| Mount McKinley | |
|---|---|
| Denali | |
 Mount McKinley from the north. Wonder Lake is in the foreground. |
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| Elevation | 20,320 ft (6,193.5 m) NGVD 29 [1] |
| Prominence | 20,156 ft (6,143.5 m) [1] |
| Listing | Seven summits Ultra prominent peak Nation's highest point U.S. state highest point |
| Location | |
  Mount McKinley
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| Range | Alaska Range |
| Coordinates | 63°04′10″N 151°00′27″W / 63.0695000°N 151.0074000°WCoordinates: 63°04′10″N 151°00′27″W / 63.0695000°N 151.0074000°W [2] |
| Topo map | USGS Mt. McKinley A-3 |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | June 7, 1913 by Hudson Stuck Harry Karstens Walter Harper Robert Tatum |
| Easiest route | West Buttress Route (glacier/snow climb) |
Mount McKinley or Denali (Athabaskan for "The Great One") in Alaska is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of approximately 20,320 feet (6,194 m).[1] It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park.
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Mount McKinley has a larger bulk and rise than Mount Everest, although the summit of Everest is higher at 29,029 feet (8,848 m). Everest's base sits on the Tibetan Plateau[3] at about 17,000 feet (5,200 m), giving it a real vertical rise of a little more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m). The base of Mount McKinley is roughly at 2,000-foot (610 m) elevation, giving it an actual rise of 18,000 feet (5,500 m).
The mountain is also characterized by extremely cold weather. Temperatures as low as −75.5 °F (−60 °C) and windchills as low as −118.1 °F (−83 °C) have been recorded by an automated weather station located at 18,700 feet (5,700 m). According to the National Park Service, in 1932 the Liek-Lindley expedition recovered a self-recording minimum thermometer left near Browne's Tower, at about 15,000 feet (4,600 m), on Mount McKinley by the Stuck-Karstens party in 1913. The spirit thermometer was calibrated down to 95 degrees below zero and the lowest recorded temperature was below that point. Harry J. Liek took the thermometer back to Washington, D.C. where it was tested by the United States Weather Bureau and found to be accurate. The lowest temperature that it had recorded was found to be approximately −100 °F (−73.3 °C) degrees. There is also a higher risk of altitude illness for climbers than its altitude would otherwise suggest, due to its high latitude.[4] At the equator, a mountain as high as Mount McKinley would have 47% as much oxygen available on its summit as compared to sea level,[5] but because of its latitude, the pressure on the summit of McKinley is even lower at 42%.[6],
Mount McKinley is a granitic pluton. Mount McKinley has been uplifted by tectonic pressure while at the same time, erosion has stripped away the (somewhat softer) sedimentary rock above and around it.
The forces that lifted Mount McKinley—the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the North American plate—also raised great ranges across southern Alaska. As that huge sheet of ocean-floor rock plunges downward into the mantle, it shoves and crumples the continent into soaring mountains which include some of the most active volcanoes on the continent. Mount McKinley in particular is uplifted relative to the rocks around it because it is at the intersection of major active strike-slip faults (faults that move rocks laterally across the Earth's surface) which allow the deep buried rocks to be unroofed more rapidly compared to those around them.
Mount McKinley has two significant summits: the South Summit is the higher one, while the North Summit has an elevation of 19,470 feet (5,934 m) and a prominence of approximately 1,320 feet (402 m). The North Summit is sometimes counted as a separate peak (see e.g., the List of United States fourteeners) and sometimes not; it is rarely climbed, except by those doing routes on the north side of the massif.
Five large glaciers flow off the slopes of the mountain. The Peters Glacier lies on the northwest side of the massif, while the Muldrow Glacier falls from its northeast slopes. Just to the east of the Muldrow, and abutting the eastern side of the massif, is the Traleika Glacier. The Ruth Glacier lies to the southeast of the mountain, and the Kahiltna Glacier leads up to the southwest side of the mountain.
