Protecting the country around the mountain came early. Driven by the conservation advocate Charles Sheldon, who wanted to safeguard the region's Dall sheep and wildlife, Congress established the park in 1917 as Mount McKinley National Park. The Alaska Railroad soon carried the first visitors north, lodges and a single park road followed, and the place grew slowly into one of the great wilderness parks of the country. In 1980 it was vastly expanded and renamed Denali National Park and Preserve — the official name it still carries — restoring Denali, at least, to the land around the peak.
What the park protects is a whole living landscape, not just a summit. Six million acres run from spruce taiga up through open tundra to glacier and rock, threaded by braided gray rivers and crossed by a single 92-mile Park Road. It is some of the best wildlife country anywhere: grizzly and black bear, moose, caribou, wolves, and the white Dall sheep that first inspired the park — the famous "Big Five." Wonder Lake mirrors the mountain on a still morning, and the buses that run the Park Road are how most visitors see it all.
Why People Visit Denali
Denali offers North America's highest peak above a vast, living subarctic ecosystem — wilderness on a scale that is genuinely humbling. Visitors come for the Great One, the wildlife, and the Park Road, and stay for the quiet hikes, the railroad journey, and the immense scenery of the Alaska Range. From the gateway lodges to the tundra at the end of the road, it rewards both a quick stop and a long stay. It is immense, wild, and unforgettable in every season.
