Denali National Park – Alaska
Flying into Anchorage, our first destination was Denali, and the drive itself felt like the beginning of the adventure. Leaving the city behind, the road quickly opened into vast stretches of wilderness where the scale of Alaska became unmistakable. The Parks Highway winds north through wide valleys and uninterrupted views that seem to stretch forever.
Our first stop inside the park was the Denali Visitor Center, where rangers made one think clear: we are guests here. The land is shaped and ruled by wildlife. Wolves, grizzly bears, moose and Dalli sheep move freely across the terrain, and the park’s systems are designed to protect them. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson set this land aside as Mount McKinley National Park with the primary purpose of preserving wildlife and wilderness. In 1980, the park was expanded and renamed Denali National Park and Preserve, restoring its traditional Athabascan name.
Access to the park is carefully managed. Rathan than driving freely, visitors ride park buses along the Denali Park Road, which limits human impact and keeps the interior largely untouched. The bus carried us into the park along a gravel road through the tundra.
Along the way, the land is open and unconfined with wildlife visible along the way. We saw wolves, bears and sheep moving across their landscape. On a clear day, Denali rises above the surrounding ranges. At over 20,000 feet, it is North America’s tallest peak, and its presence dominates the horizon
Denali is an extraordinary place where humans are simply visitors.
Read More From Nancy
Rocky Mountain National Park – Colorado
Another spectacular National Park is Rocky Mountain National Park. My oldest daughter Emily lives in the foothills of this park, so we have enjoyed more visits than most. From the rugged alpine cliffs to the mountain lakes, this landscape reminds us how diverse this park is. Established in January 1915, when Woodrow Wilson signed the act […]
Indiana Dunes National Park – Indiana
On our cross-country family road trip in 1995, we stopped at the Indiana Dunes National Park. The massive sand dunes stretch along the southern shore of Lake Michigan and they are interwoven with wetlands and beaches. The dunes were formed over thousands of years as glaciers retreated in the wind and water shaped the sand into ridges […]
Cape Hatteras National Seashore – North Carolina
On our vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we visited the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. This site was established in 1953 as the first national seashore in the United States Cape Hatteras protects more than 70 miles of barrier island coastline. Rising above the landscape is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse which was completed in […]
