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Denali, the “Great One”, is the name Athabascan people gave the massive peak that crowns the 600-mile-long Alaska Range. Denali is also the name of this immense national park and preserve created from
the former Mount McKinley National Park. At 6 million acres, the park is larger than Massachusetts. It exemplifies interior Alaska’s character as one of the world’s last great frontiers for wilderness adventure. It
remains largely wild and unspoiled, as the Athabascans knew it.
The rivers are so young and so laden with pulverized rock, called rock flour, that they can wander across their broad, flat valleys to set new channels in a matter of days. The delicate beauty of the
tundra plants and the youthful wanderings of the rivers are striking counterpoints to the lofty, isolated, and often cloud-covered grandeur of the Mount McKinley massif.
Special Park features: Touring the Park Road by bus, attending ranger-naturalist programs, mountaineering (advanced registration required), day hiking, backcountry camping (permit required),
skiing and dog mushing (winter only).
The Visitor Center near the park entrance has current information, an impressive exhibit hall and a movie presentation. You can arrange bus trips, campground reservations, or acquire backcountry permits at the Wilderness Access Center.
Denali National Park & Preserve, Box 9, Denali Park, AK 99755; 907-683-2294.
www.nps.gov/dena
Denali is accessible by road or via the Alaska Railroad from either Anchorage or Fairbanks. In summer a variety of private bus and van services and the railroad operate daily from Anchorage and Fairbanks.
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