Denali National Park and Preserve — Attraction in Alaska

Denali National Park is beautiful and a must visit for anyone who is visiting Alaska. Unfortunately we had some bad experiences which we want to share for future travelers.

Firstly in 2024, the park is open to public access only till mile 43 due to recent landslides and you cannot drive for more than first 15 miles in a private vehicle. Post 15th mile you will need to take the bus. We took the narrated bus tour which departed at 6.30 AM in the morning and we were back to bus depot before noon. We took the very first ride under the impression that we would have more opportunities to see wildlife. Initially for the first two hours or so, we didn't see any wildlife, but later once we passed 10 or so miles into the park, we were able to see some Dall sheep and Caribou which were too far from the road and lived far away at the top of the mountains. You could only see them and take good pictures only if you had a great camera and good telephoto lens. Our tour guide kept stressing more on just taking it in and not just focus on the pictures. Well!! we are here to do both. Unfortunately not everyone can afford those expensive lenses.

Our tour guide was good and knowledgeable and gave a good commentary about do's and don'ts and provided good information about the park. One thing we definitely recommend them is to have a radio communication so that they can communicate with other tour buses in case if someone spot any wildlife. But when we asked, driver said they don't prefer to use the radio because it will disturb wildlife. The reason why we visit these parks is for wildlife. If our bus had reached the spot just two mins late, we would have missed a great opportunity to see a Grizzly bear and basically our tour would have been a complete waste of time and money.

I don't understand why the drivers cannot communicate with each other if someone spots a wildlife? You cannot give justification of radio communication disturbing wildlife because the moment the buses enter the park, you are already disturbing the wildlife. If you are that concerned, better not have the tour buses at the first place. Just close the park to the public once and for all. People travel around the country and spend thousands of dollars to visit these parks and they are not here to just hear some commentary about the park and wildlife. We could get an audio guide and do it from home for that.

Advice to future travelers: Do not book this bus tour unless you have a great camera with good telephoto lens. Reason being unless the wildlife is next to your tour bus, you will not be able to take any good pictures because most of them live way too far from the road and going by bus tour is not...

Went in the end of June and have to say, had one of the best wildlife viewing experiences of my life. As many others have noted, you are only allowed to drive the first 15 miles of the park and have to take a bus tour for the remaining which can be a little expensive. But, it was worth it for the views of the park and the wildlife.

Bus tour (95 miles stretch): We had a really good guide with a good eye for seeking out wildlife. In total, we had about 6 bear sightings (brown and grizzlies with cubs) and got to see dall sheep, moose, beaver, golden eagle and plenty of caribou including a horde. The bus in itself isn't unique and you have to struggle to get a good picture at times, but they do stop for you to get a good view of unique wildlife. Some of the road sections in the park are too narrow and can give you a little scare. They have good enough provisions of food, drinks (hot and cold) and rest stops. You absolutely need a set of binoculars and preferably a good set of zoom lens of your camera if you want to take good quality pics. I had a Nikon D3200 with a 55mm-200mm range lens which used to fall short at times.

Driving (15 miles stretch): We drove the first 15 miles to explore the park further too. There are a good chunk of wildlife viewing spots and spots of natural beauty in this stretch as well. In terms of hiking, we did the easy-to-moderate hikes, namely the Savage river loop trail, partial section of the Savage valley alpine trail and the Horseshoe lake trail. The Savage river loop trail is okay and generally pretty crowded. The view from the first section of Savage valley alpine is worth the hike. Finally, my favorite trail was the horseshoe lake trail where we got to see a moose and its calf from proximity, river otters and beavers munching on food from a hands stretch and finally, a lynx which meandered onto the trail! Look out for caribou in the drainages as you will probably see a few there.

In terms of packing, do carry munchies for the park days as there are almost no food options beyond the visitor center, along with layers of clothes as the weather keeps changing going from cold breeze to rains to hot sun. There are good options to stay nearby the park in either Healy, Denali...

Recommend 2 days here if you can afford the time (we did it in 1) and you don't have the time to camp.

OPTION 1 HIKE: One day should be just hiking. There are so many beautiful hikes straight from the visitor center, and if one of your days turns out to be cloudy, it'd be better to hike than do the bus. It'd also be good to make a day you're driving long distances on your hike day, as it feels great to get the fresh air! We did Mount Healy Overlook Trail, and even our friends that are not big hikers enjoyed the trek. The trails are VERY well maintained, and there are benches for stops along the way. We lucked out in August and had a clear day with views of Denali! You need to go a little bit past the sign in order to see it. There are many other hikes ranging from 1-5 hours roundtrip. If you only have one day, you could add on a drive 15 miles into the park (longest you can go before buses only) or a tour of the dog kennels if you have kids.

OPTION 2 BUS: One day should be the bus and it should be the clearer day of the two so your chances of seeing Denali are higher. There are busses that depart almost hourly from 6am-2pm and return anywhere from 2pm-10pm. I would leave early if you plan to get off and hike somewhere, as otherwise non-stop out to the Eielson Visitor Center (closest views of Denali) is 8 hours. When I say non-stop, there are designated stops the bus does at lookouts, but they are only around 15 minutes so you would stay with the bus group at each stop. If you choose to stay longer, you'd have to catch the next bus going in or out of the park.

FOOD/ACCOMMODATIONS: I would highly recommend 49th State Brewing Company for dinner and McKinley Chalet for accommodations. McKinley has an on-site restaurant with patio seating, outdoor fire places and live music. It has a Starbucks open early. It also has shuttle busses into the park and rooms with...