Numerous native peoples of the area had their own names for this prominent peak. The local Koyukon Athabaskan name for the mountain, the name used by the Native Americans with access to the flanks of the mountain (living in the Yukon, Tanana and Kuskokwim basins), is Dinale or Denali ("the high one", English pronunciation: /dɨˈnɑːli/).[2] To the South the Dena’ina people in the Susitna river valley used the name Dghelay Ka’a (anglicized as Doleika), meaning "the big mountain", while the Aleuts called it Traleika.[7]
The historical first European sighting of Mount McKinley took place on May 6, 1794, when George Vancouver was surveying the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet and mentioned “distant stupendous mountains” in his journal. However, he uncharacteristically left the mountain unnamed. The mountain is first named on a map by Ferdinand von Wrangell in 1839; the names Tschigmit and Tenada correspond to the locations of Mount Foraker and Mount McKinley, respectively. Von Wrangell had been chief administrator of the Russian settlements in North America from 1829–1835. The Russian explorer Lavrenty Zagoskin explored the Tanana and Kuskokwim rivers in 1843 and 1844 and was probably the first European to sight the mountain from the other side.[7]
The first English name applied to the peak was Densmore’s Mountain or Densmore's Peak, for the gold prospector Frank Densmore who in 1889 had fervently praised the mountain’s majesty; however, the name persevered only locally and informally.[2] That changed when William Dickey, a New Hampshire-born Seattleite who had been digging for gold in the sands of the Susitna River, wrote, after his return to the lower states, an account in the New York Sun that appeared on January 24, 1897.[8] Dickey wrote, “We named our great peak Mount McKinley, after William McKinley of Ohio, who had been nominated for the Presidency."[8] By most accounts, the naming was politically driven; Dickey had met many silver miners who zealously promoted Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan's ideal of a silver standard, inspiring him to retaliate by naming the mountain after a strong proponent of the gold standard.[8] His report drew attention with the sentence “We have no doubt that this peak is the highest in North America, and estimate that it is over 20,000 feet (6,100 m) high.” Until then 18,000-foot (5,500 m) Mount Saint Elias was believed to be the continent’s highest point (Mount Logan was still unknown and Mount St Elias’ height had been overestimated to beat Pico de Orizaba[citation needed]). Though later praised for his estimate, Dickey admitted that other prospector parties had also guessed the mountain to be over 20,000 feet (6,100 m).[9]
Controversially, Mount McKinley is commonly referred to by its Koyukon Athabaskan name Denali, especially by Alaskans, mountaineers, and Alaska Natives. The Alaska Board of Geographic Names officially changed the name of mountain to Denali and, in 1975 at Governor Jay Hammond's behest, the Alaska Legislature officially requested that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the federal governmental body responsible for naming geographic features in the United States, change the name of the mountain from Mount McKinley to "Mount Denali."[10]
Action by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names was staved off by the determined political maneuvering of Ohio congressman Ralph Regula, whose district includes Canton, where McKinley spent much of his life.[11][12] At first, Board on Geographic Names consideration was delayed by resistance from Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton, under whose purview the Board on Geographic Names fell, as he personally did not favor a change of the mountain's name.[10] Later, in 1977, with Secretary Morton no longer at the helm of the Department of the Interior, the Board on Geographic Names again prepared to consider the name change, but Congressman Regula gathered signatures from every member of the Ohio congressional delegation warning against renaming Mount McKinley and the Board on Geographic Names again held off on making a ruling.[8][10] On December 2, 1980, with President Jimmy Carter's signing of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), McKinley National Park — which had been created on February 26, 1917[8] — was incorporated into a larger protected area named Denali National Park and Preserve.[13] Naming the new, larger park Denali while retaining the name Mount McKinley for the actual mountain was thought to be a compromise by many "Mount McKinley" partisans.[13][14] However, "Denali" advocates, including Alaska Congressman Don Young, vehemently disagree that the 1980 action constitutes a real compromise and instead argue that naming the mountain and park by different names only creates confusion.[14][15] While the Board on Geographic Names was originally set to make a ruling on December 10, 1980, with the passage of ANILCA on December 2, the Board on Geographic Names opted to defer their ruling.[10][16]
