Denali National Park and Preserve

Denali is a diverse ecosystem is home to grizzly bears, caribou, wolves, Dall sheep and moose. To access the wonders that the park offers, the good people at the National Parks Service encourage visitors to travel by bus. The Denali shuttle system offers independence, efficiency, and many options while park tours provide narration and interpretation. The Park Service assures that either choice will get you up close to the many splendors of flora, fauna and spectacular scenery of Denali.

The Denali Entrance Area

This is where you’ll find most of the amenities of the park, such as the Denali Visitor Center, Wilderness Access Center, Murie Science and Learning Center, Riley Creek Campground, Denali Park Post Office, Riley Creek Mercantile, Railroad Depot, and trailheads (see the attached map below available to GettingOutside members – membership is free).

Activities at Denali National Park and Nature Preserve

Visitors enjoy camping, fishing, sightseeing, backpacking, hunting and mountaineering – among other outdoor activities. You will see the wilderness in all of its rising granduer when you encounter your first glimpse of the mountain range of which Mount McKinley is a part, or rather, central feature. You will have pictures and stories to tell that will last for generations. Below you can read what a one, Charles Sheldon, had to say about the park upon his first visit.

Local Flora and Fauna

39 species of mammals, 167 species of birds and more than 650 species of wild flowers, as well as many species of mosses, lichens, fungi and algae grace the slopes and valleys of Denali. The dynamic glaciated landscape provides large rivers, countless lakes and ponds for Denali’s 10 species of fish, and one species of amphibian.

As one can well imagine, the seasons play a determining factor in regards to animal life and activity in Denali. Winter is the longest, most extreme season, so the animals that spend the entire year in the park must be well-adapted to life in the subarctic.

The Spring Season

Springtime signals an increase in wildlife activity, including the waking of hibernating bears and the return of 80% of Denali’s birds. Summer is a time for preparing for migration, hibernation, and survival during winter, as well as the raising of young. But it isn’t all easy living and lipid loading, as hordes of insects, including mosquitoes, invade the park. In late summer, king and chum salmon run in the streams and rivers. With autumn in the air, migrating birds fill the skies and bull moose gather their harems of cows for the mating season.

The Majestic, Behemoth Mount McKinley

Denali National Park is sometimes known as Mount McKinley National Park, because the tallest mountain in North America is found here. Here's what Charles Sheldon, a naturalist who lived about 100 years ago, said when he first caught sight of this incredible mountain: "When I first ... saw this tremendous upheaval of mountains, this range before me with McKinley rising in the center, and the stupendous grandeur of it, my impressions were exactly the same as those given me by looking down into the Grand Canyon. One was canture carved down into the surface of the earth, and the other was the most magnificent upheaval of nature above it. At such times man feels his atomic insignificance in this universe."

Delani actually means "The High One" in the language of the local tribe of natives, named in our language the Athabaskan Indians, who populated this area before the arrival of western explorers. The park was first named Mount McKinley in 1917 after the President, but after the Alaska Lands Act, which nearly tripled the park's size, the park went back to its original name of Denali.

Directions to Denali National Park and Nature Preserve

By Car - There is one road entrance into Denali. The entrance is along Alaska Route 3 (also called the George Parks Highway) about 240 miles north of Anchorage, 120 miles south of Fairbanks, and 12 miles south of Healy - the nearest year-round community.

In Talkeetna, about 100 miles north of Anchorage and 140 miles south of the park entrance, you'll find Denali's mountaineering headquarters.

By Train - Alaska's state-owned railroad connects Anchorage to Fairbanks, and runs directly through the entrance of Denali. For more information please visit the Alaska Railroad.

By Plane - Air travel to either Anchorage or Fairbanks is the easiest entry to Alaska. Then you'll want to use a car, bus or train to reach Denali. If you are flying your own airplane to Denali visit the NPS "Flight Site."

By Public Transportation - In summer a variety of private bus and van services operate daily from Anchorage and Fairbanks. Contact a travel agent or search the web for available companies.

Note on the Park Road - The Denali Park Road is open to private vehicles for 14.8 miles to the Savage River Bridge. Public travel to destinations farther into the park requires shuttle and tour bus services. Bicycles are permitted to travel on the Park Road.

Location