It’s more than a mountain. Denali National Park & Preserve features North America’s highest mountain, 20,320 foot tall Mount McKinley. The Alaska Range also includes countless other spectacular mountains and many large glaciers. Denali’s more than 6 million acres also encompass a complete sub-arctic eco-system with large mammals such as grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep and moose. The park was established as Mt. McKinley National Park on Feb. 26, 1917. The original park was designated a wilderness area and incorporated into Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980. The Park was designated an international biosphere reserve in 1976.
Today, the park accommodates a wide variety of visitor use including wildlife viewing, mountaineering and backpacking. It continues to provide a laboratory for research in the natural sciences.
Nature & Science
Denali, the “High One,” is the name Athabascan native people gave the massive peak that crowns the 600 mile Alaska Range. Denali is also the name of an immense national park and preserve created from the former Mount McKinley National Park. In 1917 Mount McKinley National Park was established as a game refuge. The park and the massif including North America’s highest peak were named for former senator later President William McKinley. In 1980, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) enlarged the boundary by 4 million acres and redesignated it as Denali National Park and Preserve. It exemplifies interior Alaska’s character as one of the world’s last great frontiers, its wilderness is largely unspoiled.
More than 650 species of flowering plants as well as many species of mosses, lichens, fungi, algae and others grace the slopes and valleys of Denali. Only plants adapted to long, cold winters and short growing seasons can survive in this subarctic wilderness. Permafrost ground underlies many areas of the park, where only a thin layer of topsoil is available to support life. after the continental glaciers retreated from most of the park 10,000 to 14,000 years ago, hundreds of years were required to begin building new soils and revegetation. The dynamic glaciated landscape provides large rivers, countless lakes and ponds and unique landforms which form the foundation of the ecosystems that thrive in Denali.
Denali is well-known for its diversity of wildlife. There are 39 species of mammals, 167 species of birds, 10 species of fish and one species of amphibian known in Denali. There are no reptiles recorded in Denali. Animal life and activity in Denali is dictated by the seasons. Winter is the longest season and the animals that are year-round residents are well-adapted to life in the subarctic. The brief spring season brings the return of 80% of Denali’s bird life, the waking of hibernating bears and an increase in activity levels of wildlife. Summer is a time for raising young and preparing for migration, hibernation, or survival during the winter. Summer also brings hordes of insects, including mosquitoes. In late summer king and chum salmon run in the multitude of streams and rivers. In autumn, migrating birds fill the skies and bull moose gather their harems of cows for the mating season.
Recreation
Denali National Park & Preserve is full of activities that can keep you busy for hours or weeks. While summer is the most popular time to visit Denali, winter offers many recreation and sightseeing opportunities. Here at Denali, we encourage you to take a moment to learn more about this area then start exploring.
Hiking
Hiking in Denali can include anything from a leisurely stroll along a river bar to an adventurous hike to the top of a mountain. Denali for the most part is a trailless wilderness. You will find short trails at the entrance of the park, shown on the map below and near Polychrome Overlook, Eielson Visitor Center and Wonder Lake.
If you’re looking for more than a stroll, don’t worry. Visitors are allowed to hike almost everywhere in the park, over tundra, through the taiga, up river bars and to the tops of mountains. Hike with a ranger or on your own and find out more about hiking in the backcountry or by ranger led hikes and walks.
Cycling
Cycling is a great way to see Denali National Park and get some exercise at the same time. Visitors are allowed to bike all 90 miles of the road. Off-road biking and biking on trails are strictly prohibited. Concessionaires of the park offer shuttle bus service into the park and camper buses have spots for a maximum of two bikes on a space available basis. Using the camper bus allows you to travel deep into the park for a day trip. Motorists generally show courtesy to cyclists and do their best to avoid “dusting” them by driving very slowly on the often times dry, dusty park road.
Cyclists need to keep in mind some special considerations — there are no repair stations along the way so please plan to fix your own flats and other common problems. Also, make sure you carry water or have a filter or potable aqua tablets to make water from streams and rivers safe to drink. Obey all area closures and treat wildlife the same as if you were on foot. Remember that off-road biking is not allowed in the park. Plan for many types of weather at any time in the park. Sun, rain, hail, wind and even snow are all possible in the summer.
Always stop for buses and bears. Put a foot down to indicate to drivers that you are stopped.
Bikepacking and Overnight Trips
If you plan to stay in the park overnight you must secure a campsite reservation or a backcountry permit. Bicycles must be stored at designated bike racks overnight at these locations: established campgrounds, the Visitor Access Center, Toklat Road Camp, or Eielson Visitors Center. Bicycles may not be left on the roadside while camping. If you wish to camp with your bike, we recommend that you obtain a campground site reservation.
Mountaineering
All climbers attempting Mt. McKinley or Mt. Foraker must register with Denali National Park & Preserve and pay a special use fee per climber plus the park entrance fee. This special use fee offsets costs to the South District related to mountaineering, such as maintaining the high-altitude ranger station, staff and mountaineering booklets. In addition to the special use fee, a 60-day pre-registration regulation allows mountaineering rangers to have direct contact with climbers before they arrive in Talkeetna. In doing so, rangers are able to suggest appropriate routes for different levels of expertise and offer first-hand knowledge of conditions encountered in the Alaska Range. Climbers who are not pre-registered a minimum of 60 days in advance will be denied permission to climb Mount McKinley or Mount Foraker.
Getting There
By Plane
Fly to either Anchorage or Fairbanks and then travel by car/shuttle/train to Denali. The park is 240 miles north of Anchorage and 125 miles south of Fairbanks.
By Car
Denali National Park & Preserve headquarters is located along Alaska Route 3, the George Parks Highway, approximately 240 miles north of Anchorage, 125 miles south of Fairbanks and 12 miles south of Healy. Denali Park’s mountaineering headquarters is located in Talkeetna, approximately 100 miles north of Anchorage.
By Train
Alaska’s State Railroad runs directly to the entrance of Denali National Park & Preserve.
Traveler Facts
Contact Information
Denali National Park
P. O. Box 9
Denali Park, AK 99755
Phone: 907-683-2294
TTY: 907-683-9649
Fax: 907-683-9617
Operating Hours & Seasons
Denali National Park & Preserve stays open year-round. The park road opens in late May depending on the weather and closes in mid-September, also weather dependent.
