If you’re thinking about heading to Alaska's premier park and driving the Denali Park Road, keep in mind you can only drive the first 15 miles. Beyond that, for the rest of your trip in Denali National Park, you’ll have to charter one of the famous Denali National Park bus tours. Whether you’re going to be hiking or backpacking in Denali National Park, or simply just sightseeing, driving your personal vehicle beyond the Savage River Campground is simply not an option.

The reason for that is actually pretty simple. Denali National Park wants to preserve the wilderness character of the road, ensuring the increased impacts of automobiles and tourists don’t degrade wildlife habitat and the Park’s precious tundra.

BUT, it wasn’t always this way. In the early decades of Denali, considerable developments were planned along the Denali Park Road, and later, the road was to be paved to accommodate more cars. But the efforts of two preservationists, Adolph and Olaus Murie, ensured that didn’t happen. This is their story. The story of why you can only drive 15 miles on the Denali Park Road.

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