Denali National Park

DENALI NATIONAL PARKSTARTER

The Kennels and the Walk Down

≈ 5,000 steps2.3 mi · about 2.5 hoursStarter · 2 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

Ride the free kennels bus from the Denali Visitor Center to Park Headquarters, meet the sled dogs, then walk the Rock Creek Trail 2.4 miles downhill through the spruce back to the Murie Science and Learning Center. About two and a half hours with the demonstration.

DENALI NATIONAL PARKSTARTER

Under the Riley Creek Trestle

≈ 800 steps0.4 mi · about 2 hoursStarter · 2 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

From the visitor center, follow the McKinley Station Trail down to Riley Creek, pass beneath the 1922 railroad trestle, and cross the creek on the first bridge of the Triple Lakes Trail. About two miles out and back, two hours with time by the water.

DENALI NATIONAL PARKSTANDARD

Horseshoe Lake and the Healy Overlook

≈ 3,000 steps + 3.9 mi by car1.5 mi on foot · about 5 hours · + the walk in to 2 stopsStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Start at the bronze grizzly outside the visitor center, drop to Horseshoe Lake and its beaver dam, then climb the Mount Healy Overlook Trail, 2.7 miles and 1,700 feet up to a windy perch over the entrance valley. About eight miles in all, five hours at a steady pace.

DENALI NATIONAL PARKSTANDARD

Savage River, Where the Cars Stop

≈ 3,000 steps + 1.9 mi by car1.4 mi on foot · about 4 hoursStandard · 4 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Drive or take the free Savage River Shuttle to Mountain Vista at Mile 13, walk the short loop to Savage Cabin, then ride on to the Savage River at Mile 15, as far as a private car may go, and walk the river loop to its footbridge. Four hours; the road here is open to cars roughly May through September.

DENALI NATIONAL PARKADVANCED

The Green Bus to Polychrome

Advanced · 6 stops · 800 cred · a full dayGetting there is not the hard part.

A full day past Mile 15 on the park's green transit buses, which let you off anywhere safe and pick you up again. Book a seat ahead ($33.50 adult to East Fork in 2026, plus the entrance fee); buses run about June 1 to mid-September. In 2026 they turn at East Fork, so the last two legs are a 2.5-mile walk each way over the new Pretty Rocks Bridge.