Denali State Park Viewpoint South

  Denali (or Mount McKinley) is somewhere behind the clouds in the center of the picture. We decided to skip Denali National Park on this trip. One of the reasons the national park was created was to protect the wildlife and the best way to do this is to limit access to the park.The park road is opened to private vehicles for the first fifteen miles.Various buses and bus tours are available so that people can experience the rest of the park – all the way to mile 92 if they wish which is a 13 hour round trip. To help preserve the wild nature of the park there are few trails but overland hiking is permitted.

  When we visited about ten years ago we applied for a special pass that allowed us to drive our motorhome farther than the fifteen mile limit. The buses have wheelchair lifts so you must have a good reason for needing to drive own vehicle. We also tried walking and rolling along the gravel road but the traffic and dust made that pretty uncomfortable. We did get to see a mother moose with her baby though.

  If you’re visiting Alaska and you have a limited amount of time definitely visit Denali. If you’re not handicapped and able to sit for a long bus ride and hike off trail, visit Denali. We’re satisfied driving by along the main road with all the gorgeous scenery (even if we didn’t see the mountain) and spotting wildlife along all the other Alaskan roads.

  The state park is south of the national park and the highway from Fairbanks to Anchorage goes through the center of it. It has several campgrounds and hiking trails.
State Park            National Park
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