A visit to Denali National Park is a bucket list trip for many. About the size of the state of Vermont, Denali is vast - the tundra just stretches for miles and miles. It is home to Mt. McKinley, a stunningly beautiful mountain that is also the highest peak in North America at 20,320 feet.…
Continue reading: Visit Denali National Park Like A Local During Road Lottery
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
This post is informative and hilarious. Thanks for the laugh! I see that the permit is transferable, that's cool.
I think you need about 10 entries for a 75% chance of getting a prize.
It's a more difficult calculation than it first appears!
Anon -- yes, in theory you could buy them on the open market. But remember, this is a tiny market -- 400 permits are issued per day. And the market is located in Alaska, where not everyone is going to use Craigslist. I'll have a couple of comments in Part 2 regarding this, but as I recall I only saw a couple of permits posted for sale our year. And they were pricey.
Just FYI, for anybody taking the park bus on all other dates, you do get to hop on or off the bus whenever you want, not just at official stops. Anybody can ask off any time, the only rule is you have to get yourself back to the road in time to catch the last bus back in for the night. Denali doesn't have hiking paths/trails, it's just wilderness everywhere, and it is so amazingly free and beautiful and quiet. I've spent several days out there with small kids, and the bus isn't bad as it looks : ) One day, we did ride the bus all the way out to Wonder Lake, but another day, we just asked the driver to stop when it looked pretty and we wandered away from the road, eating blueberries off the hillside. Great times. OK we also picked blueberries around Wonder Lake, and around the Eisleson visitor center as well. Really you can't go wrong if your kids like fresh air and wild blueberries, they're everywhere : ) Alaska is amazing, Denali especially, and we can't wait to go back.
I think takke is close; I get nine entries to have about a 75% chance of getting a ticket.
I visited Denali twice, both on Labor Day week, and lucked out on both occasions with the weather. On the second visit, I took my parents with me, and it was a real treat for them. I redeemed SkyMiles for both trips, 32K5 for the first trip (the back end was on domestic business - not my choice, that was the only availability), the second trip was 25K each for a total of 75K. Both trips are AUS to ANC, with various connection points. On both trips, it was quite easy to get award seats since the availability were good on both times.
It's better to buy bus tickets in advance, and also know which turn-around point that you want. I took the bus to Wonder Lake on day 1, and Eielson visitor center on day 2, on both trips.
The advantages of traveling during Labor Day week are the crowds are not as heavy, the tundra starts turning red, making the scenery even more spectacular, and the bears are more active due to their prep for hibernation. On one of the bus trips, we counted 8 grizzlies!
One of the posts have mentioned that you can get on/off at any spot. And yes, there is no trails, or very limited. There are trails closer to the entrance, but very limited. There was a trail near Savage River where the rangers like to take visitors on guided hike. On one of these hike, a fellow bus passenger was able to take video of a wolverine!
For a once in a lifetime trip, I wouldn't mind paying $1000 especially if its per vehicle.