Denali National Park & Preserve: Home of the “Great Mountain”

20,310′ Above sea level. The top of Denali, the highest peak in North America. Have you been to the top, or gazed at this humbling mountain? If not read all about it here. Denali National Park and Preserve does include the Mountain of which it is named after, Denali, with the bragging right mentioned earlier. Yet, there is so much more, Six million acres!

Signed into legislation as “Mount McKinley National Park” in 1917, it wasn’t until 2016 on the parks 100th anniversary that is was officially changed to “Mt Denali National Park and Preserve” after years of debate. According to references, early native language names for the mountain translate to “the tall one” or “mountain-big”. Along the way, later explorers described it as “stupendous snow mountains” and “the great mountain”. It was originally proposed to be the first national park with the goal to preserve wildlife from the advancing railroad at the time. So, not surprisingly, you will be amazed at the diverse wilderness and the wildlife it supports.

Trail Details

• Length: Many trails to choose and off trail hiking available.
• Difficulty Level: Easy to Very difficult
• Camping: $20-$40 roughly (Free in winter). There are 8 campgrounds within the park; check out this link for availability and if they are open. Backpacking info is found here.
• Permits/Fees: Entrance Fee of $15 per person 16 yrs and older (Annual Pass $45) [The Us Park Pass $80]
• Favorite season:
• Pets: Check out this link for more details
  • Pets may be walked on the park road, in parking lots, or on campground roads
  • In general, pets are not permitted on park trails, nor off-trail in the wilderness; the exceptions to this rule are the Roadside Trail and the Bike Path, where they may be walked on leash. Check out a map of hiking trails to orient yourself.
  • Pets are not permitted on any of the various buses in Denali

What to expect:

• Terrain
• Water
• Wildlife: Bear, Wolves, Dall Sheep, Moose, Caribou, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Loons, Trumpeter Swans, to name a few…

Location & Trails

Denali National Park and Preserve is located in Alaska, USA. According to the National Park Service, “One of the reasons Denali exists is to provide people with a place to explore a trail-less wilderness, and a result of this is a limited trail network.” Visit their site (linked above) for more information. However, some trails can be found. Check out these trails on Alltrails. You can choose a short hike of 0.5 miles to a more strenuous 38+ miles.

May 20- mid-September, cars can enter and drive the first 15 miles of the park road. Beyond that is mainly for buses. Denali has one road and therefore, one entrance. The road is simply called the Denali Park Road and is about 92 miles long. It starts in a low area and then climbs through mountain terrain. The entrance is off of Alaska highway 3 at mile 237 of highway 3 (mile 0 is at Anchorage Alaska).

Parking

Choose your destination in Alltrails here and then locate the best parking for your destination.

Trip Recommendations:

We don’t have any … yet. We would like to ask you for recommendations. That’s right, your input matters. Wilderness Wanderers will be taking a trip next year determined by our readers. Be sure to read these other blog posts:

• The Great Yellowstone National Park
• Beautiful Glacier National Park: The “Crown of the Continent”
• The Amazing Grand Canyon National Park From Rim to Rim

Wilderness wanderers will be wandering off to whichever of these parks that receives the most ‘Likes’ next year! So be sure to like your favorite at the bottom of the page. Paid subscribers will also gain access to a photo gallery that will be made available, so be sure to subscribe!

Also don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram to receive notifications about new posts and for more info on which park we will be visiting (based off of your input).