Denali Education Center Reviews

Incredible experience. Breathtaking scenery, diverse wildlife, and many outdoor activities.

Amazing staff and great scenery. There were tons of hiking trails, and the free buses were a bonus.

Can't wait to go back and see more. We had perfect weather. Saw Denali peak two days in a row.

Jaw dropping views of the tallest peak on north America. A must visit for anyone. Words can't describe the beauty. Come see it for yourself.

What a place. Epic scenery, animals, everything was great.

A bucket list place to stop. From camping in a tent all the way to a nice hotel you have many choices here at the park. Rafting, hiking and picture taking galore. You are in Alaska if you are here so bring the correct cloths or at the very least have options.

Guide was patient and made as many stops as necessary for the tour to get the pictures needed. Very knowledgeable.

Gorgeous. Taking the bus back to wonder Lake is probably one of the best and easiest ways to see the park. Ranger led hikes are great too. Then go backpacking in the backcountry... you can go for days without seeing another person.

Had a wonder and lucky day hike in the national park.
Saw a lynx hunting snow hare while hiking in the forest.
Easy to Hard hiking trails in the national park.
Spectacular scenery!

What s not to like in this awesome place..okay mosquitoes

Not to be missed. The mountain is usually shrouded in clouds, but on a clear day it is imposing. See the big 5... wolf, caribou, grizzly, dall sheep and moose. Over 6 million acres of wilderness.

Must see for any trip to Alaska. The short bus ride through the park is plenty, 3-4 hours. Not sure we would have survived the longer tour, 6-8 hours.

Fun and knowledgeable bus driver with plenty of stops, many with restrooms that were not bad.

We saw numerous animals, really just a timing thing there...

The visitor center and train station were also both nice.

The junior ranger program was good too.. We are doing that at all the national parks we visit with my daughter.. She enjoys it and has collected numerous badges and patches.

Absolutely breathtaking! We were so lucky to have a gorgeous day and see all of the Denali mountain range and beyond. The Eielson Visitor Center bus tour is a must! Bus tours are the only way for visitors to see the park, but this route is the best bang for your buck and time. Plus lots of adorable grizzly bears to be seen. Great short hike option at the base of Eielson with beautiful 360 views that will have you thinking you are in a dream world.

It's wild yet people can enjoy it with all kinds of activities ranging from bus tours to backcountry hiking and camping. NPS here is doing a great job balancing preservation and service!

Most wonderful train ride in my life! Absolutely great explorer train ride.. clear dome ride cars! Wonderful staff make sure you buy the coffee cup and drink mug free refills all day great bargain then you can use the drink mug the following day for the tour through Denali Park heads up on that one! Tim

It's very sad. You have to ride six to 8 hours in an old bus to see the park. It defeats the point of travel accruals the world to get outdoors in a national park! You seriously have to get on a lottery system just to hopefully maybe get lucky enough to see the entire park in a car.

We purchased a tour... took us several miles into the park... much to see... pictures to capture and wildlife to observe! Well worth the cost! Loved the park. A must see!

Fascinating place! The park is beautiful. Loved getting to stop at the sled dog kennels!

I didn't have enough time. So beautiful. Rained most of the day, but the clouds broke and I got to see Denali at the end of the day.

A park that can only be truly appreciated over a multi day experience. I was there almost 5 days, experiencing rain and sunshine. One day of just me hiking and exploring. One day on the bus going the full length of the road. One day on a ranger led discovery hike. Bits of 2 other dates spent hiking and sitting in a cafe just outside of the park working.

I saw all the animals except a wolf or a lynx. That was great and experiencing some of that with other people on the hike and bus was great (people get REALLY excited).

I also beat the odds and saw Denali 3 days in a row. Each time I saw it I was struck by how enormous and majestic it is. Difficult to describe in words so I hope you see it, too!

Be sure to go see the sled dogs and hear the informative ranger talk. The dogs were very friendly (you can pet them) and they seem to love their work.

As someone that lives in Alaska, I am still in love with the park and go more than once a year. This is truly one of the world's treasures. It is the only place in the world with blond bears and Dall sheep. I have seen wilderness in action that would be worthy of a Nat Geo special. The mountain (Denali) doesn't show itself everyday, but the park has so much more to offer that it is little disappointment if a trip doesn't result in a viewing. I can't say enough good things. Just go!

There's no reason to pay the higher prices for the guided tour...if you can get yourself on Elton's bus, you'll have the best guide there is! He's awesome and definitely makes the 8 hour trip go quick!

Amazing hike to the overlook. Takes some time but so worth it!!

Ultimate nature, you can see lots if animal but ther normally come closure as you can see African forests

Pack your trash and bring a friend to share the memories with. Keep the animals wild don't litter or feed wildlife.

Beautiful, amust stop and enjoy the sights before moving on

First let me say that the park itself is a landscape unmatched by anything I've ever seen. I highly suggest taking a flight seeing tour from Talkeetna and landing on Ruth Glacier. It's a lifetime sort of event. Seeing Denali up close and all of the peaks and glaciers that surround it is humbling.

However, in my opinion, the park is mismanaged badly. Let me put it this way. We all pay taxes that are used to take care of this park. That's fine, National parks everywhere normally use taxes to take care of them. Then, you pay $15 to get into the park. Again, this is fine. This is a large park. Most parks have entry fees. However, where things get out of hand is getting around. You have to pay outside private companies to take you anywhere you want to go. Now I'm fine with having to use public style transportation to get around. There are other parks that do this. But I'm not ok with paying taxes, paying for entry, and then having to pay all the way up to nearly $200 to take a tour. Especially when many buses only stop at nearby resorts etc for pickup. Talk about kickbacks! Cars are only allowed to travel in to the Savage River which is just about 15 miles in I believe. Here again the parking lot is much too small for the amount of people who will inevitably want to park their cars and look around at the farthest point which they can drive.

This parks management plan needs to be thought out a little better and revamped. Entry fees need to be raised and shuttle bus fees need to either be lowered by a lot or made free. Right now it is a huge cash cow for just one company. If I go to Yosemite shuttles are free... Why can't that be the case here? It makes no sense to me that the majority of money being paid to be able to see the largest part of the park goes directly into the pockets of a private company. If I pay to visit a park I want to be able to visit and go where I want to go. I don't want to have to have to plan ahead of time and pay for reservations etc. A lot of different factors could play into what I want to do. Weather being just one.

Sept is a perfect time for Denali. Fall colors were outrageous, with red and green grass on the mountains.

Excellent tundra wilderness tour. It's an approx. 8 hour tour. They provide some snacks and water. They have these awesome cameras that can zoom into animals far away to show tourists the wildlife. They have screens in every third row inside the bus that display what the camera is capturing. But you need to be lucky to spot the wildlife, cause the tour guides have no control over this. The tour guide is pretty strict about staying on the bus although she let us get off at some spots, especially to shoot mt. Denali. There are restrooms every hour or hour and half. The only complain I had was the bus itself. The window panes are tricky to open and shut. So when you spot an animal and want to take pics the window panes can come in the way. Overall a good experience.

Excellent Trip for Nature Oriented. Long bus only trips to see animals and beautiful mountains. (some limited drive yourself trips)

God's country! Awesome and lucked out with the weather!

Took a hike yesterday and a bus to Eielson Visitor Center today. Tomorrow more hiking. Great drivers and service to keep autos out. Some of the consessioners were rather rude and blunt in the bus depot (ticket counter and coffee counter!) Absolutely a beautiful park but bus is kind of pricey. If you get a chance, come see it! Campground is very nice and clean.

Awesome place for dog lovers! You are picked up by a bus at designated places and when you arrive you get to hold a puppy <3! The husky homestead really gives a lot of information of what they do, how they do it and why! An experience I will never forget!

Absolutely stunning. Only mired by the abundance of tourists.

This is a really nice park, and we visited in July 2017 (yesterday). Delighted to give it five stars.

If you're looking to see Denali (tallest mountain in north America at 20,300 feet), you'll struggle to even see it (much less photograph it) while inside or outside the park. Yeah, I know, it's strange, but true. But visit the park and plan to stay the whole day, and if possible, try to pick a "clear" or "mostly sunny" day to see Denali. As you probably know, Alaska weather can be challenging in this regard.

Interesting statistic- the park says that only 30% of the people that visit the park see Denali; it's heavily clouded over 2/3 of the time, and even on clear days there's no guarantee it won't be clouded over at the summit. Such was the case with us-- it was heavily clouded over that morning, but it cleared and we got GREAT views by mid-day. Guess that makes us one of the magic 30%.

Another thing you need to know is that you cannot drive yourself to a place where you can view or photograph the peak except for a "maybe" place at mile 13, a nice trailhead that offers "potential" views of the Denali Summit from a distance. (Buses only past mile 15.) If you want to get closer, you have to buy a bus ticket at the visitor center and take the bus out deeper into the park. (Which I agree with, by the way, we don't need to be clogging up the park's gravel roads with thousands of cars, some of which would run out of gas!)

Here's a tip for those who want to potentially photograph or view Denali without visiting deep inside the park- there are great views of Denali along Alaska State Highway 3, which parallels the park and runs from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Nice, free overlooks along the highway on clear days or partly cloudy days, with Denali to the west. The "South Overlook" at the Alaska STATE Park (about 30 miles north of Talkeetna, mile marker 133 or so). Even closer views about mile 150 or 160. You do NOT need a telephoto lens to get great photos.

The National Park rangers at Denali National Park were great, as were the concessionaires and support staff. We got some great photos and had a super time. Definitely worth a visit!

I have been there about 12 years ago. There is a sun that does not go down. The wolf mother takes the child. The huge bear man sits in the grass and eats a small red-basket of strawberries. A few interesting. There is also a bear-capture fish show, which is natural and free. Beautiful country.

New, Informative facility. But the staff is a little stiff and robotic. They might need a break...

This is park is awesome...buses go into the park. You cant drive your own vehicle beyond a certain point...amazing views.

Beautiful scenery, beautiful snow capped mountains. Caribou, moose and fowl are seen from the road. Local Indian history. Friendly and helpful staff.

The most eco friendly National Park I have experienced!! Kudos Harry Karston for protecting this amazing National Park

A must see!! Would love to go farther into the park next time.

Beautiful park, many gresly bears hatch with their mothers in one area and adults in another. Impressively cute. The plane ride to get there, impressive

Nice view but almost no animals... when you get to see one it's very far away.
Not worth the money and time to take a tour.

What a trip. Great diver Mike was very informative. 7 hour ride. Saw Wildlife.

Very welcoming park rangers and the snow sled dogs are very eager for every visitor to come and scratch their tummy & back!!!! Some will even howl on you for you to come and offer their back!

WOW. Must see every Alaska visit. Shuttle to top is worth trip to Ak; on a clear day you can see forever.

Denali has something for everyone. Free shuttles for the first twelve miles of the park (you can also buy tickets to tour buses for areas of the park not available to visitors' vehicles). There are dog sled presentations a few times a day, a well planned system of trails (the Savage Alpine Trail allows a good view of Denali [about 80 miles away] on a clear day, but it is fairly strenuous: 1-3 hours depending on your pace climbing to the summit). Mountain Vista Trail is incredibly easy and can offer a view of Denali. During our time in Alaska, we've noticed the best time to see moose is around 8-10 in the evening (August) and this held true in Denali.

Really picturesque but I would not recommend visiting during COVID. There is no food service and the bus doesn't go very far

Amazing! Took the bus ride to Eilson and saw a couple of Grizzly Bears, several small herds of caribou, multiple Dall sheep and probably a dozen moose. Additionally, some amazing scenery. Unfortunately, on the day we went, Danali was covered in clouds and we were part of the 70% who don't end up seeing the top. Well worth the trip though.

Outstanding. Took the train up and back. Also took Talkeetna air taxi ride around Denali. EXCELLENT!

An absolute gem in the national park system. Saw a wide variety of wildlife and managed to join the 30% club actually seeing denali during my stay.

The main draw of Denali National Park, as advertised, is to see the abundance of wildlife.

When I was there, I really did manage to catch a glimpse of the wildlife such as bears, lynx, fox, etc. But the big caveat is: the animals are all located far far away from the main road, so all that I could see are animals which are just centimeters in height.

If you really want to see the wildlife upclose, I would highly recommend that you attend a dedicated bear viewing tours instead, because those tours bring you up to literally just meters away from the bears.

Flight was amazing. No clouds. Our pilot answered many questions. He was excellent and the flight was so smooth. It is one of the world's wonders. The glaciers are beyond imagination.

We took the bus to the Eielson vistor center, and saw four of the five big animals (we didn't see the wolf) including 10 bears. Some of the bears were quite close to the road, and there were also three that chased everyone into the visitor's center in Eielson. You can take the same bus back, or you can wait there and take a later bus back. There are a number of trails at Eielson you can walk. This is probably one of the best day-trip experiences in Denali you can do.

Big, it's big. Something you should see once in your life.

Love this place beautiful scenery and wildlife. I would suggest the 50 mile tour leave early you will see more wildlife :)

Denali national park is a beautiful, peaceful place and trip of a lifetime. This place that gives you mind-blowing experience. Also, inspires me to travel more. Great opportunity to enjoy wildlife from safety.