ryork
Senior Member
A few shots from inside Denali National Park. The 4th photo below is actually a photo of Denali on a clear day, some 80 miles away we were told. It is behind the closest mountains in the photo. As I mentioned in a previous post, the name is somewhat deceiving as the views of Denali are actually much better outside the National Park, or at least the parts you can currently drive to. Only approximately 30% of visitors to the park ever actually see Denali due to clouds, rain etc. As of when we were there, you can only take a private car on the Natl Park road to MM 15 at which point you will have to turn around. The govt run bus tours can go further in but can't make the full 96 mi trip due to a rock slide. The schedule for having that removed was unknown while we were there. We did not do the bus tour.
The last few photos are from the nearby town of Talkeetna. We enjoyed spending time there as we found several really good restaurants such as Denali Brewery which is right in the center of town. The old general store there is a good place to spend a few minutes killing time. The Fairview Inn was built in 1908 and is reportedly where President Harding got sick before ultimately passing away in California a little later. He had came to what was then the AK Territory to see the beginnings of the AK RR. It is a cool spot to go in an have beer etc. One of the large cruise line lodges is just south of Talkeetna. The buses would arrive everyday around 3:00 and depart at 5:00. We learned after the first day not to bother showing up until about 5:30 at the earliest!
The last few photos are from the nearby town of Talkeetna. We enjoyed spending time there as we found several really good restaurants such as Denali Brewery which is right in the center of town. The old general store there is a good place to spend a few minutes killing time. The Fairview Inn was built in 1908 and is reportedly where President Harding got sick before ultimately passing away in California a little later. He had came to what was then the AK Territory to see the beginnings of the AK RR. It is a cool spot to go in an have beer etc. One of the large cruise line lodges is just south of Talkeetna. The buses would arrive everyday around 3:00 and depart at 5:00. We learned after the first day not to bother showing up until about 5:30 at the earliest!
