Best Denali Shuttle Time?

[Travel_Maven]

From reading the CC boards I had the impression that the earlier you can make a Park Shuttle, the better. After talking to the folks at our B&B, they say there is no advantage to taking one of the earliest shuttles. I certainly understand that there is a big element of chance to seeing wildlife no matter what shuttle you take, but is there a general opinion on whether there is an advantage to taking one of the earliest?

[Yukon]

The earlier the better. The advantage isn't in the wildlife, it's in the fact that Denali (The Mountain) often clouds over well before noon. I've been on dozens of shuttles and TWTs and have seen that happen many times.

[PennyAgain]

I've camped in Denali and have done plenty of walking around there. The animals stir with the sunrise. Depending on the time of year, that can be early or late. I'm up long before I hear the first of the shuttle buses grinding their way along the park road.

 

The park road gets very dusty as the day goes on unless it is raining. The bus windows get dusty although the drivers are supposed to clean them at the turn arounds.

 

You have to make your own decision. If you have a young family and getting the gang up, fed and organized is a major deal, the early buses may not be for you. If you are the up early sort, don't sit around and wait.

 

Pack yourself a decent lunch and some snacks. A cooler type lunch sack is a good idea. Water and something else to drink to cut the dust. I keep my camera in a Zip-Loc bag to fight the dust.

 

If you see Denali, count yourself lucky.

[oceanbabe]

Travel Maven: Our shuttle in Denali on twT was at 6:15am. We were the only tour that got to see 16 bears! It is when animals wake up and are out to find food. The driver told us that early is best. enjoy, elaine

[wolfie11]

The general rule is that the sunnier and warmer the day, the fewer animals you will see as the day heats up. They all go lay in the shade to stay cool. On overcast days you may see animals the entire trip. On sunny days, the earliest and latest buses of the day generally see more wildlife.

[calliecat]

We did the 7:15 shuttle but we saw the mother grizzly and her cubs close to the road on the return to the center around 2:30 or 3pm. My son had a friend that was on a bus behind us and evidently the same grizzly came out on the road in front of the bus, put a dead squirrel in her mouth and stood strait up. This 17 yr old that was telling my son about it said it was "really cool" and they got a lot of pictures!

[vbmom87]

The driver told us that early is best. enjoy, elaine

 

Everyone has their own opinion on this. Our shuttle driver told us it did not matter what time you went in terms of how much wildlife you would see. I have no facts to give you, just what our driver said.

 

We originally booked the 5:30 a.m. shuttle to Wonder Lake, but I was under the weather and the thought of getting up at 4:00 a.m. did not sound good. We were able to change our time to 9:00 a.m. We saw some wildlife up close and personal and others in the distance. Ideally, it would probably be nice if you could go out more than one day if you are really after seeing wildlife.

 

I was disappointed it rained on our trip, but after hearing about all the issues you can have with dust, I guess it wasn't so bad afterall. We did get to see Denali the two previous days as we were making our way to Denali National Park.

[gaylenhazel]

We did the 6 a.m. Eilson shuttle and saw 24 bears! Lot's of other animals as well. The dust was not bad going up but coming back it was bad!