National ParkWhen night darkens the skies over Denali (from August through May), under the right conditions of solar flare activity, it is possible to see the aurora! Sometimes illumined in green, sometimes in red, the aurora can take the form of curtains, sheets, banners, bands, or ribbons–dancing and waving in the crisp, clear night sky.

A long strand of the 600-mile long Alaska Range lies within the park. High peaks provide a rock-and-ice scenic backdrop. Glaciers spill out of the mountains like ribbons of ice. The Denali fault, which runs in an arc through the Alaska Range, is the source of thousands of earthquakes that rumble through the park each year.

The spine of the Alaska Range divides the park into areas “north of the Range” and “south of the Range,” that are different in precipitation (moisture), temperature, glacier size, and vegetation. The range’s foot hills add to the diversity of habitats for plants and animals.

Wonder Lake is located an 85-mile bus ride away from the Park Entrance. A trip to Wonder Lake is rewarded, on sun-sparkling days, by the image of Denali (Mount McKinley) reflected in Wonder Lake, or in nearby Reflection Pond.

Denali National Park in winter

In the right seasons, the area is renown for mosquito hordes and tasty blueberries. Ansel Adams captured his photo of Mount McKinley from a vantage point overlooking Wonder Lake.

Some of the largest glaciers in Denali are the Kahiltna Glacier and the Ruth Glacier (basically flowing south from the Alaska Range), and the Muldrow Glacier (flowing north). Some glaciers are visible from the park road (e.g., Muldrow, Polychrome). The most dramatic views of glaciers are from the air.

Mountain climbers start their ascent of Denali (Mount McKinley) from Basecamp on the Kahiltna Glacier. When conditions allow a glacier to slip along much faster than usual for a limited period of time, the glacier is said to be surging.

The most prominent feature of Denali National Park and Preserve is “the mountain” or Denali, an Athabaskan word meaning the “high one”. Officially known as Mount McKinley, this “roof of North America” includes the South Peak, the official highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet (6,166 meters), and, about two miles away, the North Peak at 19,470 feet (5,934 meters). Denali is a granite pluton massif (igneous rock that cooled slowly beneath the Earth’s surface). Uplift from tectonic activity continues.

Plants and Wildlife

Fall Tundra plants in Denali National ParkDenali’s autumn arrives early and doesn’t stay long, but brings a spectacular palette of crimson and gold. Aspen, balsam poplar, and a variety of willows turn yellow. Bearberry, blueberry, dwarf birch, and shrub birch provide the brushstrokes of red and orange.

In Denali, it is easily possible to see grizzly, wolf, Dall’s sheep, caribou, and moose all in one day.

The range of the Denali Caribou Herd is almost exclusively within the boundaries of Denali National Park and Preserve. The Denali Herd inhabits most of the park east of the Foraker River and north of the Alaska Range throughout most of the year.

Some animals of the Denali Herd will occasionally travel south of the Alaska Range toward the vicinity of Cantwell during the calving season. Biologists place great value on the research conducted on the Denali Herd because it is the only barren-ground caribou herd in North America of such a large size class that is currently not hunted.

Grizzly bear in Denali National ParkGrizzly bears (brown bears) can be seen in close proximity in areas of abundant food, such as berry patches and salmon spawning areas.

The black bear in Denali is typically confined to forested areas and is most often reported seen on the east end of the park, Kantishna Hills, and in the portions of the park on the south side of the Alaska Range.

Moose in the park tend to live in forested areas that are often close to lakes and marshes and other bodies of water. Moose are also excellent swimmers.  Moose are very large, fast animals and are aggressive when disturbed. Adult males can weigh 900-1400 pounds and females can weigh 700-1100 pounds. They have extremely long legs and stand 5-6 ½ feet at the shoulder.

Dall sheep are prevalent throughout the high mountains within the eastern and western-most portions of the park.

Wolf in Denali National ParkDenali is recognized as one of the best places in the world for people to see wolves in the wild. The red fox is also abundant, widely distributed over the park, and frequently seen. Color phases other than red occur, sometimes even in the same litters. While the most common color is red, red foxes can be black, silver or a cross between red and silver, known as a “cross fox.”

Wolverines are the largest members of the weasel family, but more closely resembles a small bear. Wolverines are powerful, aggressive, territorial, and tenacious. They make their living by being very efficient scavengers. Wolverines are built to rip into and feed on frozen flesh and bone. They have strong teeth and well-developed muscles it their head, neck, and shoulders.

Wolf in Denali National ParkWolverines rely on a diversity of prey and they will eat just about any type of meat that they can find or kill. They eat smaller mammals such as ground squirrels and rodents when they can capture them and are capable of capturing and killing prey that is much larger than themselves such as a moose or caribou.

However, more often than killing, wolverines will scavenge carcasses of animals killed by other predators, drag them away from the kill sites, and cache them for later use.

The prospects are also good for seeing lynx, snowshoe hare, marmot, pika, golden eagle, raven, and tiny Wilson’s warbler and white-crowned sparrow. Over 100 bird species call Denali home in summer, though far fewer overwinter in the park.

While Alaska boasts a population of bald eagles greater than that in all of the other 49 states combined, the mountainous regions of Denali National Park, especially north of the Alaska Range, are much better suited to golden eagles. Bald eagles are found in Denali, but primarily on the south side of the Alaska Range along waterways and lakes.

Golden eagles inhabit open and mountainous areas over most of their range, hunting in landscapes dominated by short vegetation and restricted tree cover.

There are no reptiles this far north; however, there is one lone amphibian species — the wood frog. It is adapted for life in the far north: it freezes solid in winter, and then thaws in the spring! Dinosaurs once inhabited the Denali Park region about 65 million years ago.