It's been a minute since we've been able to get out and explore! We decided Mother's Day weekend was a good excuse to go on a little adventure. So we hopped in the car and drove the 2 1/2 hours from Fairbanks to Denali National Park.
We had been watching the weather and it was really fun to go on a clear day because we could see glimpses of Denali, herself, the highest mountain peak in North America, on the drive down. The last time we drove past Denali we had limited visibility, so this was pretty cool! Usually, the view of Denali is much better coming up from the South. Only 1/3 of the park's visitors get to actually see Denali due to clouds blocking the view most of the time. We were excited to be added to the 30% club!
The park's "summer season" begins May 15th and ends September 15th. This is tourist season throughout Alaska and outside of these dates, all rest areas and many services along the highway are closed. There is an area right outside the park with restaurants, gift shops, and tour companies that are also closed outside of those dates. This trip took place about a week before everything was scheduled to open - including the visitors center - but the park road was open and that was really all we were looking for.
When we first got into the park, we stopped at the rest area by the campgrounds. We got out and hiked a little bit along McKinley Station Trail, which is an easy little hike - our 3-year-old and 6-year-old were just fine walking by themselves - that follows along the river. We saw evidence of bears, moose, wolves and rabbits in the area, though luckily we didn't come across anything. If you do plan to go out hiking in Denali National Park, we recommend bug spray, and bear spray.
After hiking around and exploring a bit, we hopped back in the car to drive the Park Road. Normally, in tourist season, you can only travel past Mile 15 if you're on a Denali Park Bus. The busses start running in early June and once they start running the road is closed to personal vehicles. Because we were there before the busses, we were able to drive to Mile 30 on our own. Having not had experience riding the busses, we can't really speak to that, but I will say that we saw less than a dozen other cars the whole time we were there and being able to stop and watch the wildlife when it made appearances was really awesome! It was definitely a perk to visiting the park before it is officially "open".
On our drive we saw ptarmigan, a moose, and a juvenile Grizzly bear. We saw the bear digging for roots on the side of the road. Once we got closer to it, it went up the hill a bit to hide behind some trees and watch us pass. A short while later, we turned around and stopped at where we had seen it to check out the damage it had done. Check out the size of those footprints!
As we kept driving, we came up on it again. This time, there were a few other cars around but we watched it go from a little skittish to brave enough to walk around the cars in a matter of less than a minute.
Our first visit to Denali National Park was short and sweet but definitely worth it! There are so many different ways to enjoy the park and we know we only got a little taste of it. We're looking forward to many more adventures! Have you been to Denali? What was your experience? Anything we should check out for next time? (The Zip line is already on my list ;) If you're interested in a one-on-one chat to help to plan a trip to Alaska, check out our options! Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don't forget to follow us on Instagram for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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