Even though paved roadways only cover ¼ of Alaskan land, driving times are no means short. Today after spending a week in southern Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula we were driving to Denali National Park in central Alaska; a 6-hour drive north.
The drive north into Central Alaska
As there is only one road on the Kenai Peninsula our first few hours of the trip was backtracking. We left our campground at Seward and after a stop at the Benny Benson Memorial (the guy who designed the Alaskan flag) we continued on a northwest path back towards Anchorage. We drove past towering mountains near Seward and around the Turnagain Arm before making our way back into the Anchorage metro area.
From Anchorage we continued northward on Alaska Highway 3 towards Denali. It was here that for the first time in a few weeks the mountains disappeared and the landscape became flat. We passed small towns such as Willow & Talkeetna but saw nothing but the small, stunted spruce trees that make up much of central Alaska.
Finally though on our left, mountains started to come into view again. Even though they were far off in the distance we could tell that they were huge. We pulled over at a viewpoint stop where we found a map that listed and showed which mountains that you were looking at. It was here that we got our first glimpse of Denali (or think we did anyway, the mountains were still very far away). From the viewpoint stop we hopped back into Bubbles and made our way to our campground in the town of Healy, near the entrance to the national park.
Denali & Alaska National Park Facts
The next morning we woke up eager to see Alaska’s most famous national park. Denali National Park as well as almost all national parks in Alaska is not similar to national parks in the lower 48 states. For one thing they are huge….I mean HUGE. Denali National Park covers over 6 million acres or 9492 square miles. Denali isn’t even the biggest national park in Alaska. That title goes to Wrangell- St. Elias National Park in southeast Alaska at 8.3 million acres. Denali actually comes in at number 3 biggest following Wrangell-St. Elias and Gates of the Arctic National Park. To put this in perspective Yellowstone National Park is seemingly huge as well but only covers 2.2 million acres.
You would figure that at 6 million acres Denali would give you a lot of room to roam around…and you would be right. The only catch is that in order to see 95% of the park the only way to go is by foot. There is only 92 miles of road in the park and you are only able to drive a personal vehicle the first 15 miles of the 92. Beyond that you have to either take a park shuttle bus or a guided tour, which Julie and I opted to do. Also if your wondering how do people get to the base of the mountain Denali to climb it….they must either hike from the nearest drop off point, use a dog sled service or take a helicopter to their starting point. That’s just to get to your starting point. From there you must climb the highest mountain in North America at 20,308 feet.
Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park
As Julie and I wanted to go past mile 15 around 12pm we headed over to the park to check in for our 1:40pm Tundra Wilderness Tour. The tours given in Denali are in huge buses where the driver is also the tour guide. They are not short tours either as most of the tours (including ours) was 8 hours long. If your thinking “Wouldn’t it get dark halfway through your tour?”, remember this is Alaska in the summer. It never really gets totally dark and the sun doesn’t even go down until around 11pm.
Before our tour started we hit one of our funnier moments (funny to us anyway). Our campground host had told us to line up for the tour bus early as seats on the drivers side would give us better views for the majority of the tour, so we did. We got to chatting to the people behind us in line waiting, an older couple from Illinois. The wife was extremely excited to be in Denali and Alaska in general; the husband though not so much. He was unhappy about the lack in choices in food, stores and just about everything else in Alaska. He wanted to be able to stop for lunch at the Olive Garden just like back in his hometown. We couldn’t believe that we were hearing this as we were in one of the most famous national parks in the world and as remote as it is, there were still a few places to eat, sleep and shop. We felt bad for the wife but happy that she still had such a great attitude even though she was traveling with a Grinch.
After the bus arrived we hopped on and we were off! Julie and I were not sure if we were going to like the tour as #1 – we don’t take many tours preferring to explore on our own and #2 – this was an especially long tour with a full bus of people. We ended up loving it though. The tour guide/bus driver was extremely knowledgeable about the park itself as well as every animal and plant within its borders. We were able to see Moose, Dall Sheep, Caribou, Golden Eagles, Grizzly Bears and even a Lynx!
The tour stopped at bathroom spots set up along the road as well and a few short hiking spots so everyone could stretch their legs. Before getting off the bus for the short hikes we were told what we were near and what we were looking at so we had a bit of an idea when on the little hikes. We even were able to see the top of Denali again while on the bus. The tour guide said that actually seeing the top is a rare occurrence as storm systems and general bad weather cover the top for 80%+ of the time during the year. Actually being able to see it (and know for sure this time that we saw it as opposed to the previous day) was really special and awesome. All in all we had a great time on the tour. If Julie & I had done our normal drive around and hike we would not have learned nearly as much as the information that we learned on the tour. We really had a blast and would highly recommend taking a tour if you are visiting Denali in the future.
Denali Souvenirs
The next day we woke up a bit later than usual and after breakfast headed back over to the park. Today was a bit more leisurely than the day before. After getting to the park we took pictures with the Denali sign and headed into the park gift store to get a few souvenirs. We then decided to do our own mini tour and drive Bubbles into the park; the 15 miles that we could anyway. We had lunch at a pull out and once we reached the 15th mile we parked and took a long hike. This was pretty neat as it wasn’t the nicest day so there were not many other people around. The feeling of being in a massive national park, in the middle of the wilderness, in the most northern state in the union was a feeling that we will both never forget.
After getting back to Bubbles and reversing the 15 miles out of the park we decided to check out the little town directly at the entrance of the park. This small town, located within the parks boundaries is only open in the summer. There are shops, restaurants and a few hotels for people to stay in. We walked around a few of the shops before stopping into the Black Bear Restaurant/Café. We had a coffee and a really good pastry.
Denali Park Hotel & 49th State Brewing
From the park town we headed north and back to our home base of Healey. Tonight we would actually be staying in a hotel! In the months leading up to our Alaska trip we had learned that one of my Dad’s friends co-owned a hotel, the Denali Park Hotel near Denali National Park and when he heard that Julie & I were heading here he offered to put us up for a night in the hotel. After a few days on the road this was just what we needed. When we arrived we were pretty happy, as the check in desk was located in a refurbished Alaska Railway car. There were a few railway cars located on the property, which added to the ambiance as well. The rooms also turned out to be exactly what you need when in the wilderness in Alaska; clean, comfortable beds and warm showers. We love our RV but every now and then it’s nice to have a room to ourselves. Thanks for the stay Braxton!
That night we headed a minute down the road to the Denali location for 49th State Brewery. We had been to their downtown Anchorage location and enjoyed ourselves, so we decided to check out this location as well. Unlike the downtown Anchorage location, the Denali location was set on a big piece of land with a huge front yard of sorts filled with tables, yard games and even the bus from the movie “Into the Wild”! The inside looked like a cozy cabin complete with a table around a working fireplace and a lot of warm wood on the walls. We sat at the bar, had a few beers and a great meal before heading back to the hotel for the night.
Next up…Our last Alaskan city….We spend a few nights in Fairbanks!
