Home to the highest peak in North America, Denali National Park was established in 1917 as Mount McKinley National Park. A gold prospector had named the peak after President William McKinley in 1897. Despite the protestations of the locals, the name stuck and was emblazoned as the park name when the park was created. The mountain, at 20,327 feet tall, is locally know by the Athabaskan Inuit name Denali. The park was renamed Denali National Park in 1980 when Congress expanded the park and established a wilderness and preserve areas within the park, however; the name of the mountain itself remained Mount McKinley. The People of Alaska have tried on numerous occassions to officialy designate the mountain as Denali, but the name change must be approved by the Board of Geographic Names (yes, there is such a thing) and the Board is barred from considering a name change on any location that is the subject of any Congressional bill regarding its name. The Ohio delegation, the home state of President McKinley, has, in every session of Congress since before the renaming of the park, filed a bill whose text mandates the continuace of the name Mount McKinley. Though it never passes, its mere existence has prevented the name change for over 30 years.
(Sorry for being a little late. hadn't finished this until late this morning but was on a call before I could get it entered into the system. We had a tie in Friday's diary for which park, but just between you and me...I hold off on voting just incase there is a tie. ;-) Yes, I'm sneaky like that. But like Joe Biden, I can only break a tie. Given the heat here in Austin, I decided to have cooler thoughts and chose Denali.)
Denali is home to caribou, dall sheep, brown bears, black bears, wolves, moose, lynx, foxes, beavers, marmots and countless other small mammals, one of the most biologically diverse parks in the national park system despite its location so far north.
Getting There
You can fly to Alaska into Anchorage or Fairbanks as the park lies between the two. From the airports you can rent a car and drive to the park entrance south of the town of Healy, or if you are more adventurous, you can ride the train. The Alaska Star runs a leg between Fairbanks and Anchorage and one of the depots along the way is the Denali park entrance. If you are worried that you won't be able to see the park without a car rental, don't worry. This is actually a great park to not have a rental car because access to the parks's interior beyond Mile 15 of the park road is closed to all but park employees, concessionaires and the park's shuttle bus system. Besides, your car rental company probably would throw a fit if you drove their car onto the road as it exists beyond Mile 15 as it is dirt and gravel. I'll also add that it is possible to fly into the park as the small community of Kantishna, and it small collection of lodges, at the very end of the park road has an airport.
Where to Stay
Most park visitors stay at the park entrance or in the town of Healy just north of the entrance. In and between the two are a plethora of hotels, lodges, B&B's and guest houses ranging in price from simple rustic cabins for those on a budget or wanting to rough it, to luxury full service resort lodges.
In the park, there are only a small handful of lodges on inheld parcels privately owned prior to the park's expansion around them. The most famous of these is Camp Denali near Wonder Lake. For the hearty amongst us, there are six campgrounds in the park, but only one beyond Mile 34 of the 92 mile park road. That campground is the one at Wonder Lake. Backcountry backpacking is allowed, but permits are only issued in person no more than 24 hours before your trip.
When to Come
The park is open year round, but most visitors come in the summer months. The bus tour into the park begins in late May and runs through the second Friday after Labor Day. After the buses stop running there is an annual four day window when private vehicles can drive on the park road as far as the weather conditions permit, but this is so popular that it requires a permit and getting a permit is by lottery held each summer. After the Lottery days are over, the road, up to Mile 30, is open to vehicles as well conditions permitting. In the winter, only the first three miles of the road are plowed. In the spring, plowing of the road beyond that point begins in March and by mid April travelers can start driving the road up to Mile 15.
The wildflower season begins in June and lasts through July. The early to mid fall is generally considered the best time to visit. The summer crowds have subsided and the arctic tundra and taiga begins to turn red and orange. The animals are particularly active trying to fatten up as best they can in preparation for the long winter.
The fall is also the best time to come to watch the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. Because of midnight sun conditions for most of the summer, the lights generally can't be seen at night until August.
Denali's Bus System
From the entrance, you can take a bus into the park's interior. Depending on the type of bus you choose, you will get different things out of the trip. The tour buses are narrated are they make their way down the road. There are three tours, one going 17 miles, another going 53 miles and the last going the 92 miles to Kantishna. Along the way, the buses will stop for restroom breaks and at the more noted scenic spots as well as for wildlife when they are spotted nearby.
The shuttle buses are designed primarily for those camping at Wonder Lake, backpacking, or who want to self-guide their own touring, though anyone my ride them and they are less expensive than the tour buses. The trip is not narrated, but like the tour buses, they stop for the restrooms, scenery and wildlife. Passengers can get off at any point and hike around and simply catch the next shuttle bus. The shuttle buses can be distinguished from the tour buses by their green color.
Flightseeing
In Alaska, air travel by bush plane is common place and several concessionaires are permitted to conduct flightseeing tours into the park. These can be arranged at many of the airports in the area as well as from Anchorage and Fairbanks. some of the tours offered can even land on a glacier and let the passengers off for a short visit on the ice sheet.
Photo Credits: Nic McPhee, Jim "Code Poet", Sathish J, Patrick "Giant Ginko", Brian "Shallow End", Arthur Chapman, t-dawg. All images republished in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons license under which they were originally published and released. Some rights reserved.