Denali National Park

In 1906, a man by the name of Charles Sheldon came to what is now Denali National Park and Preserve to study the little-known Dall sheep. He was awed by the rugged landscape, but also alarmed by the loss of local wildlife resulting from unrestricted hunting. This led him on a life-long endeavor to create Alaska’s first national park. After ten years of campaigning by Sheldon and other activists, President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation to create Mount McKinley National Park in February 1917. That first season of the park only saw the arrival of six visitors. The remote location and lack of transportation made it really difficult for anyone to get to the national park.

In 1922, the Alaska Railroad finally reached the park at a new McKinley Park Station. This marked a significant milestone, as the railroad became the primary transportation route for visitors to access the park for the next fifty years. Guests to the park would be met by open-air buses and automobiles to take them into the interior of the park. Early superintendents of the park saw the next major need and that was a road. The 92-mile Park Road was completed in 1938 and it extended from the park entrance to the interior mining district of Kantishna consisting of a mix of paved and gravel roadway. The final boost to tourism came in 1972 with the completion of the George Parks Highway (AK-3) that connects Anchorage and Fairbanks. This fully paved, well-maintained highway is open year-round and provided direct access to the national park.

The original park was approximately 2.1 million acres of vast wilderness that didn’t even include its namesake, Mount McKinley. There were many who felt that more land needed to be added so that the entire ecosystem of the region could be preserved. As one of his final acts as president, Jimmy Carter signed into law legislation that established over 100 million acres of new national parks, preserves, and wildlife refuges in Alaska. Mount McKinley National Park tripled in size to over six million acres, became Denali National Park and Preserve, with new boundaries to encompass entire watersheds and home ranges of wildlife populations.

Archeological evidence suggests that there has been a human presence in the Denali region for over 11,000 years. Denali National Park & Preserve holds a rich Native American history, primarily with the Athabascan peoples, who have inhabited the area for thousands of years. The park’s lands are part of the aboriginal homeland for five Northern Athabascan groups: Dena’ina, Koyukon, Lower Tanana, Upper Kuskokwim, and Western Ahtna. The Koyukon people, in particular, are known for naming the mountain “Denali,” meaning “the great one” or “the tall one,” and have deep cultural and spiritual ties to the mountain. Politicians in Washington can call it whatever they like, in Alaska it will always be known as Mount Denali for it is sacred to Native Alaskans.

Situated in the heart of Denali National Park and Preserve is Mount Denali. With a summit at 20,310 feet above sea level, it is the tallest mountain in North America. The first recorded ascent of the south (higher) peak was in 1913, achieved by a team led by Hudson Stuck. Denali is known for its challenging and unpredictable weather, making it a formidable climb. It’s considered one of the most strenuous of the Seven Summits (the highest peaks on each continent). Mount Denali is part of the Alaska Range and was formed by tectonic plate activity and uplift, rather than volcanic activity. View of the mountain is often obstructed by clouds, but on a clear day it can been seen 65 miles south of the Denali Park Road and as far away as Anchorage which is 240 miles to the south. During my visit to Denali National Park, the mountain was hidden by clouds until my last day when I was able to get spectacular views from the Mountain Vista area of the Park Highway.

The Denali Park Road is the only way to access the national park by vehicle. The alternative is to arrive by train on the Alaska Railroad which arrives at the Denali Rail Depot several times a day. The Park Road extends 93 miles from the park entrance and extends west, roughly parallel to the Alaska Range, ending near the Kantishna mining district. Within the first few miles of the road, you encounter the Riley Creek Campground, the Denali Bus Depot, and the Denali Visitor Center Campus. Located at Mile 15 of the road is the Savage River which is a popular day use area with a fantastic two-mile trail along the river with mountains towering above you. Private vehicles are prohibited beyond Savage River and guests wishing to proceed further need to take a tour or transit bus.

The Tundra Wilderness Tour is one of the best ways to experience Denali National Park beyond Savage River. These six-hour bus tours depart from the Denali Bus Depot and they proceed up to the East Fork River (Mile 43). The road beyond East Fork is closed to all vehicle traffic due to a rockslide that occurred in July 2021. The bus tours are fully narrated by a guide who is well informed on the history of the park as well as its ecosystem and wildlife. The Tundra Wilderness bus stops at the Teklanika River rest area and then turns around once it reaches the East Fork River. The bus also stops for wildlife sightings and the guide has a powerful zoom on a video camera which they can display on the flip-down monitors throughout the bus. On my tour, we encountered an amazing array of wildlife including Dall sheep, willow ptarmigans, Arctic ground squirrels, a bull moose, a grizzly mother with two spring cubs, and a pair of grizzly bears that were mating.

Another great way to experience Denali National Park beyond Savage River is on the East Fork Transit bus. This bus travels along the same route between Savage River and East Fork as a tour bus, but unlike the tour bus you can get on and off anywhere you like. This is the perfect form of transportation if you want to get off the shuttle and do some day hiking. I took the East Fork Transit bus all the way up to Mile 43 and hiked around the East Fork River area for about three hours. During my hike, I found a really interesting stone artifact in the rocks and I’ve sent photos off to the National Park Service hoping they can help identify it. In addition to the transit and tour buses which have a fee associated with them, the National Park Service also offers complimentary shuttles running between the Denali Bus Depot and the Savage River checkpoint.

The history of sled dogs in Denali National Park dates back to 1922 when the first superintendent, Harry Karstens, purchased the park’s first seven sled dogs for patrolling the newly established park boundaries. The park has maintained working dog teams ever since. While a team of sled dogs is obviously far slower than an airplane or a snowmobile, they are arguably more reliable to operate in the extreme conditions of a sub-arctic winter. At 40 below zero, it can be near impossible to try to start a motor, whereas a dog team simply needs a good breakfast and they are ready and willing to run. There are about 28 Alaskan Huskies in the kennel at Denali National Park, including puppies, and these are the only sled dogs in the National Park Service. In the winter, the dogs work with a ranger musher to patrol the park and assist winter visitors. During the summer season, the kennels are open to park guests to visit the dogs and watch a sled dog presentation.