Even though summer is the most common time to visit Denali National Park, the fall season is an underrated time to visit. The window for peak fall foliage colors is pretty much only one week of the entire year, before the leaves fall off and it gets too snowy to drive the roads. We were lucky enough to be able to visit during this time of year and saw some amazing autumn colors, wildlife, and the sled dogs!
This is just a quick guide for our visit in Denali with information for visiting in the fall season. If you want a more comprehensive guide with information about hikes, buses/tours, and more, you can read more about that HERE!
Denali in the Fall
The fall season in Denali National Park is defined as mid-September until snow accumulates (typically between late September and late October). Visitors usually visit Denali in the summer from mid-May to the second weekend after Labor Day. Although some services and activities may be limited in this shoulder season, the mountains are beautiful when they’re snow-capped and the vibrant fall foliage is unbeatable.
Technically according to the official park website, the fall colors typically peak during what is still considered the summer season, we saw great fall colors during our visit in mid/late September!
Park Shuttles & Tours
One of the best ways to get around the park is by transit buses. The non-narrated East Fork transit bus provides transportation throughout the park road that you normally wouldn’t be able to visit otherwise if you just had your own car. Personal vehicles can only go up to Savage River at Mile 15, so the East Fork transit bus will take you all the way to the other side of the park and drop you where you need to go. Not only is this a great transportation method, but the drive also allows you to look outside the window the whole time and appreciate the views without focusing on driving.
That said, the buses only run until mid-September, ending the second Thursday after Labor Day, so during our visit, we were able to both drive the full bus route in our own car up to Mile 30 at Teklanika River, as well as take the last transit bus for the season! Weather permitting, the road remains open through October 15 or when snow/ice closes the road at Park Headquarters at mile 3.4.
Previously when we visiting Denali, the park road was only open up until Mile 43 due to the Pretty Rocks landslide, but now after 5 years, the bridge has finally finished construction! The full park road to the west side will be open to visitors for the 2027 season.
Wildlife
We’ve always had amazing luck with wildlife spotting during our time in Denali National Park, and shoulder season is no exception! While we saw most of our wildlife while we were driving along the park road past Mile 15 either in the transit bus or in our personal car, there was still a lot we saw before Savage River.
Fall brings the annual moose rut (mating season), so bull moose are very active and visible across lowlands. We spotted a bull moose down at Savage River, as well as a female moose running on the park road!
Bears are also pretty active during this season, because they are foraging to build fat reserves before winter hibernation.
On both days that we drove past Savage River deeper into the park, we saw Dall sheep on the mountain ridges at differing locations.
Hiking
Hikes in Denali may not be as accessible and established as other, more popular national parks in the lower 48, but there are still many options for hikers! Denali is a paradise of climbers though! I’m hoping to visit Denali again now that the west side of the road is open and do more hikes that are past the Savage River area. The only hikes we didn’t do when we revisited Denali in the fall are Savage Alpine and Horseshoe Lake.
Mount Healy Overlook
4.9 miles, out & back, 1,700 ft. elevation gain (3-4 hours)
This strenuous hike provides panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, river, and Nenana River Valley. It’s a steady climb from the visitor center through the spruce and aspen forests before opening up to switchbacks into the alpine tundra. The fall foliage made this hike even better as you see the expanse of the trees and different colors below you!
Mountain Vista Loop Trail
0.7 miles, loop, 80 ft. elevation gain (15-20 minutes)
This is a super easy, accessible flat trail that anyone can do! The Mountain Vista trail has open views of the field and surrounding mountains. It’s a loop trail that begins and ends at Mountain Vista Rest Area at Mile 13 of the Denali Park Road. This was one of the hikes we also did in the summer, but we basically did a short portion of this to see the fall colors. Look north for Mount Healy and southwest for the Denali mountain!
Savage River Loop Trail
2.1 miles, loop, 560 ft. elevation gain (1-2 hours)
Similar to Mountain Vista, this is another casual hike that we are doing again in the fall season after doing it in the summer. The relatively flat tundra hike is located at Mile 15 of the Denali Park Road and passes the braided Savage River, narrow rocky canyon, and loops back around on a wooden pedestrian footbridge. It’s common to see wildlife around here, such as Dall sheep, arctic ground squirrels, caribou, and sometimes even moose!
Since this point is the furthest that private vehicles can drive on the park road, the small parking lot can fill up pretty quickly. You can always take the free Savage River Shuttle from the visitor center if you don’t want to deal with this issue.
Rock Creek Trail
2.4 miles one-way, out & back, 400 ft. elevation gain when traveling east to west (2 hours one way)
The Rock Creek Trail connects the visitor center to the Denali Kennels through a beautiful forest and with views of the stunning mountain vistas along the trail. We parked at the Denali Kennels after our visit to the sled dogs, walked along the road on the Roadside Trail for an easier, flatter route, before we hiked Rock Creek trail back to our car at the kennels. If you were to take the same route on Rock Creek trail out-and-back, it would be about a 5 mile hike with 1,000 feet of elevation gain. You can also take the park shuttle if you’re tired of walking!
Since we visited in a less crowded season, we didn’t have trouble parking directly at the kennels, but take note if you visit in the summer that parking might be limited. You can walk the 2 miles to the kennels from the visitor center on the Roadside Trail or Rock Creek Trail or you can take the free buses from the Denali Visitor Center that leaves for the kennels approximately 40 minutes before each demonstration (9:20 am, 1:20 pm, and 3:20 pm).
Denali Kennels
From mid-May through September, visitors can meet the sled dogs that live in the kennels, learn about the history of mushing and sled dogs in Denali National Park from over 100 years ago, and attend a sled dog demonstration to see this traditional Alaskan mode of travel. Once late September hits, the kennels are only open on Saturdays and Sundays for limited hours until the winter.
The demos are free and don’t require reservations and are offered three times daily in peak season from June to early September and then one or two times per day in early/late season (mid-May and mid-September).
While we did not attend the sled dog demonstration since we already did a sled dog tour in Seward, we had a great time meeting the dogs here and seeing this piece of Denali history!
Gallery
As always, I’m better with pictures than I am words! And these pictures of the park in the fall are absolutely wallpaper-worthy.
Where to Next?
After our second visit to Denali National Park, we’re continuing our drive up Alaska to the capital at Fairbanks! Since we’re going to be further north towards the Arctic Circle, our main goal will be aurora chasing!
Thanks for reading my little blog! š Have you been to Denali National Park or planning a trip there? Send me your thoughts about what you loved the most or are most excited about! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.
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