Denali National Park 2025

Camp First, Save Big

In Denali, camping is king. Lodges and hotels near the park can drain a wallet fast, but the campgrounds inside the park are simple, beautiful, and affordable. We set up under the trees, stretched a tarp off the Bronco, and called it home. It’s the kind of setup that proves you don’t need a luxury lodge to feel rich in Alaska.

Denali has a single road — the Park Road — and it runs like the park’s backbone. But here’s the catch: private vehicles can only go to Mile 15. After that, it’s buses only. On paper that sounds limiting, but it’s actually the park’s way of protecting the wilderness. The buses push deep into the interior, giving access to places most people never see.

The Park Road is an exercise in patience. With only one road to share, everything grinds to a halt the moment someone spots something. Moose in the brush? Total stop. Bear on the hillside? Longer stop. Even a plastic bag blowing in the distance? Full brake check. It’s equal parts frustrating and funny — a reminder that here, everyone is hunting for a glimpse of the wild.

Beyond the Mile 15 turnaround, Denali’s interior opens up into a different world. You trade paved road for gravel, then gravel for tundra, and suddenly you’re inside a wilderness the size of Vermont. The buses carry you there, but the silence, the scale, and the sheer weight of the landscape belong to you.

Camping, patience, and a single road — Denali doesn’t roll out a red carpet, it makes you earn every view. And when the mountains finally open up, when the wildlife really does step out of the brush, it feels less like a tourist stop and more like a privilege.