Denali National Park: 8 Hour Bus Tour

Dale Matson

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Mt. Denali

We took the bus tour on August 21st to the mile 62 turn around at Stony Overlook (4,700’). Don, our bus driver was a treasure trove of information and a bit of a soothsayer. He predicted that the ongoing landslide at Polychrome pass would eventually change the route. As it turned out he was correct and the road was closed on August 25th near Polychrome Pass. The reports did not state when the road would be open again beyond the pass but those who were located beyond the pass would be relocated by the NPS.

The day before, we drove to mile 15 (Savage River) in our rental car. That is a far as you can drive into the park in a car. The following day we took bus #2 and had snack bags on the bus seats. We had keen eyes on our bus and with Don as driver, we were able to stop for lots of wildlife along the way. The busses are equipped with drop-down TV screens that magnify animals where they are located which was helpful for those of us photographers in locating the animals. I missed the Dall Sheep however. There were several bathroom rest stops along the way, and for photography out of the busses.

Don noted when we passed a bicyclist, that the park people jokingly referred to them as “meals on wheels”. 

He also noted that there are as many moose in Denali as Caribou but the moose prefer thick vegetation and are harder to spot than the Caribou. We saw one large group of Caribou migrating to another location in the park. In all, I saw grizzly bears, willow ptarmigan and moose in addition to the fresh snow on the mountains. When Mt. Denali is in view (only 1/3 of the time) Stony Overlook is a good place to view it from. There are two turn outs that you can drive to about nine miles in, where you can see Mt. Denali when it is clear. The 2nd turnout has a metal sign that points to Denali.

We stayed just outside the park two nights along the Nenana River and the morning of the 3rd day drove back into the park. We wanted one last try for a clear view of Mt. Denali before we headed south to Anchorage. We were treated to a clear view of Mt. Denali. There is also a north and south vista which includes Mt. Denali along the George Parks Highway (Alaska Highway #3) as you head south to Anchorage.

I used a Sony A7R4 and the Sony 100-400 GM lens. It is a 61mp camera that can crop to 600mm at 24mp. I also used the newer A7C which is the size and weight of the original Sony A7 but has image stabilization and a better sensor. I paired this with the relatively new small 50mm f2.5 lens. For the animals 400-600mm is most suitable.

Don noted that our day trip only showed about 1/10th of the 6 million acres of the park, which is about the size of Massachusetts.