The following year, Congressman Regula devised a new tactic to support the Mount McKinley name. Capitalizing on a Board on Geographic Names policy[17] that states the Board cannot consider any name-change proposal if congressional legislation relating to that name is pending, Regula began a biennial legislative tradition of either introducing language into Interior Department appropriation bills or introducing a standalone bill that states that the name of Mount McKinley shall not be changed.[10][18] This effectively killed the Denali name-change proposal pending with the Board on Geographic Names.[10]
In 2009, following the retirement of Congressman Regula, interest in renaming the mountain has renewed. Alaska State Representative Scott Kawasaki sponsored Alaska House Joint Resolution 15, which urges the U.S. Congress to rename the mountain Denali.[19] Despite efforts in Alaska, U.S. Representatives Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan, both of Ohio, have assumed Regula's role as congressional guardians of the Mount McKinley name and introduced H.R. 229 which reads: "Notwithstanding any other authority of law, the mountain located 63 degrees 04 minutes 12 seconds north, by 151 degrees 00 minutes 18 seconds west shall continue to be named and referred to for all purposes as Mount McKinley."[20]
The first recorded attempt to climb Mount McKinley was by Judge James Wickersham in 1903, via the Peters Glacier and the North Face, now known as the Wickersham Wall. This route has tremendous avalanche danger and was not successfully climbed until 1963.
Famed explorer Dr. Frederick Cook claimed the first ascent of the mountain in 1906. His claim was regarded with some suspicion from the start, but was also widely believed. It was later proved fraudulent, with some crucial evidence provided by Bradford Washburn when he was sketched on a lower peak.
In 1910, four locals (Tom Lloyd, Peter Anderson, Billy Taylor, and Charles McGonagall), known as the Sourdough expedition, attempted McKinley, despite a complete lack of climbing experience. They spent approximately three months on the mountain. However, their purported summit day was impressive: carrying a bag of doughnuts, each a thermos of hot chocolate, and a 14-foot (4.2 m) spruce pole, two of them reached the North Summit, the lower of the two, and erected the pole near the top. According to them, they took a total of 18 hours — a record that has yet to be breached (as of 2006). No one believed their success (partly due to false claims that they had climbed both summits) until the true first ascent, in 1913.
In 1912, the Parker-Browne expedition nearly reached the summit, turning back within just a few hundred yards of it due to harsh weather. In fact, that probably saved their lives, as a powerful earthquake shattered the glacier they ascended hours after they safely left it.
The first ascent of the main summit of McKinley came on June 7, 1913, by a party led by Hudson Stuck. The first man to reach the summit was Walter Harper, an Alaska Native. Harry Karstens and Robert Tatum also made the summit. Tatum later commented, "The view from the top of Mount McKinley is like looking out the windows of Heaven!"[21] They ascended the Muldrow Glacier route pioneered by the earlier expeditions, which is still often climbed today. Stuck confirmed, via binoculars, the presence of a large pole near the North Summit; this report confirmed the Sourdough ascent, and today it is widely believed that the Sourdoughs did succeed on the North Summit. However, the pole was never seen before or since, so there is still some doubt. Stuck also discovered that the Parker-Browne party were only about 200 feet (61 m) of elevation short of the true summit when they turned back.
See the timeline below for more important events in Mount McKinley's climbing history.
The mountain is regularly climbed today, with just over 50% of the expeditions successful, although it is still a dangerous undertaking. By 2003, the mountain had claimed the lives of nearly 100 mountaineers.[22] The vast majority of climbers use the West Buttress Route, pioneered in 1951 by Bradford Washburn, after an extensive aerial photographic analysis of the mountain. Climbers typically take two to four weeks to ascend the mountain.
The Japan Alpine Club installed a meteorological station on a ridge near the summit of Denali at an altitude of 5710 m in 1990. In 1998, this weather station was donated to the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. In June 2002, a weather station was placed at the 19,000-foot (5,800 m) level. This weather station was designed to transmit data in real-time for use by the climbing public and the science community. Since its establishment, annual upgrades to the equipment have been performed with instrumentation custom built for the extreme weather and altitude conditions. This weather station is one of only two weather stations in the world located above 18,000 feet (5,500 m).
