Denali National Park
Trip Assistant
How Much Time?
As things are now (the park road being closed at Mile 43), I wouldn’t spend much time here unless you splurge and fly in to Kantishna and stay at one of the backcountry lodges (but that costs $$$$). While you’ll have the opportunity for decent Denali views driving up to the park, but all the best views from Denali Park Road are beyond Mile 43 (at spots like Stony Hill, Eielson Visitor Center, Reflection Pond, etc.). It’s even worth considering postponing a trip here until the $100M suspension bridge is complete.
Need to Know
- Park Road is closed at Mile 43 until summer 2025 (at the earliest).
- You can still fly into Kantishna and stay at one of the backcountry lodges.
- You can only drive to mile 15 of Park Road. The rest is restricted to park/lodge buses and shuttles and Teklanika River campers.
- Tour/Transit buses typically run from mid-May until mid-September.
Highlights
- Denali/McKinley (whatever you want to call it 🙂
- Stony Hill
- Reflection Pond
- Sled Dog Demonstrations
- Wonder Lake
- Park Road
Activities
- Bus/Shuttle Tours
- Hiking
- Backpacking
- Mountaineering
- Whitewater Rafting
- Biking
- Flightseeing
- Fishing
Favorite Trails
It’s mostly trailless wilderness, but the one hike to do is Eielson Alpine.
When To Go?
Weather
Visitation
The park is open year-round, and they typically begin plowing the road in February, but buses don’t start running until mid-May.
Park Map Downloads
Road Trips
Helpful Tools
Below you'll see a Google Map for the three road-accessible Alaskan parks. It’s a good start, but I’d highly recommend making your own. Google My Maps, Wanderlog, and TripIt are incredibly useful trip planning tools. Find what works best for you!
There’s much more to our country. Here’s another Google Map with points of interest across all types of public land.
For campers, here’s a Google Map with National Forest campgrounds. National Park campgrounds are difficult to reserve (there are about 200!). With nearly 5,000 national forest campgrounds, you can usually pull in and find a spot.
Highlights
I don't know Alaska nearly as well as I'd like. My time and money have been better spent in the Lower 48 where more people go and the parks have a lot more going on (even though they're tiny compared to Alaskan parks).
If you like this, please check out my books or Buy Me a Coffee (more likely some fuel 🙂