Overview of Denali Park

In lots of methods, Denali is less complex than many national parks. If you plan to recognize the park, or plan a browse through, it aids to recognize some fundamental information:


Denali has just one road, and also only one road entrance.
Called the Denali Park Roadway (or just “the park roadway”), it is 92 miles long as well as runs from east to west. It is a scenic roadway made primarily of dust and also gravel. It begins in a reduced, forested area, however fluctuates via mountain passes (and along some sheer mountain sides!) on its journey west.

The park entryway, where the Denali Park Roadway satisfies Alaska Freeway 3, goes to the eastern end of the park. Like many country roadways and also spots in Alaska, the Denali entryway is referred to by its mile along the freeway. In this case, the park entry is at Mile 237 on Freeway 3 (Mile 0 is in Anchorage, where Freeway 3 comes from).

Summer season traveling in Denali
In the summer (May 20– the middle of September), privately-owned automobiles may drive the first 15 miles of the park road, to a place called Savage River. Travel past Savage River is generally limited to a variety of narrated and also non-narrated buses, as well as passengers have to board their bus near the park entry (or sometimes, at their resort outside of the park). Bus journeys are an excellent method to see the landscape and also wild animals of the park.

Denali is home to wild lands and also lots of wild animals
Congress produced this park in 1917; at the time, the purpose was to protect Dall lamb from over-hunting. The park’s size and objective expanded in time. The park is now around 6 million acres, and much of the park has to continue to be devoid of human development. This implies that the only routes in the park are near the park roadway, and primarily near the park entrance. Nevertheless, Denali uses visitors a rare possibility to trek off route in a wild landscape.


The National Park Service does not run a lodge or hotel
There are six camping areas in Denali, however no NPS-run accommodations.