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Introduction:
Denali National Park backcountry lodges attract visitors who want to get closer to nature. Therefore, these lodges are situated deep in the Alaskan wilderness, making it easy for visitors to feel at one with nature.
However, this park also boasts a variety of in-park hotels that offer a wide range of accommodation options to suit individual preferences. This blog discusses various forms of accommodation available in Denali natoinal park, emphasizing backcountry lodges and the advantages and opportunities of these types of lodges.
Backcountry Lodges: An Immersive Wilderness Experience
The Alaskan backcountry’s actual landscape visually resembles some of the lodges in Denali National Park. Most of the time, these lodges are located in areas that are less developed in terms of commerce than the more populated ones. Thus, they enable visitors to have an ultimate feel for the park’s physical setting or recommended areas.
Advantages of Staying in a Backcountry Lodge
Among the advantages of backcountry lodges, it is necessary to mention the possibility of getting unhindered views of Denali’s remote areas. Backcountry lodges reduce the likelihood that guests will meet other guests after breakfast, which is a common daily activity in most hotels.
They provide guests with access to hiking trails as soon as they wake up from their beds, adding to the tranquility of the area. In addition, there is an emphasis on environmental conservation, as many Denali national parks’ backcountry lodges operate with environmentally friendly policies that guests can adopt while in the lodges.
Popular Backcountry Lodges in Denali
Some renowned backcountry lodges exist in Denali National Park, including Braeburn Lodge, Wonder Lake Lodge, Sanctuary Lodge, etc. These lodges provide a variety of comforts and experiences that a wide range of tourists can enjoy. For example, Camp Denali and The North Face Lodge offer basic and clean lodgings, guided trekking, and some learning programs on the Alaskan landscape and wildlife.
However, the other alternative is much more luxurious, including gourmet cuisine, massages, and private rooms like the Denali Backcountry Lodge.
Camp Denali and North Face Lodge
Now a days, Camp Denali and North Face Lodge are sister lodges famous for their principals’ focus on sustainability and educating their clients. Those offer an authentic Alaskan feel with basic cabins but stunning views of Denali—North America’s tallest mountain. Many of these lodges focus on an environmental theme.
They include guided walks that people with ecological knowledge carry out. In addition, there are evening programs for the guests that may vary from live presentations of the Denali national park’s fauna, geological formations, and history.
Denali Backcountry Lodge
Those who want to combine comfort and backcountry travel can visit Denali Backcountry Lodge, which is comfortable and far from tourist routes. Located in the park’s interior, this lodge offers private cabins with numerous amenities, excellent meals made with organic products from the surrounding countryside and a variety of tours, including hiking, gold panning, and wildlife exploration. Also, the lodge has a spa to ensure that the guests take some time and get a body makeover after a day of adventure in the park.
Kantishna Roadhouse
Kantishna Roadhouse, located at the end of Denali Park Road, is another backcountry lodge mentioned. This guest ranch has comfortable cabins, excellent food, wonderful horseback and pack trips, hiking, mountain biking, and fishing.
Furthermore, Kantishna Roadhouse provides its visitors with an opportunity to learn about the history of gold mining in the region and receive guidance on how to pan for the precious metal. The lodge’s architecture has an Alaskan feel with its wooden exterior, as if telling a story of the state’s past and bringing the beauty of the outdoors to guests with its design. Click here to see places to stay in Denali national park or watch below:
Activities at Backcountry Lodges
Those who visit backcountry lodges can engage in several activities to improve their wilderness experience. They are ideal for guided hiking and wildlife watching, with chances of seeing grizzly bears, moose, and caribou, among others. Furthermore, most of the lodges provide an opportunity to join programs targeting education on the rocks, landforms, and even the histories of the cultures within the area. Aside from enhancing the visitor’s entertainment, these activities also increase their knowledge and appreciation of Denali National Park.
