Denali National Park & Preserve Reviews (Denali, Alaska)

Denali National Park entrance area attractions

Tustin, California

August 7, 2012

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Best of IgoUgo If you want to spend any time in Denali National Park, most of the time you will visit the entrance area, whether it’s the Visitors Center, or the Wilderness Access Center (WAC.)Most people will end up seeing the Visitors Center. Those awaiting ...Read more If you want to spend any time in Denali National Park, most of the time you will visit the entrance area, whether it’s the Visitors Center, or the Wilderness Access Center (WAC.)Most people will end up seeing the Visitors Center. Those awaiting buses into the park will need to go to the Wilderness Access Center. In addition, the Alaska Railroad station is actually in the park, just across the road from the Vistors Center.

The Visitors Center and the surrounding area is the hub of activity at Denali National Park. It’s open during the summer from 8 AM to 6 PM. All of the shuttle buses from the nearby lodges will take you to the Visitors Center. The Visitors Center has public restrooms, an information desk, all sorts of displays about Denali National Park, and a theatre where they play a film about the park. The information desk inside the Visitors Center has rangers who will answer whatever questions about DNP; this is also where you sign up for the ranger guided Discovery hikes. Registration for the Discovery hikes opens 2 days prior and usually fills up quick, as each hike only has 11 spots. The rangers also have "junior ranger" programs for the kids, with little badges. The displays are quite good; some of them are stuffed animals of DNP. There is also a very interesting 3D map of DNP where you can get a better understanding of our location in the park. Apparently we are about 90 miles away from Mt. McKinley, while Talkeetna is closer at 60 miles, and that’s where most of the Mt. McKinley climbing activities originate. We watched the free 18 minute film about DNP and the different seasons and animals and plants in the park which have to adapt to the seasons. The shuttle bus to the sled dog kennels boards just outside the Visitors Center.

A short walk from the Vistors Center is the Morino Grill, a fast service restaurant (and the only restaurant) inside DNP, where you can buy snacks for a hike or sit down for a meal. There is also a coffee shop inside the building. Also next to the Morino Grill is a bookstore where you can buy books and other memorabilia for the folks back home.

There are a number of trails easily accessible from the Visitors Center. Most of the trails starting from the Visitors Center are quite easy, and could be considered a nice stroll in the woods. These trails are made with compacted gravel and are less than a mile. Some of these trails are handicap accessible. The trails intersect with other trails which lead further away, so do pay attention to the signs. There isn’t much large wildlife on the easier trails, but we did see quite a few squirrels, mosquitoes, and the occasional pile of moose "evidence." On these trails, you need mosquito spray and probably still a good idea to bring a bell or something to warn any large animals, or just talk loudly.

The Wilderness Access Center sits between the entrance from the highway and the Visitors Center. The main purpose of the Wilderness Access Center is to board buses that will go into the park. The WAC is a regular stop for the shuttle buses from the lodges as well. You can purchase bus tickets, as well as pay the park entrance fee in the WAC. The WAC has a coffee shop that also sells snacks and packaged sandwiches which you can pack for a hike. There are also tall water bottle filling stations as well.

While private buses aren’t allowed on National Park Road, DNP has two types of buses which go in to the park. The green buses are shuttle buses which take you to specific places, such as a Discovery Hike location, or simply go up and down the road, and the various stops along the way. The tan buses are actual narrated tour buses and more expensive than the green buses. Both types of buses will stop for wildlife viewing. On our Discovery Hike shuttle, we saw bears and Dall Sheep off to the side, and even moose and a herd of Dall Sheep blocking the road. A bus ride from the WAC to the end of the 92 mile road at Kantishna and back will take around 11 hours. The reason it takes so long is due to the stops for wildlife viewing, some bathroom stops, and the fact that buses going uphill generally stop and let opposing buses go past. At times, the National Park Road looks like an episode of "worlds deadliest roads" with the narrow gravel roads that hug the sides of the mountains.

If you take the train into Denali, you’ll arrive at the Alaska Railroad depot, where there will be throngs of buses form the various lodges awaiting you. Some buses are very apparent, such as the ones with the Princess logo on the side, others are contract buses to handle the overflow of all the guests arriving at once by train. The rail depot is very straightforward, one platform for both directions, a bunch of covered waiting areas, as well as a building housing the ticket counter and a coffee shop/gift store. There are only two trains that stop here each day, one northbound from Anchorage and the other southbound from Fairbanks. Take the bus to your lodge, most, if not all, of the shuttle buses are free. I was foolhardy enough to look at the map before we arrived and decided we could walk the three miles to our lodge, but my friends talked me out of it.

