Denali’s park road is only open to private vehicles for the first 15 miles of its 90+ mile length. The remaining stretch is accessible only via park buses or via buses owned by the lodges at the end of the road, in Kantishna. For traveler’s staying at lodges such as Camp Denali, North Face or Denali Backcountry, aligning your arrival to the park entrance with the pickup times for these lodges will be a key part of you planning.
Camp Denali and North Face Lodge are my preferred option in the heart of the park, and their logistics can be particularly tricky because they only do these transfers twice a week. But the upside is simple. Your 90-mile transfer to your lodge will be just the start of your adventure, while for most front-country visitors it would be the highlight of their visit. During your trip into the park with Camp Denali and North Face Lodge, the driver/guide will begin to explain the fascinating history of the park’s creation, as well as point out various geographical highlights. Specific stops will be made at Polychrome Overlook, Toklat River and the Eielson Visitor Center. But, the highlights will be the unplanned stops for wildlife such as grizzlies, moose, dahl sheep and caribou.
Lunch is served at a beautiful spot along the way, so the staff seem challenged to make this incredible spread equally as beautiful! The drive, the meal and the amazing sights along the way serve to slow folks down. All that “hurry-up-and-get-there” quickly turns into “ahhh-we’re-here” quite quickly.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.
