Park Road

This Blog Entry builds on the prior six entries. The photo above is from a National Park Service web site.

In 1912, Henry "Harry" Karstens lead the first expedition to summit Mt. Denali, which was know as Mt. McKinley at the time. According to our bus driver, who has climbed to the summit twice in the past decade, the route Karstens blazed is one of three climbers continue to use today. So, when the Mt. McKinley National Park was established, Karstens was the leading candidate to be superintendent given he knew the area first hand. He served in the post from 1921-1928., setting out the initial plans for the park, including a park road to provide primary access to the interior. The Park Road is the only road into the interior of the park. It runs west from the park entrance on Alaska Rt 3 into the expanse of the park, ending 92.5 miles later at an air strip just beyond Kantishna.

Work on the road began in 1923, proceeding a few miles per year during the warmer half of the year until "completion" in 1938. Since, then it has been a continuing project to maintain the gravel road that comes under stress from seasonal use, winter weather, spring river rises, and land slides throughout the year. For most of its distance the Park Road is one and one-half lanes wide, running both across glacier river bottoms and on mountain sides with hair-pin turns (e.g., Stony Hill) overlooking thousand foot drops without guard rails.

Until 1972, private vehicles were permitted on the full expanse of the Park Road. Today, they are limited to the first 15 miles (which are paved), a point just prior to the Savage River bridge. Beyond that point, special permits are required and only a very few are granted. While the park is open all year round, due to the length of Alaskan winters the Park Service runs buses only between mid-April and mid-September as far as the Wonder Lake camp ground. Hikers and campers can hop on and off those buses. The lodges in the Kantishna area each run separate buses for their guests between mid-April and mid-September when the lodges are open. A one-way lodge bus trip takes about seven hours with the bus stopping for a few minutes as opportunities arise to see wildlife or special views. For safety purposes, bus drivers follow right of way rules the entire length of the Park Road. There are three rest stops on the road: Savage River, Toklat River and Eielson Visitor Center (about equally spaced).

At the end of the Park Road there is a sign where park visitors (e.g., lodge visitors, campers at the Wonder Lake camp ground, hikers) frequently have their photos taken. The women in the photo below were all guests at the Kantishna Roadhouse - two were from Australia, one from Canada, one from Homer, AK and one from State College, PA (Sue).