Question about Denali

[vfb2girls]

Is one day enough time to spend in Denali? We are not interested in hiking, just a little sightseeing. Since we are going in early June next year I keep hearing the mention of mosquitoes, I hate these pesty bugs! Is it really that bad? Also if anyone has been to Yellowstone National Park is Denali similiar in regards to the animals we will see? My husband is kind of balking at spending time at Denali but I figured we should just go and visit at least once and get in out of our system. Any thoughts?

[NancyIL]

I'm of the same mindset - that it's an "ought to see at least once" place. We'll be there 2 nights and 1 day, and we'll take the shuttle to Fish Creek. I hate bugs as much as they love me, so I'll be well supplied with some powerful bug spray!

[fti]

It depends on what you like/are looking for. I would not miss Denali for sure, even if you only spend one day. Most people spend two nights there - arrive day 1, maybe see the visitors center, sleddogs, short hikes near the entrance, day 2 all day shuttle bus ride into the park, day 3 maybe a bit near the park entrance that they missed on day 1 and leave. You can do it with just one overnight too if you plan it right and take an early shuttle bus on your day in the park.

 

The bugs don't get bad until you get further west in the park - toward Wonder Lake. Fish Creek should be pretty good bug-wise anytime you go.

 

Perhaps once you visit, it will never get "out of your system" - happened to me. I am going back again next summer and spending 4 nights there. But I love the outdoors, nature, seeing the wildlife in their natural setting, and having more chances to see Mt. McKinley. But everyone is different.

[Budget Queen]

To "go to " Denali Park requires time. 2 nights is really necessary and the shuttle bus to at least Fish Creek. It simply is not worth the effort to go there with out it. Like spending time in the Disney parking lot and never getting into the park. :) IF not of interest to you, go elsewhere. You can have a great time in Seward or Homer, or consider Talkeetna and driving Hatcher Pass, Glenn Highway to Matanuska Glacier etc.

 

I agree, Fish Creek has NO WHERE near the bugs of Wonder Lake. This would be my min. distance in.

[vfb2girls]

Actually the way our itinerary stands we are planning on spending 2 nights in Talkeetna, 1 night in Healy, 1 night in Anchorage, 5 nights in Homer, and 2 nights in Seward, with our land tour ending in Whitter. With the time spent in Talkeetna and Healy we just might decide to explore Denali a little more, but I do agree on taking the shuttle to at least Fish Creek. I guess it all depends on the weather and how interesting we find Denali.

[Budget Queen]

Actually the way our itinerary stands we are planning on spending 2 nights in Talkeetna, 1 night in Healy, 1 night in Anchorage, 5 nights in Homer, and 2 nights in Seward, with our land tour ending in Whitter. With the time spent in Talkeetna and Healy we just might decide to explore Denali a little more, but I do agree on taking the shuttle to at least Fish Creek. I guess it all depends on the weather and how interesting we find Denali.

 

 

2 nights is a LOT of time to spend in Talkeetna. With more research, you may find you have more interest in the many more activites out of Denali Park??? Check them out http://www.nps.gov/dena

[Genessa]

when we went to Denali in 03, we saw caribou, Dall sheep, bears, ptarmigan, peregrine falcon. For me, even better, we were lucky enough that it was a fantastic day and we saw Denali...

 

Yellowstone, however, we thought was much better for wildlife. We saw more bears there, closer. And the bison right on the road!!! Mountain goats we saw on the side of whatever roads we were on were closer, much closer, than the Dall sheep we saw in Denali. No ptarmigan or peregrine falcons, though, or if we saw them, we didn't have anyone to tell us that was what we were seeing.

 

In fact, we saw more wildlife from the highway(90 and whatever side roads) when we drove cross-country without even trying (Wyoming, Montana, Utah, South Dakota). We were a little surprised at the small number of wildlife we saw in Alaska - and we saw a lot in Alaska.

[vfb2girls]

BQ, the first night we spend at Talkeetna will we be getting in very late, we decided to pick up our rental car from Anchorage and drive to Talkeetna for our first Alaskan night. We are hoping to do a summit flyover the next morning and if something happens that we won't be able to do it then we will have the next morning to attempt it. I just want to make sure we have plenty of opportunities to do the summit flight since that is high on our priority list. But thank you for the web site, with everything by the time we finally get to Alaska our plans will probably have changed.

[Chenega]

Denali is one of the last great wilderness areas in the United States. Your bus trip into the park will cover only a small portion of the total park itself.

 

What makes Denali special is that the wilderness is relatively untouched compared to such locations as Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon.

 

It's really a place to be savored. We often do two one-day bus trips when we visit since the place changes all the time. There are no guarantees for either wildlife sightings or a view of Mt. McKinley but this "unscripted approach" is what makes Denali so special.

 

Give yourself at least two days there to travel into the park. You won't regret it.

[Guest garden4cook]

We spent several days in Denali, and are glad we did. Two nights at Denali Bluffs - the full day we went flight seeing over Denali (awesome) with a glacier landing. Then the next am, we took the 8 hour bus ride into Kantishna, 95 miles deep to stay 3 nights at the Kantishna Roadhouse (private cabins). On the way to Kantishna, we saw everything: moose, grizzly, dall sheep, golden eagle, caribou, red fox, etc., etc.

