Denali, Alaska, United States

5Toni B 5:00 PM Jul 5, 2021

A must for anyone visiting Alaska!
We experienced through the Tundra Wilderness guided bus tour and loved it. Our tour guide Mary was fun and very informative. She did a wonderful job pointing out animals and scenic areas, the bus stopped with ample time for pictures whenever anything was spotted, and plenty of restroom breaks. We were lucky enough to see grizzlies, golden eagles, herds of caribou, dall sheep, moose, and more! Unfortunately we hit a cloudy day and couldn’t spot Denali’s peak but that couldn’t even damper such stunning views and sights! Would love to do some hiking through it one day!

4WanderGeek 5:00 PM Aug 5, 2022

Worth visiting
Denali is very different from most national parks. It is huge, there are few trails and you need to take a bus to go far on the one 90 mile road that goes into the park. The entrance to the park is forest but a short trip in gets you to the tundra and mountains. This is what there is to see in the park and it is spectacular. You cannot get to the high peaks and glaciers by going into the park. To see Denali you have to drive the park road (it is visible from the first nine miles) and the weather has to cooperate. The bus driver says about 30% see it at all, and only 10% get an unobstructed view like we did. It is about 70 miles away when you can first see it so it is not a close up view. Closer view would be possible from the end of the park road but it is currently closed at mile 42 and will stay that way for a while. You can drive to the visitor's center, campgrounds, the dog kennels, and about nine miles into the park along the park road. There are a few trails near the visitors center and some along the park road. Denali keeps sled dogs and the kennels and demonstration is worth seeing. The campgrounds are nice and a good option for staying in the area if you have the ability to camp. The visitor center is nice enough and has the expected displays on the park. You take a bus to go farther on the park road. These are school buses so you get good views through lots of windows. There are tour buses which provide more of a tour with stops and transit buses that take you to defined stops. (You can get out and catch another transit bus at any stop or anywhere on the road.) We took the transit bus and thought the driver provided plenty of commentary on the views and wildlife. You can see wildlife and the drivers will stop for it but animals are not dense on the ground so you may have to look for a while. We saw caribou, moose and Dall sheep (the sheep from far away). The buses start early, run frequently but do not run very late so you want to make sure you catch one back before it gets too let Unlike most parks, you are encouraged to hike off-trail and can go most places in the park. We took a great hike up Igloo mountain with views of the mountains, wildflowers, and much closer views of Dall sheep and a moose than we got from the bus.