The weather station recorded temperatures as low as −75.5 °F (−60 °C) on December 1, 2003. On the previous day, November 30, 2003, a temperature of −74.4 °F (−59 °C) combined with a wind speed of 18.4 miles per hour to produce a North American record windchill of −118.1 °F (−83 °C).
Even in July, temperatures as low as −22.9 °F (−30 °C) and windchills as low as −59.2 °F (−51 °C) have been recorded by this weather station.
Besides the North Summit mentioned above, other less significant features on the massif which are sometimes included as separate peaks are:
None of these peaks are usually regarded as worthwhile objectives in their own right; however they often appear on lists of the highest peaks of the United States. (Only one appears on the List of United States Fourteeners on Wikipedia.)
Nearby important peaks include:
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Denali National Park [1] is a United States National Park that is home to Mt. McKinley, North America's highest mountain, known to the native Athabascan Indians as Denali. In addition, the park protects an incredible wilderness area that contains grizzly bears, caribou, moose, wolves, and numerous other creatures. It is in the state of Alaska, 240 miles north of Anchorage and 120 miles south of Fairbanks.
Denali National Park comprises a massive area of six million acres, slightly more than the entire state of Massachusetts. The park is best known for the 20,320 foot Denali/Mt. McKinley (named after then-senator and future President William McKinley). The tremendous 18,000 foot difference from the mountain's lowlands near Wonder Lake up to its peak is a greater vertical relief than that of Mount Everest. The park is bisected from east to west by the Alaska Range and the Park Road is the only vehicle access into the park.
The park was established in 1917 as a wildlife refuge. It was originally named Mount McKinley National Park, but in 1980 the park was renamed and expanded in size by four million acres as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). Today the park is managed as three separate units: Denali Wilderness is made up of the original Mount McKinley National Park and is managed to retain the undeveloped wilderness with no hunting allowed. The Denali National Park management area includes some of the 1980 additions and allows subsistence hunting. Denali National Preserve includes two areas of the park within which sport and subsistence hunting are allowed on a permit basis.
Denali, the "High One," is the name Athabascan native people gave the massive peak that crowns the 600-mile-long Alaska Range. Permafrost ground underlies many areas of the park, where only a thin layer of topsoil is available to support life. After the continental glaciers retreated from most of the park 10,000 to 14,000 years ago, hundreds of years were required to begin building new soils and revegetation. The dynamic glaciated landscape provides large rivers, countless lakes and ponds, and unique landforms which form the foundation of the ecosystems that thrive Denali
The terrain of Denali includes "tundra" and "taiga" zones. Taiga zones are made up of the stubby evergreen, spruce and aspen trees that are found in areas around the Arctic Circle. The taiga zone within Denali extends to approximately 2700 feet above sea level, above which few trees are found. The treeless areas of the park can generally be classified as tundra. Within a tundra zone the plants are often miniaturized, including tiny flowers, extensive mosses, and various shrubs. Be aware of the willow thickets in the tundra zone as they can be a major impediment while hiking.
Congress created the park to protect its abundance of large mammals. Today it is common to see grizzly bears, caribou, Dall sheep, moose, and foxes throughout the park. Less common but still regularly seen are the park's many wolves. Black bears are also occasionally seen, and the very lucky visitor might glimpse a wolverine.
Weather in Denali is extremely variable, and changes occur without warning. Many rangers tell visitors to expect sun, wind, rain, and clouds, and expect them all on the same day. Average summer temperatures range from 33 to 75°F. It has been known to snow in July, so prepare by wearing layers of clothing that can be removed or added as needed, and carry a waterproof raincoat or jacket.
Winters can be extremely cold with temperatures ranging from -40°F and below to high 20s on warm days. Specialized cold weather gear is necessary for mountaineering and winter visits. For more information on winter visits contact park headquarters at (907) 683-2294.
