Backpacking/Hiking in Denali National Park - Denali National Park - TravBuddy

If your heart's one desire is camping in the wilderness among the moose and the spruce, miles from any sign of civilization, Denali is your Mecca.  There is only one road into the park and even it barely touches the surface.  The 90-mile road spreads across the northern section of the park, roughly east to west between Alaska Highway 3 (aka: George Parks Highway or AK3) and the old mining town of Kantishna.  The road is open to private vehicles for the first 15 miles (from AK3), after which you may take one of many shuttles or tour buses that continue to various points along the park road.  There are many great books on hiking/camping in the park, my personal favorite being Ike Waits' Denali National Park: guide to hiking, photography & camping (ISBN 0-9677327-1-9).

If your end goal is climbing Denali (aka: Mount McKinley), you may want to use Talkeetna as your launching off point, otherwise there is a small strip of hotels, RV parks, restaurants and gift shops about a mile north of the park entrance on AK3.  Within the first two miles of the park road there are a couple of campgrounds, though in mid-summer they fill up quickly.  Further down the park road are about five or six more campgrounds.  If you intend to camp in the backcountry outside of an established campground, you must come in through the main entrance and get a backcountry permit from the Backcountry Information Center, located right next to the Wilderness Access Center.  The permit is free and the park will provide you with a bear resistant food container.  In addition, you get to (by "get to" I mean "have to") watch a super exciting safety video, that, despite its blaring moments of cheesiness, is actually quite informative, especially for those without a lot of experience with off-trail hiking.