 

Then on the way out of Kantishna and heading back to the outside of the park, leaving Kantishna at 6:30am (yawn) was well worth it!!! That morning, Mt Mckinley was without her usual cloud system...and the sky was a beautiful blue, the light was incredible at 6:50am....and we got AWESOME, INCREDIBLY BEATUFUL photos of the mountain. Had we not stayed those many days - we would have left never seeing "her". What a lose that would have been.

 

We returned to Denali Bluffs hotel for one more night before taking the train from Denali back to Anchorage.

 

My time in Denali was worth it - 5 days or so, with the last day getting a full view of "Denali" herself and the most incredible pitures of my Alaska trip.

 

Do not skimp on Denali.

[Budget Queen]

BQ, the first night we spend at Talkeetna will we be getting in very late, we decided to pick up our rental car from Anchorage and drive to Talkeetna for our first Alaskan night. We are hoping to do a summit flyover the next morning and if something happens that we won't be able to do it then we will have the next morning to attempt it. I just want to make sure we have plenty of opportunities to do the summit flight since that is high on our priority list. But thank you for the web site, with everything by the time we finally get to Alaska our plans will probably have changed.

 

 

I still suggest you overnight in the Denali Park area the second night. IF you have a morning flight scheduled, you have that afternoon as a back up and still plenty of time to still get to Denali by evening. On the WAY back, use that as another back up, Leaving in the am, will have you in Talkeetna by noon, and the afternoon if needed for flights.

 

Last year, I had 5 flights scheduled and canceled. As a first timer, I would not sit on time you really don't have. Talkeetna Aero also flys out of Denali Park, you have that option too, if needed.

[vfb2girls]

BQ, okay you have my brain working here. So spending the first night in Talkeetna is fine, try to take our flight in the morning, if it gets cancelled then we should take off for Denali, spend the second night in Healy, as of right now we have already booked the third night in Healy so does the area of Denali justify spending another night in Healy? It is early enough so that I can go ahead and revise my plans, I just want to try to make the best use of our time when we are in Alaska. Thanks once again for the suggestions. Also with Aero how many flights do they do out of Talkeetna for the summit flyover? I thought they only did that tour in the mornings?

[fti]

BQ, okay you have my brain working here. So spending the first night in Talkeetna is fine, try to take our flight in the morning, if it gets cancelled then we should take off for Denali, spend the second night in Healy, as of right now we have already booked the third night in Healy so does the area of Denali justify spending another night in Healy? It is early enough so that I can go ahead and revise my plans, I just want to try to make the best use of our time when we are in Alaska. Thanks once again for the suggestions. Also with Aero how many flights do they do out of Talkeetna for the summit flyover? I thought they only did that tour in the mornings?

 

If you spend two nights (parts of 3 days) in Healy or Glitter Gulch area, you don't arrive until later in the day the first day. Use that to see the film at the visitors center, hike near the park entrance, see the sleddogs if you are early enough (I think the last sleddog demonstration is at 4pm). You can also drive the first 15 miles of the park road.

 

The second day you can spend all day on a shuttle bus going into the park. Depending on how early in June your trip is, the road might only be open to Fish Creek. It usually doesn't open to Wonder Lake until about June 8. If open, I prefer to go as far as Wonder Lake even with the mosquitos. BQ prefers Fish Creek. This trip will take you 8-11 hours depending which destination you choose. Then the third day you take off for your next stop. If you missed something at the park entrance the day you arrived, you can spend time doing/seeing it before you leave.

 

The earlier the shuttle bus, the better. And you can begin reserving online December 1 or by phone February 1.

[vfb2girls]

Once again thank you for the great suggestions, I went ahead and changed my reservations so that we will be spending one night in Talkeetna and two nights in Healy. After reading through the replies to my question I had to agree with everyone about spending more time in Healy then in Talkeetna. Being able to come to this board and ask questions and get great answers has made planning this trip not only easier but it is making it more exciting. Getting different perspectives on things certainly do help.

[Chat Noir]

Is one day enough time to spend in Denali? We are not interested in hiking, just a little sightseeing. Since we are going in early June next year I keep hearing the mention of mosquitoes, I hate these pesty bugs! Is it really that bad? Also if anyone has been to Yellowstone National Park is Denali similiar in regards to the animals we will see? My husband is kind of balking at spending time at Denali but I figured we should just go and visit at least once and get in out of our system. Any thoughts?

 

Bugs were much more a problem around Anchorage than at Denali late May/early June this year. Since sightseeing is your 'thing', I wouldn't think bugs will be the nusiance to you on the bus like it is to hikers.

 

As far as Yellowstone vs Denali, I prefer Yellowstone for the wildlife and scenery... spectacular canyons, waterfalls, etc... but then, I have memories of it 'back when' and bears, especially, aren't as easily viewed now as they once were. (Had emergency appendectomy in the park hospital.:rolleyes: But, great views and wildlife roaming out my window!!!). I've visited Yellowstone numerous times, and Denali only once. However, I really don't think the 2 parks can be compared... they're different, and each is worth the visit.

 

I agree with going to 'get it out of your system'. If you don't, you'll likely regret it as we did after our first trip to Alaska. Now that we've been, though wonderful, we know once was enough for us... You may find you'll want to visit time and again!:)

[Budget Queen]

Also with Aero how many flights do they do out of Talkeetna for the summit flyover? I thought they only did that tour in the mornings?

 

 

I've taken this flight all hours, Eric, certainly does not only go out once a day on the summit flights, and leaves his plane on the ground- they are fully scheduled. The "problem" is if you are looking at using toursaver, which they can only offer at specific times.

 

Contact them directly.