Should I visit Denali National Park while the park road is closed?

Jennie shares her answer to the most commonly asked question from her clients this fall - should I visit Denali before the park road is fully reopened at Mile 43?

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Transcript

Jennie Flaming: 0:08

Jennie, welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co host and full time husband, Jay and I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska, travel and life in Alaska. Before we start the episode, we would like to thank our Patreon members for making this podcast possible. You can join them at the link in the show notes. We are so grateful for your support of independent podcasts. Enjoy the show. Hi everyone. Today. We're talking about a topic that has been a big question on a lot of people's minds for the last few years, since the landslide in Denali National Park that closed the Park Road at mile 43 and it's interesting because when the road was first closed, which was in 2021, or 2022 a lot of people were asking about that for, you know, the next year. But recently, I've had a lot more people asking me about it again, and so I wanted to just address this, because I think it's super important if you're considering a trip to Alaska and you want to go to Denali, one thing that I think I will just start with so the question is, should I visit Denali National Park while the road is closed? My short answer to that is yes. So if you don't want to listen to this entire podcast, I'll just tell you there is no reason to wait to visit Denali unless there's one exception to that, which I'll talk about in a minute. I will defend that position more throughout the episode, but that's like the TLDR is, yes, go to Denali. There's no reason to wait till the road is open with one exception. So, so why am I saying that? Why am I even recording this episode? This is something that has been discussed in previous episodes, including the one in January. So, so we're kind of starting and ending the year, not quite starting, not quite ending with Denali. But that's appropriate, because it's one of the most popular places to visit in Alaska. So okay, why am I saying yes, you should visit, and what is the exception? Maybe I'll start with the exception. So I don't leave you hanging. If you are going to be tent camping in Denali, not RV camping. in a tent, then you know, one of the most wonderful campsites in the entire national park system nationwide is Wonder lake. And wonder Lake is beyond the closure, so right now, you can't get there unless you walk, you know, like, I don't know, 40 miles or something like that. So, you know, if you really have your heart set on camping in a tent at wonder Lake, then you should wait till the road is open if you want to go to Kantishna which is a wonderful place and a place that we have an episode coming up about in the near future, in 2025 is visiting Kantishna, which is at the end of the park road, around mile 90. And first of all, it's a very long bus ride on a school bus to get to Kantishna, and you can also fly out there, so you can go to Kantishna right now on a flight. So that's something else to keep in mind. And if you just like experiences where you want to go to the end of a road, then, then sure it might make sense to wait, but I'm going to defend my position on why you should not wait and why you certainly shouldn't avoid Denali because of the road being closed. Um, before I do that, though, I want to mention why I'm talking about this today. So I told you that I've had a number of people this fall ask me about this question very specifically and beyond that, I've had a few clients who have said something like, either forwarded me something that they'd seen online, or talked about something they'd seen like, perhaps on YouTube. And. Um, saying, you know, the best hikes in the park are beyond the road closure or something to that effect. And, you know, I think that's debatable. I so I want to break down kind of the problems with that statement before I get into why go now, one of the reasons that I'm kind of inspired to talk about this also is because, unfortunately, there's a lot of not great information out there on the internet, which might be kind of funny to be like, ha, ha. I know that Jennie. But seriously, if you work online like I do, you know, one of the reasons that I started my blog in 2016 was there was information I was looking for that I couldn't find. There was about both Alaska and Washington. I came across things that were just not accurate. And that was before people could click a couple AI buttons and publish an article. Now, there are people who are sharing wonderful information on the internet, of course, but it can be kind of hard to wade through that. So one piece of advice I would have is if you're looking at that person's information and they have a lot of experience with Alaska that is a bit different than someone who visited one time. Now, someone who visited one time still has very valuable things to tell you, but keep in mind that they're going to be sharing only their experience and only how they like to travel. And one of the things that I've really learned from 25 years of working with visitors and in the visitor industry, is that people have different needs, and some people think a certain thing is a must do for them, but it isn't for someone else. So for me, I rarely say that something is a must do. Occasionally in a specific location I will but even then, it depends on the person, right? So what I really like to do is help people find out the must do for them. And so when it comes to Denali, when I hear things like that, it makes me a little bit sad, because first of all, a lot of people don't hike, right? And for people who do hike, Denali is a weird Park to hike in. You know, you've got rapidly changing weather. You can have very intense bugs. It's very remote. There aren't many trails. Lots of the hiking is just cross country hiking, not on a trail, which is a wonderful thing about Denali, but it's not for everyone, and for some people, it's very intimidating. So you know, all except for one trail, and this is as far as I know, there could be something in there that I've missed somehow. But at Eielson Visitor Center, which is beyond the closure, there is about a one mile trail that's really cool. But other than that, all the hiking out there is off trail, and that's true in the closer to the entrance area, part of the park as well, but there are a few more trails so. And you know, there are a few trails around Kantishna and wonder Lake. But as far as day hiking, it's too far. So for mile 43 where the bus tours and the shuttle busses turn around now, including the restroom stops and everything, that's a five to six hour round trip day on a school bus and so to go out to Eileen adds a couple hours onto that. Going out to wonder lake or kentishna adds a couple hours on beyond that. So it's not really realistic, I think, for most people to have, say, an eight hour round trip school bus ride and do a hike in the same day. It's doable. I've done it, but it's a really long day. So I think what I'm getting at here is, yes, for some people who people who are gonna go and camp at Wonder lake for a few days and do some hikes where they won't see any other people and that are going to be probably off trail, that is a magical life changing experience for many people. However, if that's not you, then that's not good advice, right? Because if you're not gonna sleep in a tent and you're not comfortable hiking