Hiking in Denali National Park



Hiking in Denali is very different from other National Parks we have visited. The first difference is there is only one 92 mile road in the entire park which encompasses over 6 million acres! This road, Denali Park Road, is only paved for the first 15 miles. And due to a landslide that occured in 2017, only 43 miles out of the 92 are currently used today. So you won't be driving throughout Denali!



A second major difference is the lack of defined trails. While there are a few marked trails around the visitor center, the majority of hiking in Denali is called "Freestyle, Off Trail" hiking. This means hikers navigate without the constraints of designated paths. Denali offers a unique opportunity for this type of hiking due to extensiveness of the wilderness. This style of hiking combined with the extensive wildlife offers ambitious hikers a truly "wild experience."








Due to a number of factors, Greg and I didn't avail ourselves this time to the Freestyle, Off Trail hiking. You have to come with a different mindset and be armed with bear spray and other protections. So this trip, we stuck to a couple of beautiful trail hikes not far from the park headquarters. 









Part of what helped make this decision is we did take a tour of the park on a bus that traveled the entire 43 miles of the road that is currently drivable. And we saw lots of wildlife including multiple grizzly bears, moose, caribou, etc. So it definitely impressed upon us that you have to be prepared to encounter wildlife if you are going to hike off trail. 







That said, the hikes we did do were wonderful and reminded us of the BWCA as well as Glacier National Park. 

Comments

  1. Marsha SJuly 29, 2025 at 5:42 AM

    What a great adventure and it does look like Glacier with exception of so many Grizzleys. Wild spaces are so precious albeit challenging. Love your sense of adventure.

    ReplyDelete

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