The Denali National Park entrance area has something for everyone, from the easy trails off the Visitors Center, or from the WAC taking a bus to an off-trail hike, or seeing the dog sled demonstration. It's fun and highly educational. Your Denali adventure will begin there. I say begin because there is much more to do and see inside the park, but the entrance area has pretty much all you need to start off. Close

From journal The Great One - Denali National Park

King of the mountain! - A Discovery Hike in Denali.

by stvchin

Tustin, California

July 26, 2012

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Best of IgoUgo Denali National Park (DNP) has free ranger guided off-trail hikes, called Discovery Hikes or Disco Hikes. DNP is the only National Park with off-trail ranger guided hikes. There are 2 Disco Hikes each day, and you must sign up in person starting 2 ...Read more Denali National Park (DNP) has free ranger guided off-trail hikes, called Discovery Hikes or Disco Hikes. DNP is the only National Park with off-trail ranger guided hikes. There are 2 Disco Hikes each day, and you must sign up in person starting 2 days before the hike in person. The signup sheets are at the Visitor Center and limited to 11 hikers each, so be sure to sign up quickly. They vary from moderately hard to strenuous. The location of the hikes are pretty much at random, but generally start off at the side of the Denali Park Road where the shuttle bus drops you off.

On Monday, we went to the Visitor Center to sign up for either of the Wednesday Disco Hikes, but they were both full. We returned Tuesday to sign up for a Thursday Disco Hike. We noticed that the Disco Hike marked "moderate" was already full, but there were plenty of spaces left on the one marked "strenuous" that climbed up to Mt. Polychrome and had a total length of around 4 miles. We signed up for the strenuous Disco Hike and the rangers said the shuttle bus leaves from the Wilderness Access Center at 8:30AM and prepare for a 5 hour hike with a 5 to 6 hour round trip bus ride. While the Disco Hikes are free, there is a $10 park entrance fee (unless you have one of those annual passes that allow entry to most all National Parks) and a $34 charge for a Discovery Shuttle Bus (return trip is included.)

On the day of the hike, we showed up at the Wilderness Access Center (WAC,) where you can buy the bus pass and pay the park entry fee. The WAC also has water bottle refilling stations, a coffee/sandwich shop where you can buy food and snacks, including trail mix for morning hikes. The Disco Hike bus is one of the green shuttle buses, and only took on the two daily Disco Hikers as passengers. One of the rangers boarded the Disco Hike bus with us and gave an overview of her hike. She said our ranger would meet us at our drop-off point. On the bus ride in, we did see some wildlife, including a Dall sheep up close, and later on, a grizzly bear and her two cubs in the distance.

A few hours later, the bus reached our drop off point and were met by our Disco Hike Ranger. There were a total of eight hikers on our Disco Hike. The ranger gave us a quick safety briefing, including his gear, which included first aid kits, a radio, as well as books on the flora and fauna of the area. He gave us a quick overview of our anticipated route up to Mt. Polychrome, where we could see Mt. McKinley on a clear day, unfortunately for us, it was a cloudy day. It seems to me that the rangers are avid outdoor enthusiasts who are very educated on the area and the wildlife. Some of us had mosquito spray handy, and we definitely needed it. My two friends and I had applied it before the bus ride, but decided to reapply it as the bus ride was almost 2.5 hours.

We started off away from the Denali Park Road and up a creek bed. Due to the terrain, we had to cross the creek numerous times. Sometimes we hiked in low underbrush, but mostly on river rock. Our ranger was talking with everybody, from socializing a bit, to answering all sorts of questions about Denali, the terrain, and personal questions too. He was pretty good at making all of us feel comfortable.

As we followed the creek bed area up Mt. Polychrome, the view backwards showed a wonderful view of the Alaska Range to the south of us. The view ahead of us was looking taller and taller. We saw a Dall sheep on a ridge to our left looking at us. Eventually we encountered a caribou grazing at a valley between two slopes. The ranger decided to take a route away from the caribou and we ascended up a little steeper.