off trail, or you just don't want to spend that many hours on a school bus, then you know that's not the right advice for you. So that's my little soapbox. We're going to take a short break, and when we come back from the break I am going to share with you. The reasons why I think you should visit Denali anytime you can, including when the road is closed at mile 43 as it is right now. Hi everyone. I hope you're enjoying the show. So far, it's December and it's the holiday season, and we just got our brand new 2025 stickers stocked in the shop. These stickers are designed by Jay. They are completely unique. They are beautiful, so go check them out if you're looking for a stocking stuffer or just something fun to look forward to your trip in 2025 also a reminder, while you're in the shop, it has all of the pre made itineraries that I have designed for you, along with my planner, my planner for going to Alaska in general, but also my cruise planner and my driving planner that'll walk you through everything you need to Plan your 2025, trip or beyond, so head over there and pick those up today. The link is in the show notes, along with links to get my help with planning your trip, which is super fun, so I hope to see you out there and happy holidays. Now back to the show, and we're back. So the rest of this time I want to use to talk about the things that you can do in Denali that are not impacted by the road closure, and again, some of these we've talked about in other episodes, but unless you want to spend more than six hours on a school bus and or stay sleep in a tent, your trip really won't be impacted by this closure. So when I'm taking guests there the last couple years, as I'll be doing this coming summer, who are on my tour? You know they do. They have been loving the tundra wilderness tour, which is the longer tour into Denali in the past, it went to Eisen Visitor Center, which is at mile 66 so 20 miles further than where it goes right now. Um, and a lot of people do that to her, and it's also wonderful. And you can also do the canteen experience, which goes all the way to the end of the road, and that's like a 12 to 14 hour day on a school bus, something like that. It varies. The further into the park you go, the more it varies because there are more opportunities for wildlife viewing and other things that make it unpredictable. But most of my guests in the last couple years have said, Wow, that was an amazing day. I'm really glad I did that. I wasn't sure about the school bus, but I'm glad that it wasn't longer so. And you know, people said that to you about going out to ilson Visitor Center. So, you know, it's a great experience no matter what, but it is a shorter school best day. There's still lots of great wildlife viewing opportunity for bears, caribou, moose, birds, many wonderful wildlife opportunities and wonderful landscapes, really impressive views, and even if you can't see Denali the mountain, the landscape is still incredible. And there are lots of other places in Alaska, where you can see Denali the mountain, like from Talkeetna, for example, or even from many places around Anchorage, so, and also Fairbanks. So, yeah, so that's that's one thing is that people are really loving the bus tour and the places that they can go, which is to mile 43 near polychrome pass. People are not loving that any less. Has been my experience, and I've taken a lot of people there. Okay, so that's one thing. Another thing is, if you are a hiker there, there are trails in Denali. There are not a ton of them, like I said before, but there's a great trail called the savvy savage Alpine loop at mile 15, which is where the road is closed to private traffic, um, also the savage River Trail, and those connect up to each other closer to the entrance area. There is Mount Healy, which is a tough hike, but it's pretty cool. It's one of my favorite hikes in Alaska. There's also Horseshoe Lake, which is shorter, and then another really wonderful a couple other really wonderful trails. One is the triple Lakes Trail, which goes between the entrance area and. A Trailhead that's very close to Denali Park Village. Now that's 10 miles one way, so that's a long day hike for most people. But I really like to start on the side by the village, which makes sense because I'm often staying there, and you can go up and kind of go to the first lake or the second lake and then turn around and come back. Great hike. Also really love the brand new it opened in 2024 Nenana River Trail that starts at the same trail head. Beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful, beautiful. And these trails are not crowded. I've never seen more than a few other people on them. And eventually the Nenana River Trail is going to go all the way to the entrance area. Also, it'll be a little shorter than the triple Lakes Trail. But, you know, wonderful hikes have nothing to do with the road really, at all, actually. And then the other thing that I wanted to mention to you is things like, there's lots of trails just kind of in the immediate entrance area at Denali, there's the free sled dog demonstration, which is so interesting and really cool. Just so many great things. And then finally, before we want to, before we wrap up, I just want to talk a little bit about flight scene, because if you want to get deep into the park, there is nothing there, really. I've been to Denali, many, many, many, many times there is nothing more amazing than landing on a glacier in Denali National Park. I mean, it's, it's incredible. You're with the handful of people who are on the plane with you. It's just, it's just stunning. And that is something that you don't ride a school bus for um, it costs more than a school bus, of course, because it's an airplane, but it is if you're looking for a splurge on your trip. You can't do much better than than flight scene, and especially with the glacier landing in Denali. And you can with um k2 aviation, you can even get a small discount as a podcast listener, so the details for that are in the show notes and a k2 aviation has been on the podcast before, back in February, and rusts Flying Service, which is their sister company, was just on the pod last week. So, yeah, so that's a way to get deep into the park unrelated to the road, really magical experience. So I guess to wrap up, what I want to say is that for most people, the way that they want to see the park does not need to be negatively impacted by the road closure Now that said, I'm excited personally, for the road to be open again, hopefully in 2027 and I'm excited to get back out to wonder Lake. It'll be wonderful. And don't feel like that's going to ruin your experience by not going there, especially if you don't want to have a really long day on a school bus, even though the long day on the school bus is totally worth it. So I realize I'm kind of saying two things at once, but they're both true, and if you want to get deep into the park. You can even fly out to cantit, or you can fly just do flight scene over the park, or you can do a glacier landing in the park. All of those are great ways to get deep in there, to places where where people really don't get to very often. So I hope that you have a magical time in Denali. You know where to find me in the show notes, if you I just want to get on my email list where I share regular updates about Alaska, different from what we're talking about each week in the podcast. If you want me to help you plan your trip for 2025 or beyond. You know where to find me down there. All right, see you next time you