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Denali, the “High One”, is the name the Koyukon Athabascan people gave the massive peak that crowns the 600-mile-long Alaska Range. Denali is also the name of the National Park created from the former Mount McKinley National Park. At six million acres, the park is larger than New Hampshire. The Park exemplifies interior Alaska’s character as one of the world’s last great frontiers for wilderness adventure and remains largely wild and unspoiled. The glacially-fed rivers are so young and so laden with pulverized rock, called rock flour, they can wander across their broad, flat valley’s 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 Mount McKinley.
You can tour the Denali Park Road by bus or attend the daily ranger-naturalist programs. You can go mountaineering (advanced registration required) or day hike. There is backcountry camping (permit required) year-round, and skiing and dog mushing in the winter. Denali is accessible by the George Parks Highway or the Alaska Railroad from either Anchorage or Fairbanks. In summer a variety of private bus and van services operate daily from Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Denali Park Map (pdf)
Denali Park Town Map (pdf)
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 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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