DENALI NATIONAL PARK – Our journey to the park was along the 135 mile dirt track road called the Denali Highway. The road passed through vast wilderness of tundra and willow scrub, Black Spruce Woods, Alpine Lakes and river valleys, which held many singing Arctic Warbler and Wilson’s Warbler. We had views of a superb immature Bald Eagle and plenty of Lesser Yellowlegs. A few Barrows Goldeneye and Bufflehead were on the small lakes and Blackpoll Warbler and American Dipper along the river valleys. We stopped overnight at a roadside Lodge Park,which was excellent, as we had an early start the following morning, for our eight hour trip into Denali National Park.
The park itself covers 6 million acres of wilderness consisting of lakes, tundra, peaks and wildlife. The entire park area is dominated by Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, at a height of 20,310 feet. The park was once named Mount McKinley National Park in 1917. It was named after William Dickey, a gold prospector, named the mountain, Mount McKinley in 1896, after president William McKinley. The state of Alaska officially changed the name to Denali in 1975.
The park lies about 170 miles southwest of Fairbanks and 130 miles northwest of Anchorage and Denali is part of the Alaska Range which is the centrepiece of the National Park. Due to the mountains extreme climate and severe weather conditions throughout most of the year, few people are successful in climbing the peak.
The park holds a large variety of wildlife and offers the best chance to view Dall’s Sheep, Caribou and Grizzly Bear. The Park operates official Park Bus Tours that leave the visitor centre throughout the day. We embarked on an eight hour trip that took us some 65 miles into the park. We had several excellent views of Grizzly Bear and views of Dall’s Sheep and Caribou along the route. Around the Visitor Centre we added White-winged Crossbill and Bohemian Waxwing to our list.
American Tree Sparrow – Denali Highway, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Arctic Warbler – Above 4 images – Denali Highway, Alaska – Tony Davison© – very common with birds singing everywhere
Wilson’s Warbler – Denali Highway, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Bald Eagle – immature – Denali Highway – Tony Davison©
Lesser Yellowlegs – Denali Highway, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Hudsonian Whimbrel – Denali Highway, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Grizzly Bear – Above 2 images – Denali National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
