Need advice on Denali Bus systems when camping at Denali

We are planning an RV trip to Denali the first week in Sept 2007. We want to spend 3 nights at one of the interior campgrounds but don%26#39;t want to feel trapped by the restrictions on driving in and out. We have seen lots of info on the bus systems, fees, regulations, etc. but are still confused. Has anyone else out there camped at Telkeetna (I think thats how you spell it) or one of the other interior campgrounds and used the bus to get to a trailhead or to do short hikes then get back on the bus? is that possible, easy, etc. Any advice would be great. Lisa

Need advice on Denali Bus systems when camping at Denali

You can drive in and out 15 miles to the Savage River. The Savage river campground is the farthest in at about 12 miles, so you can take the bus or drive in and out as much as you wish.

Teklanika, on the other hand, is at about mile 30 and you get a special permit along with your camping space, and the permit allows you to drive in once and out once. So once you go in to the campground you are fully dependent upon the bus or your own hiking ability until you depart.

I like to take visitors to Teklanika, as that is about as much wilderness as most tourists can take! I do recommend it. The first day you can take the bus into the park (you location saves you an hour ride in and an hour ride out). Then the second day you can chose to ride ';space available'; on the bus into a spot you chose as interesting the day before. Some people chose to hike river beds. I have done that but prefer heading high into the tundra for a better view. You won%26#39;t find many ';trail heads'; except back at the park entrance or the excellent Savage River trail. Otherwise you step off into wilderness and make your own path. We do not have anything resembling Metro Parks here!

Then when you hike back to the road you again catch a ';space available'; seat back to Tek. Igloo Mountain, Cathedral Mountain, and Primrose Ridge are three places I can recommend off the top of my head.

71

Need advice on Denali Bus systems when camping at Denali

Lisa...I%26#39;ll just add a couple things on top of what Since71 has covered. Staying at Teklanika is a wise decision for a few reasons. First, you get to drive further into the park in your own vehicle (taking your time and adding to the excitement of being there). Second, you don%26#39;t have to get on the bus as early and get to get off sooner than most (it makes for a long day on the bus, especially going all the way to Wonder Lake). Third, there are some great areas to explore/hike around the river that passes right next to the campground (but keep in mind that this area is more wooded than the area further into the park that is mostly open tundra).

When reserving 3 nights at Teklanika also covers your bus trip: reservedenali.com/campground_teklanika.php. As Since71 explained...your first day your guaranteed a seat, the second you are on stand-by (but we had no problems at the beginning of Sept).

As far as hiking, I don%26#39;t believe there are are designated trails except near the entrance and a few select ones in between where you can do guided hikes. Count on hiking into the open. Its not very intimidating though since you are out in the open. You also may find (as we did) that you will meet up with worn down trails used by other hikers and animals. We enjoyed one hike that went up a river bed by the Fish Creek turnaround. Another hike was one closer to Tek that went up Sable map. I asked the different bus drivers and rangers their recommendations at the time. Some areas may be closed off because of wolf/bear activity, so it can be hard to plan exact hikes. I bought a topo map of the park in advance to give me an idea of good places to hike and the distances from campgrounds to the end of the road. Good luck.

Thanks StL for all the info, in fact it was your extensive trip report that tipped the balance for us to do the RV thing. We are so appreciative of everyone%26#39;s advice, it makes it so much less scary to do this on our own, Lisa

Yikes...I hope your trip lives up to all my hype. But I do have to say that that trip was a long awaited dream trip of mine and I had very high expectations that ended up being exceeded. Just go weather-prepared. I was fully expecting rain and it did rain a lot of the time on the Kenai Peninsula, but since we were ready for it...it didn%26#39;t stop our good time. Feel free to post any additional questions for me and I%26#39;ll try my best to help out. Being the person that tipped you over the RV edge...I feel a sense of responsibility to help you have the best trip possible :) If your interested, I have a spreadsheet that I put together before the trip that lists itineraries, mileage estimates, priceline strategy bids, campgrounds with links to websites, grocery/meal lists, packing lists, links to trails and excursions, phone #s, etc... I can email it to you if you think it would help. Eric

Lisa,

The advice on the RV is sound - no doubt.

Whatever you plan on doing, make your campground reservations, especially in Denali NOW. Did I mention NOW?!

When planning my trip, I wanted to do the camping / RV thing, but made my plans in March, and all the dates that I wanted, almost state wide, were booked at the campgrounds.

I found some flexibility in some of the spots, but NOT DENALI. My suggestion is to make a tenetaive plan, and book it now.

reserveusa.com is also a good resource for booking rv sites.

ENJOY!

Don%26#39;t panic yet about booking, as today is the first day that you can begin to book shuttle and campsites here in Denali. for more info, check out the official website www.nps.gov/dena - you%26#39;ll be directed to the reservation site from there. Good luck! :)