Guided Hikes
The planned ascent with a guide is one of the major attractions of the backcountry lodges. Senior naturists lead them, offering valuable insights into the park’s biotic factors. Climbers walk on a variety of paths, from basic strolls to challenging climbs, which provide different vantage points of the landscapes of Denali national park. Furthermore, such guided hikes are usually presented in the form of a walk with certain pauses at the picturesque viewpoints, allowing guests to enjoy the views of the Alaska Range.
Wildlife Viewing Tours
Some backcountry lodges also have nature and wildlife tours, which let visitors look closer at the flora and fauna in Denali national park. People familiar with likely-sighted animals usually lead these trips and may narrate their actions. Moreover, people may come across grizzlies feeding on berries, moose feeding on plants, or caribou calving in the region above. Bird-watching enthusiasts will also have the opportunity to interact with many birds, such as the golden eagles, the ptarmigans, and the Arctic terns, to mention but a few.
Educational Programs
Besides outdoor touring, backcountry lodges may offer interpretive programs to Provide guests in Denali national park, an educational experience. Such programs could include, for instance, lectures and discussions on the park’s geology, the fauna and their habits, and human settlement in the area, among others. There is information about the aboriginal population of the Athabaskan people who inhabited this region thousands of years ago, as well as about pioneers and explorers who began the construction of countless frontiers of the North here.
In-Park Hotels: Complements and Amenities
While backcountry lodges provide an authentic wilderness experience, in-park hotels prioritize comfort. Travelers can easily find these hotels near the park’s entry and major highways. Families, the elderly, and any other client who does not seek luxurious nonsense favor these hotels because of their accessibility.
Advantages of in-park hotels
The in-park hotels have basic facilities that help make a trip to Denali National Park and Preserve more enjoyable. Some hotels have creature comforts like Wi-Fi, restaurants, and shuttle services from the hotel to different attractions. Moreover, when guests stay in in-park accommodations, they can easily visit the park’s visitor centers, which provide information, program participation with rangers, and general knowledge of the park’s history and wildlife.
Top in-park lodging in Denali
Some of the excellent accommodations include in-park hotels and accommodations that serve to meet the various needs of users and budgets. There is, for instance, the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, which has standard, well-equipped accommodations, several restaurants, and a beautiful aerial view of the Nenana River. Likewise, the McKinley Chalet Resort offers a variety of rooms, from the primary type to the suite, as well as a variety of restaurants and other forms of entertainment. Hence, they make excellent accommodations while visiting the park, providing a perfect environment for visitors to tour it comfortably.
Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge
Since, Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge is among the most famous in-park accommodations, offering many services and comfortable rooms. This lodge offers a variety of accommodations with many rooms offering stunning views of the Nenana River and the surrounding mountains. Furthermore, the hotel offers a variety of food services, including an a’laa’la carte restaurant, a delicatessen, and a café and coffee bar. The lodge also organizes park shuttle services that allow guests to tour the park, attractions, and scenery around Denali.
McKinley Chalet Resort
There is another well-known resting place called the McKinley Chalet Resort, which provides guests with various types of rooms depending on their requirements as well as their financial capabilities. The resort offers standard rooms, deluxe suites, and even small private cabins equipped with modern amenities. Regarding leisure, the guests can have dinner at one of three resort restaurants, have a cocktail at the bar, or rest in the hot tub outside. Furthermore, the place offers guided or scheduled activities such as hiking and wildlife watching, as well as package services that allow guests to enjoy Denali by river rafting.
Grande Denali Lodge:
Grande Denali Lodge, located on the hillside, offers an excellent view of the Nenana River, and the services and comfortable rooms make it a popular place to rent. The lodge has basic and luxury rooms, including the executive suites with private balconies. These include Alpenglow Restaurant, where guests can take their meals while being aware of the food culture in Alaska, and Peak Spirits Lounge, where guests can take their beverages. Also, the lodge has transportation to and from the park and offers a variety of activities, such as flightseeing and hiking.
