Denali – Awe Inspiring Wilderness

Thomas Jefferson said it would take 1,000 years for Americans to civilize the continent and build cities on the Pacific Coast. It took 50. The people of that time believed in a myth of superabundance. They believed there were so many fish, bison, bears and other game that they could never run out. Arguably that myth may still persist in the minds of many. Fortunately there have been men of vision who do recognize the myth and have set aside natural treasures like Denali, a truly remote and inaccessible wilderness; a park to protect wildlife by protecting the place where they live.

Denali – Awe Inspiring

Denali was the first National Park created after the creation of the National Parks Service in 1916. Denali National Park is big. It began as 2 million acres and is now 6 million thanks to one of Jimmy Carters final acts as President in 1980. There is only one road into the park, and that runs 86 miles one-way, and the only way to explore that road is by bus, either a parks shuttle bus or the more limited commercial tour bus. The airspace over Denali is also restricted, so you won’t see many airplanes disturbing this wilderness either.

First Glimpse of Denali

Of course, one of the main attractions of the park is the mountain itself, Denali, “the High One” in the language of the Athabasca’s. Formerly known as Mount McKinley its peak is the highest on the continent soaring 20,310’. The weather is so unpredictable around the mountain its snow covered slopes are only visible about 30% of the time.

Denali Peak

Another reason people flock to Denali is the wildlife. Brown Bears (Grizzlies), Caribou, Moose, Wolves, Lynx, Dall Sheep…they all roam here, and the odds are pretty good you are going to see at least some of them.

Young Bull Moose

Caribou taking a break from the flies

Grizzly Bear roaming the slopes

Dall Sheep

Probably the real reason people come here is to see true wilderness…to get a glimpse of what our world was like before man came along. We over-civilized people need nature, we need something mysterious and wild to help us reconnect. Spending time in nature not only generates feelings of serenity, and calm, but places like Denali can leave you in awe. When you are awed by a place, you can start to get beyond yourself and really begin to experience something in a truly special way.

Our experience in Denali was remarkable. Even though there is a tremendous abundance of wildlife in the park, you aren’t guaranteed to see it. Denali itself is only visible approximately 30% of the time. The rest of the time it is obscured by cloud and you have to rely on the bus drivers and rangers to tell you where it would be if you could see it. The day we took our 8 hour (4 each way) bus trip to Eielson Visitor Center, about 66 miles on gravel roads, Denali peak was in full splendor with just a bit of cloud around it. To make things even better we saw 4 of the 5 major animals that live in and roam the park; 5 grizzlies or brown bears, a herd of 6 Dall sheep, 4 caribou and 4 moose including a large male at one sighting and a mother and two fawns at another. The only thing we missed seeing, were wolves. The grizzlies we saw were generally fairly far up the mountain slopes, but their very blond coloring made them relatively easy to spot. As our bus driver put it, “golden nuggets on the hillside.”

Denali Park Entrance

Denali National Park Visitors Center

Denali Visitors Center

Denali Park Train Depot

We also had a couple of Willow Ptarmigan sightings including a male, female and their chicks and of course some Artic Ground Squirrels who like to show up for a photo op.

Willow Ptarmigan female

Arctic Ground Squirrel letting us know his displeasure

A Caribou sporting a radio collar wanders up the road

Denali is a really well managed park and if you want to get farther than 15 miles into the park to see the ‘real’ Denali, and see some wildlife you will have to ride the park shuttle buses or take a tour. The lack of car access is designed to keep the park wild and the benefit is that your chances of seeing wildlife here is better than anywhere else in Alaska. If you want to get out in the wilderness, you can. You can hop on and off the shuttle buses anywhere you like, with only a couple of exceptions and just head out into the wild for as little or long, as you like.