We eventually started climbing up to a 25 or 30 degree slope of loose river rocks, and noticed the vegetation was thinning out, as well as the mosquitoes. We couldn’t follow the creek anymore as the slope became unclimbable, and in a few places, the creek was a waterfall. We climbed up a steep 45 degree slope made of loose rocks, mostly sharper rocks, instead of the rounded river rocks. One really had to plan each step, and most either used their hands to help climb, or their hiking poles. It was a grueling climb, but we made our way to the top of one of Mt. Polychrome’s peaks and stopped for lunch. It’s a great view from here, and quite worth it, even if it was cloudy. It’s a bit windy up here too, as there is no longer a slope on one side to block the wind. Our ranger pointed out where Mt. McKinley would have been visible, as well also other geographic features, such as the Polychrome Glaciers, which aren’t on Mt. Polychrome, but visible from it.

It was hard to imagine that we had taken about 3 hours to get to this point. We were so engrossed in hiking that time passed quite quickly. After a brief lunch, our ranger said we’d hike along a trail created by Dall sheep, which followed the ridges of the peaks onto the tallest peak of Mt. Polychrome. We had walked on the ridge past a few peaks when we spotted a Dall sheep on a ridge directly in our way. The Dall sheep kept staring at us, sometimes retreating back a few feet. Eventually we closed to within about 50 yards of it, and the Dall sheep stood its ground. The ranger decided to take a route safely below and around the Dall sheep. It was more work, but there was no objection, as everybody understood that we were in the Dall sheep’s environment. Plus we didn’t want to get rammed off the mountain.

Going sideways on the slope is much harder than it appears, as you have to walk on a 45 degree slope and on loose rocks. Again, this was slow and grueling progress, but nobody complained and everybody soldiered on. The entire time, the Dall sheep was staring down the mountain at us idiots. We eventually made it onto a shorter ridge and walked down a shallower slope of loose rock to the valley below.

We descended back to the vegetation, and walked along the creek and eventually back to the road. Our entire hike took about 6 hours, but time passed by so quickly. Our ranger waited for a green shuttle bus and made sure that we were all on board. I think we started off around 3500 feet and went up to around 5500 feet at one of Mt. Polychrome’s peaks. Although our Discovery Hike was quite strenuous, it was fun, educational, and rewarding, all at the same time. Our ranger was excellent, and kept us motivated and going at a comfortable pace. While the hike was at times like light mountain climbing, and quite grueling at times, I’d do it all over again, preferably when there are no clouds.

TIPS: Bring mosquito spray, a sandwich with no veggies to make it soggy, trail mix, and a camelbak type water supply, as it's easier to take a few quick sips when hiking. Gaiters or high boots are suggested. Hiking poles are helpful, but bring gloves if you don't have them (for gripping the rocks.) Close

From journal The Great One - Denali National Park

Three Wonderful Days in Spite of the Weather

by MilwVon

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

September 21, 2010

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Best of IgoUgo Denali National Park & Preserve is home to North America’s highest peak of the same name although you will hear many refer to her at Mount McKinley. Locals however, prefer her native name, Mount Denali. While summer is a glorious time in ...Read more Denali National Park & Preserve is home to North America’s highest peak of the same name although you will hear many refer to her at Mount McKinley. Locals however, prefer her native name, Mount Denali. While summer is a glorious time in Denali, we were very excited about taking in the experience as fall takes over. We were here the last week of August, which is still technically summer but make no mistake about it, fall was clearly in the air and the minds of the park’s wildlife!

We arrived late afternoon on Saturday, with our TEK shuttle passes good for Sunday and Monday, with Sunday’s being our "reserved seat" day. We met the shuttle just outside the campground at the main road at 7:30am to being our 60+ mile trek into the park. It was a cool day with drizzle rains that were intermittent throughout our ride through the park. Unfortunately, with the rain and cool weather came heavy clouds and low hanging fog. Much of the visibility throughout the park was diminished significantly. Mattered not however, as there were beautiful meadows bursting with color. I did not realize how many different hues of red, orange and yellow existed.

Because we had plans to take the shuttle into the park again on Monday, we opted to say with our same bus group on Sunday, only getting off for the planned stops along the way including a nice long one (about an hour) at Eielson Visitor Center at the 66 mile marker (MM) along with shorter stops at Polychrome (MM 46 – for photos only), Tolkat (MM53 – for restrooms and visitors center) and the terminus of Wonder Lake (MM 85 – restrooms and photos).

