Denali National Park & Preserve
Alaska
Tonight
🌗 46% moon
Last quarter
Crowds
low
Open today
Open
Entrance
$15
Denali Park Road Information
In summer, the Denali Park Road is open to Mile 15 (Savage River) for personal vehicles. Vehicle travel further into the park is limited to transit and tour buses.
Official NPS alert →Park Operations Altered Due to Pretty Rocks Landslide
Summer access to facilities and services in Denali remains altered due to the Pretty Rocks Landslide and the associated closure of the Park Road at Mile 43. Check here for more information on what to expect.
Official NPS alert →Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travelers along it see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America's tallest peak, 20,310' Mount McKinley. Wild animals large and small roam un-fenced lands, living as they have for ages. Solitude, tranquility and wilderness await.
Topics
Entrance fees
$15.00 — Entrance - Per Person
Hours & seasons
Denali is open 24-hours a day, although services are limited after-hours (generally after 4 pm in winter or 6 pm in summer). There is no gate at the park entrance. Please note that camping is only possible either in designated campgrounds (with a valid reservation) or in the rest of the park with a free backpacking permit.
Generally open:
winterspringsummerfallHours are reported by the park — verify before you go.
📞 9076839532
✉ denali_info@nps.govConditions
Quietest months (fewer crowds): Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec
Typical crowds: low
Weather now: 🌦️ Drizzle, 49°F
🌦️ 57°/49°
🌦️ 57°/48°
🌦️ 56°/48°
Typical monthly recreation visits · NPS avg 2023–2025 — orange months are the quietest by crowds.
Quietest months
Relative crowds by month — lighter is quieter; ringed months are the calmest by crowds.
Jan
2%
Feb
2%
Mar
6%
Apr
5%
May
28%
Jun
89%
Jul
95%
Aug
100%
Sep
35%
Oct
3%
Nov
1%
Dec
2%
Log a sky reading
Measured the sky with an SQM meter or app? Add your reading (16 = city glow … 22 = pristine). Opt in under “Travelers like you” to share it on the community leaderboard.
Live conditions
Alpine Tundra Webcam ↗inactive
Sled Dog Puppies ↗inactive
Sled Dog Puppies ↗inactive
Alpine Tundra ↗inactive
Alpine Tundra ↗inactive
Alaska Railroad Depot ↗inactive
Things to do
Sightsee on a Denali Tour Bus · 17 mi · <p>When you buy a tour bus ticket, you'll choose how long of a trip to undertake. Choices range from 4.5 to 5.5 hours round-trip. Durations include stops for wildlife viewing, bathroom breaks, and more.</p>
Explore Mountain Vista & Savage River · 15 mi · <p>Counting travel to the area (either in your own car or with the free Savage River Shuttle), we suggest setting aside at least two hours total.</p> <p>This would mean only a little time in the Savage River area - if you plan to do any hiking or to stake out the area to enjoy the scenery or look for wildlife, we suggest setting aside at least six hours total, counting travel to and from the area. Given that you can explore off trail, there is no true maximum amount of time you can spend in the area, although overnight camping is limited to the nearby Savage River Campground or backpacking via permit. </p>
Hike a Short Trail From the Denali Visitor Center · 1.5 mi · <p>Total time varies depending on the trail you choose and how fast you wish to hike. </p>
Explore Denali's Winter Trails · <p>Depending on conditions and your interest, you could spend all day exploring Denali under your own power. We suggest preparing for at least a half-hour, so you can really get a sense of the stillness and peacefulness that is Alaska in winter. </p>
Bike the Denali Park Road · 14 mi · A day-trip can be as short or long as your stamina and schedule allows.
