The Best Wildlife Viewing Spots in Denali National Park

The best way to get an overview of Denali Nation­al Park is aboard one of the park bus­es, which fea­ture a trained nat­u­ral­ist who both dri­ves and pro­vides nar­ra­tion. Avail­able tours include the Nat­ur­al His­to­ry Tour (4−5 hrs), and the Tun­dra Wilder­ness Tour (5−5.5 hrs).

If you want to expe­ri­ence Denali Nation­al Park, Bike Denali has a fun, unique way to do it — on two wheels! Options include after­noon rentals to ride around the park entrance, full-day rentals to the explore the Denali Park Road to mul­ti-day rentals for bike camp­ing. Opt for a moun­tain bike, or eBike.

This flex­i­ble alter­na­tive to the stan­dard bus tour is an excel­lent option for inde­pen­dent trav­el­ers. Get off any­where, spend a few hours hik­ing, then catch anoth­er bus back to the park entrance (as long as a seat is avail­able). You can take a short ride before start­ing your adven­ture, or trav­el out to Kan­tish­na, at the end of the park road. See adjust­ed ser­vices for 2023.

Tra­verse Alas­ka can craft ful­ly-guid­ed cus­tom adven­tures, or set you up on a trip into the Alas­ka wilder­ness arm­ing you with some know-how — and pro­vid­ing you with the inde­pen­dence to freely explore. Excur­sions include pri­vate day hikes, raft­ing and pack­raft­ing, and mul­ti-day backpacking. 

A guid­ed day trip out of Fair­banks reveals the qui­et win­ter land­scape of the Tanana Val­ley and Denali Nation­al Park. Walk or snow­shoe on pic­turesque trails through the bore­al for­est, deep in the heart of the Alas­ka range.

Either dri­ve your own car or take the free shut­tle 15 miles out the park road to the Sav­age Riv­er check sta­tion. This is a pop­u­lar hik­ing trail, and you won’t be alone, but at least you’re away from the entrance area and enter­ing the true wilder­ness of Denali Nation­al Park. This is a tun­dra walk on a devel­oped trail that fol­lows the riv­er. Good hike for kids, with pos­si­bil­i­ty of see­ing Dall sheep, mar­mots, and cari­bou. You can do a loop walk,  ...more

This is the most pho­tographed view of Denali (Mt. McKin­ley) from the road. You’re up high, at the edge of a moun­tain pass, and there’s alpine tun­dra all around, with the road snaking towards the moun­tain in the fore­ground. And this is the first spot where you can see the whole moun­tain from base to sum­mit. On clear days, Tun­dra Wilder­ness Tours will extend their trip sev­er­al miles just to reach this spot. Stony Hill is also a great place to…  ...more

This infor­mal hik­ing area begins at the Prim­rose rest area and heads up a gen­tle ridge until you reach the bench, which pro­vides panoram­ic views of the park. Wild­flow­ers are abun­dant in this area and usu­al­ly peak between July 20 and August 10.

The griz­zly bears of Denali can be found feed­ing in almost every cor­ner of Denali Nation­al Park. Ear­ly to mid sum­mer, these bears can be often observed from Tho­ro­fare Pass. What draws these adapt­able and per­sis­tent omni­vores to this high alpine envi­ron­ment? Audio tour by Camp Denali Wilder­ness Lodge.

Tat­tler Creek is named for the Wan­der­ing Tat­tler, a large shore­bird that you may be lucky enough to spot. The first Wan­der­ing Tat­tler nest known to sci­ence was found at Denali Nation­al Park. The first nests of the Arc­tic War­bler and Surf­bird were also found here.

A great place to catch a glimpse of Dall Sheep, Igloo Moun­tain is also where the first dinosaur tracks in the park were dis­cov­ered. You can see them your­self, if you go on one of the many easy day hikes that start here.

Sable Pass on the Denali Park Road is a wildlife hotspot. The area is des­ig­nat­ed as crit­i­cal griz­zly bear coun­try in Denali Nation­al Park, so it is per­ma­nent­ly closed in order to pro­tect wildlife. 

Only 33 miles from the sum­mit of Denali, and at an ele­va­tion of 3300’, Eiel­son offers some of the most spec­tac­u­lar views of Denali (for­mer­ly Mt McKin­ley). There are many activ­i­ties you can do here, includ­ing ranger-guid­ed hikes up to near­by Tho­ro­fare Pass and self-guid­ed expi­ra­tion of the high-alpine tun­dra environment.

This hike does not require cross­ing any glac­i­ers or dan­ger­ous streams, which makes for a good overnight hike for those who car­ry an overnight camp­ing permit.

The 20 miles before Kan­tish­na offers views of hun­dreds of small ket­tle lakes. These lakes pro­vide crit­i­cal habi­tat for moose, birds, and beavers. What are these ani­mals after and how do the lakes pro­vide? Audio tour by Camp Denali Wilder­ness Lodge.

Cari­bou trails weave back and forth across the alpine slopes above Stony Hill. These trails are evi­dence of the sea­son­al migra­tion pat­terns of Denali’s cari­bou. Find out why cari­bou under­take this migra­tion, and where you can expect to find them depend­ing on the sea­son. Audio tour by Camp Denali Wilder­ness Lodge.

Igloo Creek is one of three tent-only camp­grounds in the park. Sit­u­at­ed right next to the creek, it is a great place to relax and enjoy the wilder­ness and the area around the camp­ground offers great hik­ing opportunities.

Pick up the trail right after you cross over Tat­ter Creek. Fol­low Tat­tler Creek upstream for ¹⁄₄ mile to a steep ravine that comes in from the left. Fol­low this ravine up until you reach a ridge that over­looks the Sable Pass restrict­ed area. If you only plan to spend time on the ridge with­out going far­ther afield you may want to stock up on water in the ravine because there are no sources on the ridge­line. From the ridge you can choose to…  ...more

Poly­chrome Pass gets it’s name from the col­or­ful vol­canic rocks that you can see from the over­look, but the name could also be applied to the col­or­ful veg­e­ta­tion, streams, moun­tains and glac­i­ers that make this spot unique. This high over­look is a great spot to watch bears, moose and cari­bou from far enough away that you won’t risk dis­turb­ing them.

This is an unmarked, unmain­tained trail and can be dif­fi­cult to fol­low, but is a good exam­ple of the real out­doors in Denali Nation­al Park.

The best spots to see moose near the entrance of Denali Nation­al Park, and along the 92-mile Denali Park Road.