Denali National Park
Denali National Park (6 million acre) has become a National Park in 1923 and is situatied north of the Alaska Range, 402 km south of the arctic circle. The park entrance (reachable by road, air and rail) is 381 km north of Anchorage.
Denali Park is open year round however the hotel, most campings and Denali Busservice are available only by the end of May/beginning of June until middle of September. All depends on snow heights at the beginning of May.
In the Information Center at the park entrance one gets to know everything about lectures of park rangers, hiking trails, campgrounds (availability and reservations), sled dog demonstrations and wildlife tours.
Private vehicles are allowed to drive 21 km of the 148 km long park road. The shuttle bus runs the whole distance so the animals are not disturbed by too much traffic. It is advised to reserve bus-tickets for the Denali shuttle bus way before as the amount of seats is restricted per day and many people want to go on that bus (in 1995 there were close to a million visitors).
One of the most known attractions of Denali Park is Mount Mc Kinley, the highest peak of North America, 6.095 m. On clear days you can see the mountain from Anchorage. But the cloudy, rainy and foggy weather in summer is guilty that you only have a 30%-chance to see the mountain in summer.
Mount Mc Kinley was mentioned first in 1794 when british Captain George Vancouver saw a "tremendous snow mountain" when sailing in Cook Inlet (a waterway close to Anchorage). Early russian explorers and traders named the mountain "Bolshaia Gora" or "Big Mountain". Tanana Indians gave her the name "Denali", meaning "The High One".
In 1896 the mountain was named "McKinley" after the presidency candidate of Ohio, William McKinley. Still today on different maps there are two names in use: McKinley and Denali.
There were various attempts to climb the mountain but only in 1913 the first person made it to the top. Today more than 1000 attempts are made every year between April and June to reach the top of Mount McKinley.
The tree line in the park is at 2000 - 3000 feet. The landscape under the tree line of this subarctic wilderness is called Taiga. White spruce, cottonwood and paper birch grow there. In the higher situated Tundra you can find small willow-trees (six inches height), grasses, mosses and a variety of wild flowers.
Denali Park is one of the last intact ecosystems in the world. Visitors can watch the animals in their natural surroundings.
37 species of mammals and 130 different bird species (including the impressive golden eagle) roam around the park.
Around 200-300 brown (or grizzly)bears and 200 black bears, Caribou (between 2000 and 3000 animals), Wolves (ca. 160) and Redfox ramble undisturbed through the Tundra. Moose (about 2000) are found near the rivers. Lynx chase snowhare in the forests of the Taiga. Marmots and Dall Sheep live in the rocks up above.
Migrating birds of 6 continents temporary live in the area.
The abovementioned animals are also found throughout Alaska, as are beavers, bald eagles, red squirrel, wolverines, mountain goats, otters, seals, orcas, dolphins, humpback whales, beluga or white whale, walruses, sea otters, and lots and lots of differnt kind of salmon which return every summer from the sea to their birthplaces in the rivers.