Your Ultimate Guide to Denali National Park 🏞

Alaska is frequently known as the last frontier because it was the 49th state admitted to the union and is thought of as “America’s Last Frontier” because of its distance from the lower 48 states and because of its rugged landscape and climate. I had never imagined that I would be visiting Alaska this soon in my life. But you know what they say, life happens while you’re busy planning other things. Although Alaska is really far-fetched from the mainland US, it has a lot to offer and I already can’t wait to go back. My friend Garret and I decided to make it a weekend trip but Alaska has so much that you can easily spend weeks there. Since we only had 3 days, we decided to narrow it down to just Denali National Park & Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city.

Today, I want to take you all through a helpful guide about Denali National Park which includes topics from where to stay, where to eat, and sites to see. It’s also a helpful guide if you want to make it out to the last frontier for a weekend.

Facts about Alaska/Denali National Park:

• Along with other things, Denali is known for its centerpiece 20,310-ft.-high Denali (formerly known as Mount McKinley), North America’s tallest peak. The saying is that Denali is high, it creates its own weather at the summit and so only 30% of the visitors see the mountain. They even have a 30% club, meaning if you saw the mountain during your visit, you’re part of that 30% club. Luckily, on our LAST day as we were driving back from Denali to Anchorage for our flight back to Chicago, we were able to see Denali bright and clear without any clouds. 
• Alaska has a lot of different names. Along with the last frontier, it’s also known as the “land of the midnight sun.” This nickname refers to Alaska’s northern locations where, for a period of time, in the summer, the sun never completely dips below the horizon. The sun is visible at midnight. YES, when I was there, we had daylight until about 10/11 pm. It’s such a common thing that restaurant menus have their specialties named after the nickname. “Try our midnight sun burger” 
• If you’re on a road trip in Alaska, you’ll notice these pink wildflowers all over the place. Along the roadsides, on hikes, and pretty much everywhere.
  • This wildflower is fireweed, which reaches peak bloom by late July and early August. Many roadside corridors are enflamed in pink with this abundant wildflower.

Before you go:

• Best times to visit Denali National Park:
  • 🏔 Peak time to visit Denali National Park is from mid-May to mid-September. Although, if you want to see the northern lights, I would recommend going during the winter months between October and March.
  • 🔑 A key thing to keep in mind when visiting Denali National Park is that it’s not similar to a lot of other national parks you may have visited on the mainland US. When visiting Denali, you can ONLY drive up to 15 miles into the park. At the 15 miles mark, which is known as the Savage River checkpoint, you would have to hop onto a bus to go further into the park.
    • There are 3 different types of buses you could take:
      • 1️⃣ (Green color) Non-narrated Transit buses: these buses are mainly to move people around within the park. They make regular restroom stops and wildlife-viewing stops. I like these buses because I can get off whenever I want and explore the park on my terms. When I’m ready to get back to the entrance, I can just flag down another non-narrated bus going back to the entrance or even further down in the park.
      • 🗓 You can reserve these online ahead of time or you can book them when you get to the park.
      • 💰$30
      • 2️⃣ (Tan Color) Camper buses: these buses are mainly designed for people that have camping reservations and have loads of camping gear such as tents, backpacks, and bicycles. The rear seats of the buses have been removed to fit all the camping gear.
      • 🗓 YOU HAVE TO RESERVE THESE IN ADVANCE.
      • 💰$30
      • 3️⃣ Tour buses: tour bus trips are like pre-booked excursions almost. They begin and end at various locations around the entrance of the park. These buses feature a trained naturalist who both drives the bust and narrated during the trip.
      • 🗓 reserve in advance.
      • 💰 There are multiple options ranging from $104-$240.75. From 5 hours round trip to 12 hours round trip.
  • 📅 We went August 19th, 2021 – August 22nd, 2021 (3 nights, 4 days, Thursday – Sunday)
  • ✈️ We flew into Anchorage(ANC) and drove ~3/4 hours north to Denali National Park BUT, I would recommend flying into Fairbanks(FAI) and driving south for only 1 hour and 30 minutes. We weren’t aware the Fairbanks was that big of an airport but when we got back, we found out that during the months of summer, United has nonstop flights from Chicago to Fairbanks.

---

---

1. ✈️ Airport: Anc & fai

You have two options when visiting Denali National Park. You can fly into Anchorage’s Ted Steven’s International Airport or Fairbanks International Airport.

Some things I liked about the airport:

• The baggage facility: If you have a late flight and have already checked out of your hotel, you can store your bags here for a small fee and go explore Anchorage, which is a short bus ride away. We drove from Denali and reached the airport around 2 pm but our flight wasn’t until midnight and we also had to return the car. Thus, we stored our baggage here, took the bus to Anchorage city center, and explored the small town.
• It was $5 for small bags and $`10 for big ones.
• The Visitor Information Center at the airport has FREE postcards to mail. You just take a postcard, put the address and they will mail it for you. ALL FOR FREE. You don’t have to even pay for the postage.

1. There were two reasons we flew into Anchorage.
   • We didn’t know there were services to Fairbanks International Airport.
   • We wanted to explore Anchorage as well but we soon realized that there is really nothing to see in Anchorage. Thus, I would recommend flying into Fairbanks International Airport because the drive to Denali National Park will be much shorter.

2. 🚘 Get to Denali National Park

3. 🏨 Where to stay

There are a LOT of options but a majority of them are very expensive. Especially some of the ones that are closer to the National Park or even inside the park. To make it easier, there are 2 small towns about 10-15 minutes from the entrance that offer a lot of affordable accommodations.