Shortly after leaving our campground, we saw two very large bull moose with huge antlers. One had shed all of his velvet while the other was still scraping away on trees to remove his. We also saw moose relatively close to the road in a pond at approximately the MM75 before Wonder Lake. On the way back towards the park entrance we saw more wildlife including a grey wolf and several pairs of bears (moms with cubs) high up in the meadows (almost too far away to see or photograph them).

The next day was much better for animals including two bears that were right near the road and that scampered behind our bus while wrestling. We also saw more moose and a group of rams, although pretty far away from the road. The weather was a bit better on Monday, which allowed us more time to explore along the way at the visitors centers.

Tuesday morning was our transition day to Talkeetna, so we left our campsite around 7:00am. On the road out, we did see a small herd of around 10 or 12 caribou, a large bull moose and a beautiful black wolf . . . right on the road! I felt really fortunate to see the wolf as when he saw us, he darted down a service road. We stopped the motorhome in hopes that he’d return to the road . . . and he did. I got several nice photos of him as he pranced towards us and alongside the RV.

For those visiting Denali National Park, there is a $10 per person or $20 per vehicle fee which is good for seven (consecutive) days. For those who plan on enjoying the splendor of Denali more frequently, there is an annual $40 pass available. Of course park admission is free to those who have supported the US Park Service through the purchase of their "American the Beautiful" park pass.

The US Park Service has been able to maintain the wildness of Denali by limited access to vehicles. There is a 92 mile road into and through the park, but only shuttle and authorized tour buses may go beyond the Savage River at mile marker (MM) 14. The exception to this is for those camping at Tek and others who may visit before or after the summer season, weather permitting.

One fantastic off-season option is the Denali Road Lottery, whereby 400 vehicles a day for the four-day weekend two weeks after Labor Day may traverse as far into the park as the weather and confidence in driving allows. The sheer cliff drop offs at Polychrome Pass should not be underestimated and demand total respect!

Inside and throughout the park there are a number of ranger/visitors centers with restrooms and comfortable resting points. Visitors should come prepared, however, with plenty of water and food to fully enjoy their day in the Alaskan wild.
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From journal US National Parks in Alaska - Bears and More!

Fun Family Activity!

by lrseward

Maumelle, Arkansas

July 7, 2008

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This was a great way to spend some family time in the Denali area. The rafting trip takes you down the Nenana River. The guides were very good at assisting everyone into their dry suits. We did the rafting trip that is suitable for ages 5 and up ...Read more

Meadow View Trail

by ramcgraw

Emerald Isle, North Carolina

July 14, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo We started our hike at the visitor's center help desk. They have maps of the surrounding trails and will point you to the trailheads. The trail is well established with gravel most of the way so you don't get too muddy. The trail leads for a short ...Read more

From journal Alaska the Beautiful

Denali National Park & Preserve

by MilwVon

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

July 11, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo Denali National Park is a leisurely five hour drive from Anchorage, although you can probably make it in around four if you want to. We enjoyed taking our time and enjoying the views, in spite of the rainy and overcast skies.As you get to within an ...Read more

From journal Alaska - The Last American Frontier!

Spectacular Mountain Views

by MilwVon

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

July 11, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo The Alaskan Mountain range around Denali are very impressive. Given that we could not really see Mt. McKinley during our three day visit to the Denali area, the mountains that we did see just had to do. Not that we were settling by any means. These ...Read more

From journal Denali National Park--God's Country!

Other Wildlife of Denali National Park

by MilwVon

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

July 11, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo The park was full of wildlife, large and small. On the first evening that we arrived to the area, we did drive the first 14 miles that private passenger vehicles are permitted to the Savage River crossing. It was late, probably 8:00pm and we saw ...Read more

From journal Denali National Park--God's Country!

The Moose of Denali National Park

by MilwVon

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

July 11, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo We didn't see as many moose as we expected, but we were treated to a couple of very large and impressive bull moose! Our shuttle driver said that for this early in the year, the one moose had a huge rack. You could still see the light fur coating ...Read more

From journal Denali National Park--God's Country!

The Dall Sheep of Denali National Park

by MilwVon

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

July 10, 2006

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Best of IgoUgo While were were lucky to see them down around the Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage, there is nothing like seeing the large rams that are the picturesque representation of Denali National Park!While riding the shuttle or tour buses through the park, ...Read more

From journal Denali National Park--God's Country!

IgoUgo

Denali National Park & Preserve

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