Mount Denali: North America’s tallest mountain, and one of the most popular attractions in Alaska. I visited Denali National Park with my dad in July 2019, and it was an incredible experience. It was so unlike any other national park experience I’d had in the lower 48, so I wanted to write this blog post to show people what they can expect. Here are some things to know as you plan your visit.

IT’S HUGE

Denali is the third largest US national park at over 6 million acres (for comparison, Yosemite is around 748k acres). The wide open space was truly a sight to behold, coming from the overcrowded Bay Area. Braided rivers, one winding park road, and not much else means you get the grandeur of Alaska no matter where you choose to explore.

MINIMAL PARK INFRASTRUCTURE

A unique feature of Denali National Park is that it was built with preserving wilderness in mind, rather than making it accessible to visitors. The park service left much of the land untouched rather than building roads and campgrounds and ranger stations everywhere. Instead, there is one main park road that only allows park buses. If you’ve been to Yellowstone National Park, you’ve probably sat in a traffic jam as cars line up to look at bison. Not so at Denali. Personal cars can visit the main visitor center and drive as far as mile 15 on the park road, but other than that, the bus is your only way to see the park. So make that bus reservation!

WILDERNESS OVER ESTABLISHED TRAILS

Denali National Park is mostly wilderness, miles and miles of pristine taiga landscape. That means almost no trails. It’s a unique park because it actively invites visitors to try a ranger-led “discovery hike” that lets you explore off trail. The groups are really small so I unfortunately couldn’t get a spot, but it would be incredible to experience wilderness with the expertise of a ranger.

The most accessible hiking trails are near the visitor center. I recommend the Mount Healy Overlook Trail (steep but great views!), Triple Lakes Trail (start at either end, then take a bus back to the start) and Horseshoe Lake Trail (easy and short).

You can also drive 15 miles down the park road to the Savage River Trail, a lovely riverside walk with optional elevation gain if you’re up for it.

HOW TO SEE MOUNT DENALI

The trails mentioned above unfortunately do not get you a view of Mount Denali. You may get a distant view from the Savage Alpine Trail that starts at the Savage River Trailhead, but I mean very distant.

The best way is to take a bus at least to the Eielson Visitor Center. At mile 66 on the park road, it takes several hours, so settle in. I took the Kantishna bus tour (drives the entirety of the park road and is 11 hours round trip) which had a stop at the Eielson Visitor Center. The bus also goes to Wonder Lake, a spectacular vista point with the mountain reflected in the lake.

View of Mount Denali from Denali Park Road

It must be known that, like many high mountains, Denali makes its own weather patterns and can be clouded over for days on end. Our bus driver told us we were really lucky to see the mountain, as only about 30% of people get to see it. When the bus set out, it was misty and gloomy and I didn’t have much hope for any visibility. But I figured if nothing else, we might get to see some wildlife along the way. But a few hours in, the skies cleared and we got a perfect view! So you never know.

VIEWING WILDLIFE

Because the park is set up to keep wildlife as undisturbed as possible, there are lots of opportunities to spot wildlife at a distance. This park is not like Katmai or other Alaskan parks with bear viewing platforms or whale cruises, so bring your binoculars and telephoto lens. We spotted grizzlies and caribou from really far away, but we pulled up right next to a family of moose along the side of the road. So a lot like viewing the mountain, you never know what to expect with viewing wildlife.

You’ll have a better chance at spotting wildlife around sunrise and sunset, but I’m not sure how the midnight sun during summer affects animal activity. I hiked the Horseshoe lake trail around 8 pm (still plenty of daylight) and saw a bald eagle, beavers, and deer.

LODGING OPTIONS

There are a couple hotels in the town of Denali Park, but we stayed at an Airbnb in the town of Healy. It was tough to snag a campsite in the park, and I’m definitely not experienced enough with grizzlies to try backcountry camping. I’ve had a few harmless encounters with black bears in California, but grizzlies require a whole other set of precautions and understanding behaviors, so really know what you’re doing if you want to camp.

As you plan your trip, keep an open mind about what the park can offer you. Like I said, it is likely you won’t get to see the mountain at all. But Denali has so much to offer still, from awesome wildlife to the freedom to hike off trail. Going in the summer will likely mean clearer weather for mountain viewing, but also more crowds. I’d love to visit Denali again in the fall when all the foliage turns colors. It’s definitely a place I would visit again!