The mountain is at least partially shrouded in cloud during most of the summer. If the mountain is "out" be sure to take advantage, as it may only be fully visible for a few days each month.
The closest major airports to Denali are Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC [2]) and Fairbanks International Airport (FAI [3]).
Denali National Park is accessible by car from the George Parks Highway (Alaska Route 3), which runs between Fairbanks and Anchorage. The highway is open all year, although the main road through the park may close at any time due to weather conditions. The "Alaska Mile Post" is an excellent guide to driving the highways in Alaska.
During the summer the Alaska Railroad provides daily service to the park. Trains depart from both Anchorage and Fairbanks at 8:15 AM, arriving at noon from Fairbanks and at 3:45 from Anchorage. Trains departing from the park arrive at 8:15 PM in both Anchorage and Fairbanks. Fares vary throughout the season, with rates between $43 and $54 for a one-way ticket from Fairbanks to Denali, and between $103 and $129 from Anchorage to Denali. Rail tickets can be booked through Alaska Railroad [4].
Consult with a travel agent in either Fairbanks or Anchorage about traveling to the park by bus. Several tour operators provide service during the summer.
Individuals entering the park must pay a $10 fee, good for seven days. A vehicle entrance fee is $20, also good for seven days. Those with a Federal Lands Annual Pass ($80, allows entrance to all national park areas for one year), a Senior Pass, or an Access Pass (for people with disabilities) do not need to pay the entrance fee.
Fees can be confusing for this park. First of all, there is no park entrance station. As you begin to drive the Park Road, you are greeted by a gigantic sign that says "Denali National Park," but you will not be stopped until the staffed gate at mile 15 which is the limit people can drive with their private vehicle. If you drive up to that gate, you will simply be asked to turn around.
Fees within the first 15 miles of the park, while required, are done pretty much on the honor system. If you stop in the visitor center and ask, "Do I need to pay an entrance fee?" The answer is, "Yes." However, if you had kept driving, nobody will check to see if you've paid.
"How then," you may ask, "does the park collect its entrance fees?" Well, if you buy a bus ticket (the only way to get on the park road past mile 15), or if you stay in a campground, you will automatically be charged an entrance fee. And, since more than 90% of the visitors who enter Denali take a bus at one point or another, the situation is all gravy.
The main road through the park is open to automobile traffic only as far as Savage River (mile 14). Travel beyond this point is allowed only on the park shuttle buses, on foot, or on a bicycle.
For those visiting Denali in mid-September the park service opens the road completely for four days after the shuttle buses stop running. Only 400 vehicles per day are admitted, and each vehicle requires a special permit. To potentially obtain one of these permits contact the park and inquire about the Denali Road Lottery. The park service will ask you to mail your address, preference of dates, and a fee during the month of July. In mid-August you will be contacted if you have been selected. If snow has not yet closed the road, once the four-day lottery is complete the road will be opened to private vehicles for travel as far as Teklanika Campground (mile 29) until weather closes it for the season. It is also important to note that the road may close during the road lottery if inclement weather shows up - much to the chagrin of all those people who won a permit only to have it canceled.
Shuttle buses are allowed past Savage River (mile 15) on the park road, as far as Kantishna (the end of the road). Passengers may disembark from the buses at any point west of mile 20, and then re-board any bus on a space-available basis. Anyone disembarking should be aware of the bus schedule, and plan for at least a one hour wait for a bus with seats available to arrive.