Two cities within a 10-15 minutes radius are:

1. Healy
2. Cantwell

Mrshutterup Recommends:

We stayed in Healy at Earthsong Lodge. I can’t tell you how much we enjoyed staying here. It was the perfect cabin, just as we had imagined. When it came to staying in Denali, we wanted something cabin-like. Cozy, warm, homey feeling but still have the amenities like a hot shower and running water.

EarthSong Lodge was the perfect spot. It was in a town called Healy which is about 15 min drive from the Denali National Park’s entrance. There is a common that has a fully working kitchen. It’s a great spot for anyone that wants to cook or even store food in the refrigerator. On our drive from Anchorage, we made a pit stop at Walmart for some groceries and stored them in the kitchen. It was helpful to wake up and have something for breakfast. There is also a small coffee shop on-site but it was closed due to COVID-19.

4. Things to do in Denali national Park

1. Hike the Savage Alpine Trail

Savage Alpine Trail is HARD. It’s 4+ hours one way and I will highly recommend you do it that way. It’s not a loop Trail.

There are two places you can start the Trail:

1️⃣ (We did this way) Start at Savage River Loop Trailhead (#1 on the map below) and go towards Savage Alpine Trailhead (#2 on the map below). Basically, do it backward. We parked our car at the Savage Alpine Trailhead(#2) and took one of the transit buses to Savage River Loop Trail(#1) so when we finished our 4+ hour hike, we ended up right where our car was parked, it worked out perfect. (we took the green narrated transit bus)

OR

2️⃣ You can start at Savage Alpine trailhead and go towards Savage river Loop trailhead. I heard this one is a bit easier as there is not a huge elevation gain right at the start of the Trail. You can park your car at the trailhead and once you end your Trail at Savage Loop Trail, you will have to take the transit bus (10-15 min ride) back to the parking lot. Or you can also park your car at Savage Loop Trail and take the bus back to Alpine trailhead and start your Trail. That way, when you finish your Trail, your car is right there.

Difficulty: Hard

Length: 4.1 miles

Route Type: Point to Point

Elevation gain: 1,414ft

2. Visit the Wonder Lake

Wonder lake is very hard to access and you can’t drive up there at all. You will have to use one of the transit buses or camper buses to get there.

Due to COVID-19, ALL the buses to Wonder Lake were not operating sadly and thus we could not visit the lake but I’ve heard some amazing things about it. There is also a camping site right by the lake that you can reserve ahead of time and take a bus up there. Campground

It’s a tent-only campground so be sure to:

1) Reserve a spot (Do it well in advance as it gets filled up FAST)

2) Have a tent

3) Make sure to take all the necessities like blankets, water, food, and matter of fact, take extra if you can.

3. Hike the Savage River Loop Trail

This is one of the easier trails. It’s only a 2-mile mellow walk along the river. The surface is uneven and rugged in areas, but there is no significant elevation change.

This is a great relaxing trail if you want to take in the grand views Denali National Park has to offer. There are also some picnic tables along the side so it wouldn’t be bad to sit down and have some lunch with a breathtaking backdrop.

REMEMBER to leave no trace behind. Pick up after yourselves. Do not leave behind left-over food, wrappers, and water bottles.

Difficulty: Easy

Length: 2.1 miles

Route Type: Loop

Elevation gain: 413ft

4. Hike The Taiga Trail

Once you enter the park and pay the visitor center, this hike is relatively close by. You can essentially park your car in the visitor center parking and walk to the trailhead.

Taiga Trail is a lightly trafficked loop trail located near Denali National Park visitor center that features beautiful wildflowers and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from April until August.

Difficulty: Moderate

Length: 1.6 miles

Route Type: Loop

Elevation gain: 206ft.

5. Lastly, Don’t Forget the Visitor Center

The visitor center has a good collection of stickers and other Denali National Park merchandise.

This is also a great spot to get your National Park Passport stamps and stickers. I usually pick up a couple of postcards and send them to friends/family and even to myself. It’s a great way to have something to remember and look forward to having it arrive in the mail.

5. 🌮 Food

Now that we’ve talked about everything from the airport, things to do, where to stay in Alaska, let’s talk about the food. Given its remote location, you won’t many food options but there are few good restaurants. One of our favorites is the 49th State brewery. We came here both the days we were here.

1. 49th State Brewery Co. 🍔🍟
   • I could not be any more impressed with how amazing this place is. They have everything you need for a good relaxing night/evening after exploring the park all day. Luckily, our cabin was only a 10-minute drive and we liked it so much the first day, we came here on day 2 as well.
   • The indoor dining area is HUGE but what’s more impressive is that they have a lot of outdoor activities. 49th State Brewery Co. has a fire pit going on, there are darts and a bunch of other small games where people come together and enjoy their time. We met some great people while sitting at the fire pit.
   • Come here around 7ish pm, put your name down for a table and then grab a couple of drinks and spin up some conversations at the fire pit. Or, play some flippy cup on the opposite side.
   • They have all sorts of food items on their menu. I got “Where’s the beef?” Vegan burger with fries.
   • Menu

6. Photos

I hope you enjoyed reading my itinerary for Denali National Park in Alaska and I also hope that in one way or another, I’ve helped you plan your trip to this very remote state, also known as the last frontier. If you liked this, please check out my other city blog/itineraries and leave a comment! Also, let me know what else you would like me to cover on my next city blog in the comment below. I would really appreciate it. Lastly, check out my most recent blog post about New York City 🗽

Check out & follow my journey @mrshutterup on Instagram and don’t forget to Subscribe for new blog posts about cities around the world. Lastly, feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions!