SDR 05 Denali Backcountry Self Drive Tour

8-Days North Face Lodge Denali Tour
Experience Denali Park up close! Stay at North Face Lodge or Campe Denali located at the end of the park road - deep in Denali National Park. Hike with your naturalist guide, observe wildlife, learn about the tundra and colourful wildflowers or take pictures of the majestic Alaska Range.

Day 1: Anchorage

Arrive in Anchorage during the day. Pick up your rental car and drive to your hotel in downtown. Spend the remaining afternoon to visit the sights of the Alaskan City, enjoy a stroll along the coastal trail with views of Mt. Denali and the "Sleeping Lady". A guided city sightseeing tour can be arranged on request.

Day 2: Anchorage - Denali National Park

Leave Anchorage and drive north on the Park Highway towards the Matanuska Valley. Stopover at Byers Lake, rent a kayak and glide through the tranquil waters. The Parks Highway crosses Broad Pass, one of the lowest summits along the North American mountain system, but it feels very top-of-the-world, with its alpine valleys and mountain peaks on either side. Continue to Denali Village.

Day 3: Denali Village - Camp Denali / North Face Lodge

Meet your driver/guide and board the bus for the departure to Camp Denali or North Face Lodge at 1:30 pm. Enjoy the wonderful sceneries of the Denali National Park during the 7 hour journey. Your driver informs you about the history of Denali National Park, its diverse wildlife and flora. Once a bear, caribou or another animal has been spotted the bus will stop that everyone can watch and take pictures. Arrive at the lodge at about 8:00 pm.

Day 4 + 5: Camp Denali / North Face Lodge

Hike with our naturalist guides to remote alpine valleys and tundra-covered ridges where you can observe, and not just spot, wildlife. Your guide is highly trained and practiced in interpreting biology, botany, sub-arctic ecology, geology, bird life and Alaska history. If you wish to explore the park on your own, we supply you with trail and topographic maps, interpretive booklets, canoes and bikes. You can lend walking sticks, daypacks, raingear and fishing gear. In the evening relax in the living room, containing an extensive library of Alaska. We also arrange flightseeing tours to Mt. Denali from the lodge. Evening programs are presented by staff naturalists to further your appreciation of the Far North.

Day 6: North Face Lodge / Camp Denali - Talkeetna

Get up early in the morning for the departure at 6:45 am. Enjoy for a last time the wonderful scenery of Denali National Park as you return by bus to the park entrance. You have time to watch a sled dog demonstration presented by the park rangers or visit the shops of Denali Village for a last souvenir. Travel by car to Talkeetna whose wilderness location at the base of Mt. Denali and at the confluence of three wild rivers makes a center for outdoor enthusiasts, climbers, and tourists.

Day 7: Talkeetna - Anchorage

In the morning you have time for a flightseeing trip to Mt. Denali. The mountains, rivers, glaciers, and meadows in the area provide superb sight seeing, especially by air. Return to Anchorage during the day and check in your hotel.

Day 8: Anchorage

In the morning check out of your hotel and return your rental car. Tour extension on request.

Services Included