A very common question people have about the buses is, "So what's the difference between a shuttle bus and a tour bus." Simply put, most of the people on tour buses are on packaged trips with the local hotels, and they get a dedicated naturalist on their bus that is required to give commentary throughout the tour. Buying tickets for tours can be more difficult because the vast majority of the tickets are reserved when people book their packaged vacations. However, they are not necessarily "better" than a shuttle bus. Two important facts to note are that all the buses drive the same road (duh, there's only one road inside the park!), and that all the buses have similar destinations. By similar destinations I mean that there's a tour bus to Eilson Visitor Center and there is also a shuttle bus to Eilson Visitor Center. So, if you ask, "Which bus is better for seeing wildlife?" The answer is that they are about the same since they are on the same road going to the same place. Your experience on the shuttle bus happens to vary quite a bit depending on the driver you get. Some of the shuttle bus drivers will talk just as much as a tour bus driver, however, they are not required to. Some of the shuttle bus drivers won't say much of anything unless somebody asks them a question. It's important to note that a pretty large majority of the bus drivers will give some form of commentary as they drive, because they want to share their love of the park just as much as all the other employees. Oftentimes, a deciding factor for people on whether to take a shuttle or a tour to Eilson is, "Do I want to pay about $30 for a shuttle bus or about $95 for a tour bus?" You be the judge.
Shuttle bus reservations can be made either by following the instructions at the National Park Service web site [5] or in person at the reservation desk in the visitor center. Be aware that buses may fill several days in advance, especially during the height of the summer visitor season.
2008 Shuttle Bus Prices (including reservation fee):
Youth prices (half the regular price) are for individuals age 15 to 17. There is no charge on any of the shuttle buses for children age 14 and under.
There are few trails within the park, but visitors are allowed (and often encouraged) to choose their own paths across the tundra. The less-adventurous may choose to simply amble along the park road after Savage River; keep an eye out for buses and wildlife when traveling on the road.
A mountain bike is a great option for traveling on the park road. Sometimes bikers arrange backcountry permits at the Backcountry Information Center that allow them to spend a few days traveling out to Wonder Lake and back. This can, however, be logistically tricky - you will need to either spend the night in an established campground or be near enough to one that you can stash your bike (and food if you are not carrying a Bear Resistant Food Canister) overnight. The only areas where this is possible are: Wonder Lake; Toklat River (you can't sleep there, but you can use the food lockers at the temporary ranger contact station); Igloo Campground (again, you can't stay there, but you can utilize the food lockers if need be); Teklanika Campground; and Savage Campground.
If planning a trip by bike along the park road be prepared for travel on a dirt road with several major mountain passes and few guard rails.
One fun option is to take a bike out to Wonder Lake on a camper bus. You need to tell the person who you buy the ticket from that you plan to take a bike since only two bikes are allowed per bus. Once you get to Wonder Lake, you bike back out of the park. This trip can be done in approximately 10 hours if you keep a good pace. It is especially enjoyable if you plan this bike trip around the same time as summer solstice. You can take the last bus going out to Wonder Lake so that you can bike the entire trip back with no buses on the road, all while getting to experience an awe-inspiring bike ride in the land of the midnight sun.
The glaciated heart of the Park is best accessed by one of the air taxi services located in Talkeetna, south of the Park. Landing by ski plane on a glacier is a truly memorable experience. Most air taxis offer glacier landing flights which allow visitors to walk around for a short while on the snow alongside the safe zones of the established airstrips. K2 Aviation [6], a pioneering air taxi, also has a lake landing option. Visitors wanting to venture away from the safety of the airstrips should be well versed in the technical aspects of glacier travel and crevasse rescue or should hire a guide. Camping on the glacier with huge, glaciated peaks towering above gives a great taste of the immensity of the Alaska Range. The National Park allows only a few outfitters to operate within its boundaries and one such guide service, Mountain Trip [7], has been looking after visitors in the Range since 1973.
The park is enormous, and the vast majority of it is accessible only on foot or (in winter) by dog sled. The first fifteen miles of the park road are open to vehicle travel, and park buses are available to take visitors farther. At a minimum, visitors should try to catch a bus to at least Eilson Visitor Center for the incredible views of the mountain (when it's out). Slightly more adventurous visitors should plan to spend a few nights camping at the Wonder Lake campground. For the serious outdoorsmen, several days backpacking in the backcountry is far and away the best way to enjoy the Denali experience.
The park is an outdoor paradise, and offers activities for visitors of all ages and experience levels.
