Denali Park, Alaska
Denali, the "Great One", is the name Athanabascan people gave the massive peak that crowns the 600-milelong Alaska Range. Denali is the name of the National Park and Preserve created from the former Mount McKinley National Park. At 6 million acres, the park is larger than the State of Massachusetts. It exemplifies interior Alaska's character as one of the world's last great frontiers for wilderness adventure. It remains largely wild and unspoiled.
The rivers are so young and so laden with pulverized rock, called rock flour, that they can wander across their broad, flat valley's to set new channels in a matter of days. The delicate beauty of the tundra plants and the youthfull wanderings of the rivers are striking counterpoints to the lofty, isolated, and often cloud-covered grandur of Mt. McKinley.
You can tour the park road by bus or attend the daily ranger-naturalist programs. You can go mountaineering (advanced registration required) or day hike. There is backcountry camping (permit required), skiing and dog mushing in the winter. Denali is accessible by the Parks Highway or the Alaska Railroad from either Anchorage or Fairbanks. In summer a variety of private bus and van services operate daily from Anchorage and Fairbanks.