Denali National Park Profile / Things To Do And See
Larger than five U.S. States, Denali National Park encompasses over 6 MILLION acres of breath-taking Alaskan wilderness. If you've arrived in Anchorage and want to visit the park, you'll need to drive north where you will arrive at the park entrance at mile 237.4, so buckle in, and enjoy your trip up the Parks Highway! Home to thousands of resident animals, the National Park is home to 'Denali' itself, the tallest peak in North America. Formerly known as Mt. McKinley, the summit shoots into the sky 20,310 feet and is large enough to create its own weather patterns!
Drive your own vehicle 15 miles into the park to Savage River, or take one of the tour/shuttle buses farther down the 91 mile road to experience the vast wilderness and changing landscape from coniferous forests known as taiga to alpine tundra and beyond! On this drive you have the potential to see Denali itself along with breath-taking vistas...and of course....the wildlife!
Denali is very likely to be the best single location in all of Alaska where you have the possibility of seeing the 'Big Five' being the grizzly bear, wolf, moose, caribou, and Dall sheep. See if you can snap a picture of the big five yourself!
Just north of the park entrance is a seasonal establishment known as 'Glitter Gulch' to the locals and is where you can find shopping, restaurants, hotel accommodations, and other activities. White water rafting the Nenana River is an absolutely face-freezing, heart thumping experience that is sure to please.
LOOKING FOR MORE ADVENTURE?
Book a heli-glacier tour where you can step foot onto ancient ice and do more exploring of the surrounding beauty from a bird’s-eye view. Iditarod and Yukon Quest sled dog racing champion Jeff King lives near Denali Park and offers tours of his kennel, Husky Homestead, where you can cuddle new husky puppies, meet champion sled dogs, and check out the summer training activities of these amazing athletes!
Be it a ranger walk, hiking the back-country, walking on glacial ice, or enjoying a nice meal on the shores of the Nenana River, Denali is almost certain to grab your attention and steal enough time that you'll want to revisit this Alaskan jewel time and time again.
Check out these other profiles of locations in Alaska: Things To Do And See in: Hatcher Pass and McCarthy-Kennecott and Valdez and Seward and Homer