Trip Overview

We will meet in Fairbanks, Alaska on the first day of the trip for a group dinner, where we can discuss our upcoming adventure, and set out the logistics for the following day. After dinner, you can settle back into your hotel room to get a good night’s sleep before we head to the park the following morning.

It’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Fairbanks to the Denali National Park Entrance. We will depart Fairbanks in the morning, giving us enough time to make a few photo stops on the way. We’ll pull into Camp Denali’s headquarters, where we will get our bags weighed before heading across the street to the flight service. There, we’ll load up in Cessnas, and take off for the western part of Denali National Park.

Depending on the weather, we may take a route that will take us up and over some of the glaciers that pour off of Denali’s north face, giving us extraordinary views of the Great One itself. But no matter which way we fly, it will be beautiful. The bulk of Denali National Park is mountains, and our trip should coincide with the peak of autumn color.  The landscape passing below will be scarlet, gold, and orange; otherworldly and incredible.

About 45 minutes later we’ll land at the small airstrip in Kantishna where a van from Camp Denali will be waiting to shuttle us to the lodge. There we will be introduced to the staff, and have a bit to settle into our cabins (each with a view of Denali). Camp Denali’s 19 guest cabins are situated along an ascending ridgeline, each with commanding views of Denali and the surrounding peaks of the Alaska Range. The cabins are well-appointed in traditional Alaskan style, with a wood stove for heat, a propane hot plate, hand-crafted quilts, and Alaskan artwork. Potable water is available directly outside each cabin from a spigot. A short path leads to a private, clean outhouse. Cabins are a two- to seven-minute walk uphill to the dining hall, a building with modern showers and toilets, and our historic log lodge on Nugget Pond, which perfectly frames eleven summits of the Alaska Range.

Depending on our arrival time, we will take our first excursion that afternoon, a walk around the north end of Wonder Lake, where we can get our cameras clicking.

We’ll return to Camp before dinner. It’s amazing that I’ve made it this far in the trip description without mentioning the food! Yeah, it’s really, really good. A diverse menu featuring local Alaska specialties and much of the produce is grown on-site at Camp Denali’s greenhouses!

Each night, there are evening presentations by either a member of Camp’s staff or me. After which we can turn into our comfortable, wood-stove heated cabins for the night.

After breakfast each day, we’ll climb into a van with a driver/guide and head out for a day of photography on the empty Denali Park Road. Each day is different as wildlife comes and goes and the weather changes. But big, bull moose, caribou, and grizzly bears are likely wildlife targets. And we can’t ignore the landscape! Denali itself at 20,320 feet is by far the tallest mountain in North America, and when it’s out, absolutely dominates the landscape. With a full week, our odds are very good at seeing and photographing it. But the moody weather of the Alaska Range is a photographic asset. Constantly shifting weather and sunlight mean infinite variety and the opportunity to create unique images of one of the wildest landscapes in the world.

With the park road closed, we essentially have from the Toklat River west to Camp Denali almost entirely to ourselves. When I experienced this in the fall of 2023, it felt like magic. I do want to note, that the access to the western part of the road is also dependent on the road itself remaining passable. Rockfall and washouts are a possibility, and could limit our access should they occur. However, no matter what, we will have what feels like an entire National Park with just us! No buses, no visitors, just our group, the bears, caribou, moose, and the sweeping, wild landscape. The silent wilderness is unique and worth every bit of effort and expense to get there.

The days will pass too quickly, and before we know it, our time at Camp Denali will be wrapping up. We’ll head back to the airstrip, load up, and fly back toward the east end of Denali National Park.

But it’s not over yet! We’ll spend a night near the flight service, and then head the next day for the Denali Highway. This part of Alaska, rarely visited by tourists, is home to spectacular landscapes that almost rival those in Denali National Park. We’ll spend two more nights along the Denali Highway, exploring the autumn colors, and dramatic landscapes of the eastern Alaska Range.

On the final day, we’ll head back north to Fairbanks in time to catch evening flights back home, or head off on independent travels in Alaska.

Join me!