Getting on/off a bus. Driving 30 miles total, approximately 1 hour. Hiking; 2-miles on a maintained trail; approximately 3 hours total; uneven ground, rock steps, some rugged areas, no significant elevation change.
At Riverside Hall, we’ll enjoy a breakfast buffet with rotating choices such as eggs, hot and cold cereals, granola, and fresh fruit, plus coffee, tea, and water.
Boarding a bus, we’ll travel to Denali where we will get to know the landscape and history of Denali National Park with one of our field educators. Be sure to bring your camera on this wilderness walk along the Savage River Loop Trail, as this is a great spot to see caribou, Dall sheep, marmots, squirrels, and ptarmigan.
Out in the field, we’ll have the packed lunches we made after breakfast featuring sandwich fixings, snack bars, and fresh fruit.
Returning to Denali’s Visitor Center, we’ll then take the shuttle buses from the Denali Visitor Center to the kennels at the park headquarters, about 1.5 miles from the Visitor Center, to meet the four-legged heroes of Denali and watch a mushing demonstration. Denali National Park is the only Park in the world that has a working sled dog kennel and the 30-minute Ranger presentation also includes the opportunity to pet and visit with Denali's most well-traveled four-legged rangers! Those who would rather spend this time exploring the Visitor Center are welcome to do so. Denali's main campus includes the renowned Denali Visitor Center, the Morino Grill restaurant, and Alaska Geographic bookstore. There will be time for independent exploration and our Group Leaders available to answer any questions. The Visitor Center features an impressive exhibit hall and regular showings of the park film, "Heartbeats of Denali," a 20-minute non-narrated film that shares visuals of the various seasons, landscapes, and wildlife of this beautiful place. We’ll then return to the Denali Education Center (DEC) campus.
Riverside Hall buffet.
Evening presentation topics and locations will vary depending on local speaker availability. Presentation topics range from learning about living in Denali to predator-prey relationships to climbing the mountain. The schedule for evening presenters in Denali will be announced on the first day of the program.