Discover the Boreal Forest: Identify Plants While Hiking in Denali · 4 mi
Berry Picking in Denali
Sightsee on a Denali Transit Bus · <p>When you buy a transit bus ticket, you'll choose how long of a trip to undertake. Choices are 6, 8, 10 or 12 hours round-trip, during the main summer season (generally June 8 to at least Sept 8; fewer options may be available before and after those dates). Durations include stops for wildlife viewing, bathroom breaks, and more. </p>
Campgrounds
Igloo Creek · 7 sites · first-come
Riley Creek ↗ · 142 sites · first-come · dump station
Sanctuary River ↗ · 7 sites · first-come
Savage River ↗ · 32 sites
Teklanika River ↗ · 53 sites
Wonder Lake ↗ · 28 sites
Visitor centers
Denali Bus Depot
Denali Visitor Center
Eielson Visitor Center
Indoor Picnic Area
Murie Science and Learning Center
Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station
Accessibility
4 accessible campground(s)
13 audio-described place(s)
Reported by the park — verify before you go.
Parking
Denali Bus Depot Parking · 300 accessible spacesaccessible
Not an official safety source — always defer to NPS.gov and rangers for life-safety decisions.
By the numbers
A visual read on Denali National Park & Preserve — its character, trails, sky, and weather.
Park fingerprint
How this park scores across the dimensions travelers care about.
Trail difficulty
Difficulty mix across this park's trails.
Trail profile
Each dot is a trail — distance vs. elevation gain, by difficulty.
3-day forecast
Daily high and low temperatures (°F).
People & stories
Figures tied to Denali National Park & Preserve — each spans a cross-park journey.
Adolph Murie
— Denali, Researcher, Murie Science And Learning CenterFannie Quigley
— Alaska, Mining, DenaliPassport stamps
Mark the stamps you've collected — they show in your memory and along your routes.
🎫 Denali Bus Depot
🎫 Denali Visitor Center
🎫 Eielson Visitor Center
🎫 Murie Science and Learning Center
🎫 Sled Dog Kennels
🎫 Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station
Places to see
"The Hole" of McKinley Station
audio
Alaska Railroad Trestle Over Riley Creek
Alaska Railroad's Denali Depot
audio
Confluence of Riley & Hines Creeks
audio
Denali Park Road, Mile 11 Pullout
Denali Park Store & Morino Grill
audio
Denali's Historic Headquarters
audio
Denali's Mountain Vista
audio
Early Entrance to Denali National Park
audio
East Fork River
Highway Pass
Kantishna
Audio & media
🎧
🎬
🖼
Learn more
The Alaska Republicans' state convention took place at the McKinley Park Hotel in May 1972, in what is now Denali National Park. At the convention, a State Senator from Fort Yukon named Don Young earned the backing of the Republican Party, and become Alaska's Representative in Congress for more than 47 years.
Recipients of the 2003 Environmental Achievement Awards
Recipients of the 2009 Environmental Achievement Awards
Seven rangers were awarded with a national or regional 2010 Freeman Tilden Award for excellence in interpretation. Learn more about their exciting and innovative projects.
Recipients of the 2010 NPS Environmental Achievement Awards
Discover the innovative and exciting programs of the recipients of the national and regional 2011 Freeman Tilden Awards for excellence in interpretation.
Science Summary (2014) - Many areas in Denali are prone to debris slides because they contain steep slopes and frozen sediment or soil layers that can thaw. Sometimes movements are gradual (months or years) and sometimes massive blocks of material can detach and fall from a hillside quickly (minutes or seconds). Thanks to past and ongoing science and engineering efforts to ensure the safety of visitors and staff, relatively few events like a major 2013 slide have occurred.
The Murie Science and Learning Center (MSLC) funds numerous outreach projects through the Microgrant program. These grants help MSLC partner parks pay for science education outreach projects. Funding for the Microgrant program is provided by Alaska Geographic. Read about the 2013 Microgrant recipients and their outreach projects.
Ranger School
Park-grounded courses you can learn with the Ranger.
How Denali National Park & Preserve connects
This park's activities, topics, location, and on-the-ground places — one hop in the graph. Drag to explore; click an activity, topic, or related park to follow it.
Park
Activity
Topic
State
Campground
VisitorCenter
PassportStamp
ParkingLot
Trail
ThingToDo
Alert
Similar parks
Share activities & topics with Denali National Park & Preserve.
