Denali National Park

Near the center of Denali National Park is Mount McKinley, whose sheer bulk and the immense rise of its perpetually white-mantled summit make it look like a monument left by ancient gods. At 20,320 feet, McKinley is the biggest mountain in the world. Its awesome north face rises 18,000 feet to its summit from a 2,000-foot subarctic plateau. Denali is one of the great spectacles of the American landscape, a sight that, once seen, will never be forgotten.

The park that encompasses the mountain and its surrounding peaks in the Alaska Range is a huge wilderness tapestry. The mountains here, unlike the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada, are not covered with forests, because in northern latitudes the timberline falls between 2,000 and 3,000 feet instead of 11,000 to 12,000 feet. This means that most of the park is treeless. It is a broad open landscape that creates a feeling of vastness that can be overwhelming.

Most visitors concentrate their wildlife viewing activities along the 90-mile gravel road that bisects the northern range of the park. Along the way to Wonder Lake, the park road crosses five river valleys and climbs four mountain passes.

The views are magnificent and wildlife often is present. In fact, wildlife is so visible and abundant here that Denali has been called a "subarctic Serengeti." There are shy wolves, vicious little wolverines, lumbering moose, and quick foxes, as well as countless birds and small mammals, such as the tiny pikas that inhabit the slopes.

Grizzly bears are the undisputed sovereigns of this wild terrain. They roam the park at will, feeding mainly on roots, berries, and other plants. When they are ravenously hungry -- for instance, after a winter's hibernation -- the bears may also go after arctic ground squirrels, injured caribou, or moose calves.

On a summer day, when there is up to 24 hours of sunlight, visitors to Denali see sights they will remember the rest of their lives. A huge herd of caribou migrates through a pass below Mount McKinley, heading toward its summer feeding grounds. A golden eagle soars off a cliff along Polychrome Pass on the park road, while the eerie call of a loon rolls across Wonder Lake. At the same time, a grizzly takes time out to stretch and survey the surroundings while munching berries on Sable Pass, just as the clouds part to reveal the awesome bulk of Mount McKinley for one magic moment.

Denali National Park Photo Opportunities

If you take a picture of ice against snow, you may be disappointed by the results -- the photo won't be as striking as the scene was in person. However, there are plenty of high-contrast landscapes at Denali, and you needn't be a camera expert to capture these stunning views:

Although the mountains of the Alaska Range are imposing and seemingly timeless, the glaciers that carved them out are still changing and shifting. On the next page, we'll tell you about recent movement of the massive Muldrow Glacier. You can also read about how Denali National Park was established.

Denali National Park is comprised of two worlds: the raw alpine region of the high mountains and the tundra-covered lowlands. Connecting one to the other are the great glaciers that flow down from the summits of McKinley and the other peaks. For decades the main travel route into the mountains has been the Muldrow Glacier, an immense river of ice fed by the Harper, Brooks, and Taleika glaciers. Each originates in cirques (glacier-gouged rock basins) high on the mountain.

The ice that becomes the Muldrow Glacier begins just below Mount McKinley's summit and flows northeastward 35 miles through a granite gorge on the side of the mountain to its leading edge, or snout. On the tundra far below the summit, the ice melts, feeding the McKinley River.

Twice in the past century, for reasons not fully understood, the glacier has surged forward. The last time was during the winter of 1956-57, when the Muldrow's snout suddenly advanced 2.5 miles across the tundra. Its movement was accompanied by the constant sound of breaking ice and rushing water. Despite the debris and jumbled ice left by the Muldrow's last leap forward, the glacier is still used as a major climbing route up the mountain.

The Establishment of Denali National Park

Denali was the first national park to be established in Alaska (in 1917), and it was originally called Mount McKinley. The park was renamed in 1980, the same year the other seven national parks in the state were established by the Alaska National Interest Lands Act. Together, the eight Alaskan parks and associated preserves contain a staggering 41 and a half million acres, more than all the other national parks combined.

Denali is the most popular of the national parks in Alaska, and a trip there will explain why that is. Whether you're interested in watching the caribou migration, hiking the trails to Horseshoe Lake, or climbing Mount McKinley, you'll have an unforgettable experience at Denali National Park.