Denali National Park and Preserve is home to Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America as well free-roaming bear, wolves, moose, sheep, caribou and beaver. Even if Mt. McKinley is often obscured by clouds, the majestic surroundings and grizzly families make this park popular.
The road through the park is no longer open to private cars. Most visitors enter Denali on one of the bus services operated by the park. There are two private lodges near the end of the long road that winds through the park. Here, views of McKinley are better, but the cost of food and board reflects the staggering vistas.
In Denali Park you have the option of stopping only for a few hours and catching a shuttle service back to hotels and campgrounds outside the park, or, with proper permits, backpacking further into the park's interior. Bikes are allowed on the road, so another option is to rent bikes in town and peddle through park.
Outside the park, rafting tours run the Nenana River several times a day. North of the park's upper boundaries, horse trail rides follow a series of ridges with views of McKinley when the weather is right.
If you want to see this beautiful area from another perspective, charter plane and helicopter flights are available from several nearby locations.
Denali is 245 miles north of Anchorage and 125 miles south of Fairbanks.
