- minafeld
- First Reviewer
- 5 out of 5
- Avg. Member Rating
- 11
- Reviews
-
46
- Photos
Fun Family Activity!
- July 7, 2008
- Rated 5 of 5 by
lrseward from Maumelle, Arkansas
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 and the guide does all of the paddling.
Denali Park Dog Sled Demonstration
- July 19, 2006
- Rated 4 of 5 by
dcdc75 from Vancouver, Washington
The dog-sled demonstration offered by the Denali National Park Visitor Access Centre is pretty popular and really convenient, as they provide a shuttle from the park half an hour before each demonstration. The sled dogs are actually used for winter maintenance at the park. There is also a small museum/display area highlighting the history of the dogs and sledding. Most fun are the kennels themselves, where you could pat the dogs and are encouraged to pull of their fur to help them keep cool. The dogs here are the descendants of the first few sled dogs in Alaska.
From journal Alaska: The Final Frontier
Editor Pick
Meadow View Trail
- July 14, 2006
- Rated 4 of 5 by
ramcgraw from Emerald Isle, North Carolina
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 distance through fairly flat land until you cross the park road. After crossing the park road, you will gradually gain elevation to the point where you can look down on a meadow. Many trails branch off, so pay close attention. On the trail, we saw many beautiful flowers, including lupines, wild roses, and bluebells. We also saw bear and moose scat also known as poo! Someone asked me how I knew and it was basically an educated guess based on what I know about their diets (and I'm a biologist). There are a couple of benches placed along the trail if you need to rest your legs. I didn't feel strained at all on this particular hike. The gain in elevation was very gradual. This particular trail is the newest trail around the visitor's center and therefore it is least marked. The guide at the help desk gave us good directions to follow the trail.
From journal Alaska the Beautiful
Editor Pick
Spectacular Mountain Views
- July 11, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
MilwVon from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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 mountains are beautiful, especially when you consider the glaciers and streams that make up the landscape around them.
We learned during our Tundra Wilderness Tour that valleys that are "V" shaped were created by rivers while those valleys that are more like a "U" shape have been carved out by glacier movement.
Throughout the park you could see the waterfalls as the snow melted from atop those with snow caps and from the glaciers. On the sunny afternoon, the streams below were flowing much faster (and fuller) than the gloomy, cloudy rain days.
Because of the snow and glacier melt carrying down silt into the water system, there are very few fish in the waters in Denali Park. Places like Wonder Lake have some fish and there is the Fish Creek, where we could see some fish right at the edge of the road, but nothing much to speak of. This lack of fish is partially why the brown bears (aka grizzlies) are smaller and lighter in color, as they must depend more on vegetation for their diet.
With this journal, I've included some of the more beautiful views we were treated to during our long weekend in Denali National Park.
From journal Denali National Park--God's Country!
Editor Pick
Other Wildlife of Denali National Park
- July 11, 2006
- Rated 5 of 5 by
MilwVon from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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 dozens of snowshoe hares. They were frolicking along the roadside throughout the area.
During our shuttle trip and tour we also saw a caribou (which I did snap a photo of) and a wolf (that was too fast and elusive to the camera). Wolves are throughout the park, but rarely seen. I was very disappointed that I was unable to get a photo of him. I did get a picture of this grey fox but it is a bit blurred as he too was moving pretty quickly.
As for those caribou, we saw them several times in the high meadows but they were too far out of range or in very high willows and not very visible. Photographing them was quite the challenge. We were lucky to see several along the Savage River's edge late in the afternoon/early evening which provided the best photo op during our time in Denali National Park.
From journal Denali National Park--God's Country!