Activities at In-Park Hotels
Guests staying at Park Hotels can engage in a variety of activities, ranging from exciting exercise forms to less energetic ones. This one offers views of wild animals and an absorbing landscape; the most popular service is a bus, which drives along Denali Park Road. Furthermore, most travel organizations offer packaged activities such as white-water rafting, air tours, and dog sledge rides arranged by most hotels. These activities may enable the guests to tour Denali National Park in one way or another, making their visit worthwhile.
Bus Tours
Visitors who spend a night in the in-park hotels enjoy the bus tour inside the Denali Park Road. These tours are the best because they cover the best and most varied regions of the park and provide opportunities to spot wildlife. Self-guided and guided buses take tourists around the park and provide insights into it. Furthermore, the tours include briefings on scenic overlooks, allowing guests to take photo snapshots of the Alaska Range.
Rafting Trips
For enthusiasts, several in-park hotels have arranged rafting on the Nenana River if any guests are interested. Families can participate in these trips, and experienced rafters can access moving rock formations and class four and five rapids. Moreover, guests also get to navigate the river rapids, accompanied by knowledgeable river guides, to the valleys and canyons of Alaska’s Denali Park. Rafting is another active type of vacation that will give you a different view of the park and exciting emotions.
Flightseeing Tours
Another form of tourism promoted by in-park hotels is flightseeing. Most in-park hotels also provide tourists with an aerial viewing opportunity. These tours offer a fly-over view of the magnificent vistas of Denali, including the massive mountains, large glaciers, and extensive tundra. Flightseeing trips range from a short helicopter ride to a one- to two-hour plane trip where guests can land on a glacier. These tours can be truly unforgettable and will help you enjoy Denali’s landscapes in a completely different way.
Dog Sled Tours
A dog pulling a sledge is one of the hallmarks of Alaskan activities that tourists cannot afford to miss. Some in-park hotels offer these tours, where guests can have the experience of sitting on a sledge that is being pulled by teams of huskies in the snowy terrain of Denali.
However, it is important to note that these tours are virtually available year-round, with the use of wheeled sledges during the summer season. Certified mushers will take the guests on a re-triangulation through the frozen wilderness, giving them first-hand experience of the strength of the sledge dogs.
Conclusion
Hence, Denali National Park and Preserve offers a variety of lodging options, from wilderness lodges that immerse guests in the park to fully lodged parks. Companies like Camp Denali, North Face Lodge and Denali Backcountry Lodge are some of the lodges with exciting features, including remote settings, guided hikes and wildlife tours.
On the other hand, in-park accommodations such as the Denali Princess Wilderness, McKinley Chalet Resort, and the Grande Denali Lodge have more modern features and are conveniently located near the park’s attractions. The degree of wilderness in Denali National Park determines the type of accommodations available for those who want to start their journey immediately and those who prefer more comfort but still want to experience the park.
Also Check out 10 Best destinations in USA to go for Astrophotography and an Adventure Trip with all details on equipments and essentials to take along and a best time to visit those places.
Another good read on Hotels Inside Denali National Park: 5 Festive Hideaways
Citations
ALASKA.ORG. (n.d.). Denali Backcountry Lodge offers comfort in the remote wilderness. [online] Available at: https://www.alaska.org/detail/denali-backcountry-lodge
Kantishna Roadhouse. (n.d.). Kantishna Roadhouse is now booking Denali National Park for summer 2023. [online] Available at: https://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com/.
www.alaskacollection.com. (n.d.). Denali Backcountry Lodge offers authentic wilderness in the heart of Denali. [online] Available at: https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/denali-backcountry-lodge/
www.alaskacollection.com. (n.d.). The article discusses the activities and amenities of the Denali Backcountry Lodge Experience. [online] Available at: https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/denali-backcountry-lodge/experience/
www.nationalparkreservations.com. (n.d.). Denali Backcountry Lodge, Denali National Park. [online] Available at: https://www.nationalparkreservations.com/lodge/denali-backcountry-lodge/
