Photo Credit: Denali Backcountry Adventure

Denali National Park Road Tours

Denali Park Road Bear Crossing

Bear crossing the Denali Park Road

To experience the heart of Denali National Park, you'll have to travel by bus, van or plane -- private cars aren't allowed past the first 15 miles. The options all vary with respect to time, distance, price and flexibility. It's worth doing one of them: You'll get closer to Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley), see more wildlife, and get a better sense of what makes the park so renowned.

2024 Abbreviated Road Tours Update: Over the past several years, an ongoing landslide has intermittently closed part of the Denali Park Road, requiring a massive effort by the National Park Service to keep the area safely maintained for visitors and staff. In the summer of 2024, construction will continue for a bridge bypassing the landslide. During construction, visitors will have access to the first 43 scenic miles of the park road.

But don’t fret! Miles 0 to 43 still include spectacular scenery, and a bus tour is a great way to see the park if you plan to visit the Denali area this summer.

Adventurous folks can go beyond the closure by bike, on foot, or by flying to a remote lodge in Kantishna.

Denali Park Road Bus Tours

Narrated large group tours on the Denali Park Road, 4 - 12 hours. In 2023, there will be a revised service. No busses will travel beyond Mile Post 43 while there is construction on a bridge to bypass a landslide at Mile Post 45.4 of the Denali Park Road.

Season: May 12 - Sep 20 $114+ 4.5 to 12 hrs

The best way to get an overview of Denali Nation­al Park is aboard one of the park bus­es, which fea­ture a trained nat­u­ral­ist who both dri­ves and pro­vides nar­ra­tion. Avail­able tours include the Nat­ur­al His­to­ry Tour (45 hrs), and the Tun­dra Wilder­ness Tour (55.5 hrs).

[{"slug":"denali-national-park","title":"Denali National Park"}]

Park Service Hiker & Camper Shuttle Bus

Not always narrated, serves as transportation for campers and hikers in the park. Or, you can ride it as an alternative to a tour.

This flex­i­ble alter­na­tive to the stan­dard bus tour is an excel­lent option for inde­pen­dent trav­el­ers. Get off any­where, spend a few hours hik­ing, then catch anoth­er bus back to the park entrance (as long as a seat is avail­able). You can take a short ride before start­ing your adven­ture, or trav­el out to Kan­tish­na, at the end of the park road. See adjust­ed ser­vices for 2023.

[{"slug":"denali-national-park","title":"Denali National Park"}]

Hiking & Biking Tours along Denali Park Road

Experience the Denali Park Road on two feet or by bike!

Season: Year Round Custom pricing, contact for rates Full Day & Multi-Day

Tra­verse Alas­ka can craft ful­ly-guid­ed cus­tom adven­tures, or set you up on a trip into the Alas­ka wilder­ness arm­ing you with some know-how — and pro­vid­ing you with the inde­pen­dence to freely explore. Excur­sions include pri­vate day hikes, raft­ing and pack­raft­ing, and mul­ti-day backpacking. 

Season: May 1 - Sept 30 $29+ 3+ hrs to Multi-Day Rentals

If you want to expe­ri­ence Denali Nation­al Park, Bike Denali has a fun, unique way to do it — on two wheels! Options include after­noon rentals to ride around the park entrance, full-day rentals to the explore the Denali Park Road to mul­ti-day rentals for bike camp­ing. Opt for a moun­tain bike, or eBike.

The Denali Nation­al Park Vis­i­tors Cen­ter is actu­al­ly more of a cam­pus. The cen­ter itself is the main Nation­al Park Ser­vice wel­come and infor­ma­tion cen­ter and it is sur­round­ed by oth­er facil­i­ties that include a restau­rant, bookstore/​giftshop, bag check, bus stop and the Alas­ka Rail­road depot.

[{"slug":"denali-national-park","title":"Denali National Park"}]

Denali Highway

30 miles south of the Denali National Park Visitor Center, is the town of Cantwell and the start of the Denali Highway. This was the original road to Denali National Park. In 2023, one tour is available to experience this historic road as an alternative to the Denali Park Road.

Season: May 15 - Sept 15 $179 Jeep Tour 4-8 hrs

This is your chance to expe­ri­ence the spec­tac­u­lar scenery along the Denali High­way, a road recent­ly ranked #2 world­wide as a Dri­ve of a Life­time’ by Nation­al Geo­graph­ic Trav­el­er Mag­a­zine. You’ll be giv­en the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take the wheel, or if you pre­fer, just sit back and enjoy stun­ning views of the peaks and glac­i­ers of the cen­tral Alas­ka Range. There is a guide in the Jeep up front, but you can stop wher­ev­er, when­ev­er, and as often as you  ...more

[{"slug":"denali-national-park","title":"Denali National Park"}]

Flights

Take a bus tour one-way all the way to the end of the road, and fly back. Not offered in 2023 due to Denali Park Road closure.

Reopen­ing in 2024. This is the only flight­see­ing com­pa­ny with an airstrip in Kan­tish­na, inside Denali Nation­al Park. Because you depart so much clos­er to the moun­tain than oth­er tours, in a one-hour flight, you’ll get 40 min­utes cir­cling the moun­tain. You may also com­bine a one-way park road bus tour with a Denali flight­see­ing tour for an incred­i­ble overview of the park.

[{"slug":"denali-national-park","title":"Denali National Park"}]