The largest mountain in North America, Mt. McKinley dominates Denali National Park's landscape.
Encompassing more than six million acres, Alaska's Denali National Park features a complete sub-Arctic ecosystem, filled with wildlife, glaciers, mountains, tundra, and taiga forests. One of the best and only ways to see much of what Denali offers is to take the park shuttle bus from one end of the park to the other, a total of 92 miles one way. Available in the summer, the shuttle bus allows you to get on and off as much as you want, allowing you to explore the park's physical features that appeal to you most.
Mount McKinley
In the midst of the Alaska Range mountains, one mountain stands out far more than any other, the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley, also known as Denali. Although clouds often cover the mountain, obscuring it from view, those lucky enough to see it on their trip to Denali National Park never forget it. The highest mountain in North America, its snowfields, which never melt, cover more than half the mountain with ice that in some spots is hundreds of feet thick.
Yukon-Tanana Rocks
The Yukon-Tanana rocks, found near the entrance of the park, are the oldest in Denali. Volcanic flows created this geological formation more than 400 million years ago, and it extends more than 30,000 square miles between Canada's Yukon territory and the Tanana River, which starts in northeast Alaska.
Muldrow Glacier
If you want to see glaciers up close and personal, get off the bus at the 35-mile long Muldrow glacier. The toe of this massive glacier lies within a half mile of the road. This glacier, along with several others, carries snow and ice off of Mount McKinley. If you prefer to see glaciers form a distance, just look out the window since more than one million acres of the park are covered in glaciers.
Taiga Forests
A Russian word meaning "evergreen forests of the north," taiga are sometimes referred to as boreal forests. The park's taiga forests provide an important food and habitat resource for wildlife. Primarily located along the rivers, they include a variety of trees, such as white spruce, black spruce, aspen, larch, and balsam. The undergrowth of this forest is filled with mosses and lichens while shrubs such as birch, blueberry, and willow provide important food resources. Taiga forest stops growing at about 2,700 feet, where it turns into tundra.
Tundra
Tundra starts where the taiga forest ends. Tundra consists of windswept dwarfed shrubs and plants that adapt to the short, cold growing season. As you go further up the mountain, these hardy plants start getting shorter, growing closer to the ground. Watch these areas for a variety of wildlife and birds that use the tundra's resources for critical food and habitat.
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