Meals, gas, camping supplies, and a ridiculous variety of souvenirs can be purchased just outside of the park entrance on the Parks Highway, in an area called "the Canyon," located about one mile north of the park entrance. Within the park, the Riley Creek Mercantile (mile 0.3) sells basic supplies, including such things as white gas for cook stoves, bug repellent, and other necessities.
There are several bars and restaurants clustered outside of the park entrance in the Canyon, 1 mile north of the park entrance. Within the park the Riley Creek Mercantile (mile 0.3) offers small food items and supplies. The Morino Grill, located 1.5 miles from the park entrance, is open during the summer and offers prepared meals.
Numerous hotels cluster just outside of the park entrance, and a handful of wilderness lodges can be found at the end of the park road in Kantishna or scattered in remote areas just outside of the park's borders. The list below is by no means exhaustive. Refer to the Denali Borough Chamber of Commerce [16] for more contact information on various lodgings, services and activities in the area.
For those not quite ready for the backcountry experience, the park offers several campgrounds. Be aware that reservations are highly recommended during the summer months as campgrounds fill quickly (see the National Park Service's web site [26] for more campground information, and the park concessionaire website [27] to make online reservations or call the toll free number +1-800-622-7275 to make phone reservations).
Here is the official Park Service FAQ on backpacking in Denali [28]. For backcountry camping in Denali, a permit – as well as experience in backcountry camping – is required. If you get into trouble there will not be anyone within miles to go to for help, and rangers will not come looking for you unless you are reported missing by a contact. For this reason, you are strongly encouraged to arrange a "will call when out" plan with a friend or family member, so that if they do not hear from you they can contact the park.
To arrange a backcountry trip, first visit the Backcountry Information Center (mile 0.6 - adjacent to the Wilderness Access Center). Here, you will be required to provide some information about yourself, your gear and your backpacking experience and watch a safety video. After doing this, you'll have an opportunity to work out the details of your trip with one of the backcountry rangers. Rangers are here to give advice, but they are not tour directors - you should provide them with some ideas of what kind of sights or trip you are interested in, what kind of terrain you'll feel most comfortable in, how long you want to stay out, etc. Then they can help you pick a unit or units to suit your desires. After that, they'll check a Bear Resistant Food Canister (BRFC) out to you, and help send you on your way.
You will encounter large animals and vicious swarms of bugs, you will probably have to deal with weather that can change from sun to freezing rain in short periods of time, and you will most likely have to ford freezing streams and navigate dense willow thickets. With that warning, Denali is a magnificent place for experienced campers to go backpacking, and the nature experience is truly awe-inspiring.
Be prepared for massive hordes of blood-thirsty, man-eating, baby-snatching insects that will do their best to drive you from the park. Depending on winds and the time of year you may be lucky enough to avoid the bugs, but when they are out, the mosquitoes and black flies will do their utmost to test your sanity. Bug repellent is not sufficient; even if they don't land and bite, they will still buzz into your ears and eyes. Buy a mosquito-netting headcovering, and wear clothing that is capable of covering every millimeter of exposed skin.
The most advertised danger within the park are the bears. Grizzly bears are large, unpredictable, and can be dangerous, especially if they are with young. However, the same can be said of moose, caribou, wolves, and several other park animals. Keep a safe distance from all animals, make some noise while hiking to allow animals to identify you and avoid surprise encounters, and properly store all food, toiletries, and garbage to avoid attracting wildlife.
There are few trails within the park, so be aware of where you are when hiking. The tundra is fairly open, so in general it is not easy to get lost. If you have to ford a stream be very careful, as the water will be very cold and the currents are almost always stronger than they look. If you are pulled under there is a great danger of spraining or breaking bones, and hypothermia can set in if you can't quickly get out of wet clothes and into dry ones.
Should problems be encountered, there is a small medical center located in the "Canyon," about 1 mile north of the Park Entrance. Another small center is 13 miles north of the park entrance in Healy. Fairbanks, located 120 miles north of the park entrance, is the nearest large hospital facility. Rangers can respond to emergency situations and can be contacted using the 911 emergency service.
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