Denali National Park is about 4-5 hours north of Anchorage. Book accomodations early! We had to do a bit more hunting around to get a place near the Park and indeed, you can imagine the price is high. We would up at Denali Cabins a few miles south of the park entrance. The four of us stuffed ourselves into a cabin with two queen sized beds.

Here I am at the end of the Mt. Healy Overlook Trail. It is about 2.5 miles with a 1700 foot elevation gain.

One can go further! However, we were content to enjoy the view from where we were. At the overlook, we meet 3 girls from Prague, a couple from Japan and a mother-daughter pair from Pennsylvania. Yup, hike in Denali and meet the world!


The Alaska Railroad rolls on by!

Guess who we run into after our hike? We stopped at the rails to see the train and we find Joyce and Stacy whom we met back in Anchorage. We chat and catch up with them and take their restaurant advice to try the Perch which is south of the Denali Cabins. Guess who we saw at dinner that night?



Denali restaurants

With the endless daylight, we found ourselves often eating dinner late because with all the sunlight, we think it is still the afternoon! Alas, restaurants do close. Many shut down at 11pm.

Crow's Nest is located just outside the park entrance on the hillside and has brewery and bar and grill type food. Portions are generous but be prepared to wait for a seat and the service is slow. We were told service is generally slow everywhere because in the summer there are just so many tourists and only so many seasonal workers.

The Perch is located on the main road south of the park entrance on the east side of the road. It is a family run restaurant with fine food and terrific bread. The evening we ate there we thoroughly enjoyed the bread and the various fish and seafood items we ordered.

Bub's Subs is located just outside the park entrance. A couple runs the place and produces delicious made to order sandwhiches hot or cold.

Travel tip

Beware the mosquitos! Bring insect repellent!! We had some 6% DEET which worked but its effectiveness didn't last very long. As we hiked, we often got swarmed by the pests! Some hikers wore mosquito netting. In anycase, be prepared for this annoyance. Fortunately, as of now, the Alaska mosquitos are not known to be vectors for any diseases. Hopefully, that will continue to be the case in the future.

Go on the bus ride of Denali

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