Denali National Park

To quote the legendary Dwight Schrute, “welcome to the no-spin zone.” I’m not here to sugarcoat anything for you, or to try to prove that my trip was cheaper/more lavish than it actually was. Here we have cold, hard numbers with some of my opinions sprinkled in. The honest truth is that a trip to Alaska is expensive. There are ways that I could have saved some money (we’ll get to that), but you have to know when reading this and/or planning your own trip that visiting Alaska national parks is going to cost you significantly more than almost any other national park trip.

Camping at Wonder Lake Campground in Denali National Park was a bucket list item for me (and should be for you, too). It was the #1 thing I wanted to do in Alaska when I visited in 2018, and also the very first reservation I made for the trip. Staying at this campground turned out to be a highlight, and my only regret is that we didn’t stay longer! In last week’s post I talked about the different camping and tour bus options within Denali National Park; today I’m here to share our experience at Wonder Lake!

If Kenai Fjords is the easiest national park to visit in Alaska, then Denali National Park is a close second. And good thing, too--people come from all over the world to witness the glory of the tallest mountain in North America, not to mention Denali’s tundra wilderness that’s teeming with an abundance of wildlife. Denali National Park is full of what makes Alaska, well, Alaska. With bears sauntering down the shores of rivers, wide open spaces for caribou to run, and big, beautiful mountains at every turn, this park has it all.

It's weird how time and growth work together. Last year, I was planning a vacation to Glacier National Park... but when my brother took a temporary job in Anchorage, Alaska, Glacier flew right out the window. Looking back, my trip to Alaska unintentionally put me on a path; it taught me how to better research for a bigger trip, pushed me very far out of my comfort zone, and ultimately showed me AGAIN that I'm the thing holding me back. Since Alaska, I have been planning more ambitious trips and hiking farther than I thought I could!

This is a fluid post that I will continually update! Each time I visit a new park I’ll add it here, or update parks that I return to. It’s kind of a fusion highlight reel and future bucket list.