Denali Natural History Tour into the Beautiful National Park

During peak season, you’re limited in how you can access Denali National Park, but the guided tours are the best way to get as far into Denali as possible. The Denali Natural History Tour is the shorter of the two guided options offered, and it’s great for learning about the park’s natural and human history, as well as watching for wildlife. I’ve got the full scoop on what to expect with the Denali Natural History Tour, how else you can visit the park, and tips for the best wildlife experiences in Denali.

Highlights of the Denali Natural History Tour

Even though I’ve been a driver guide in Alaska, there’s always more to learn and each time I’ve done the Denali Natural History Tour I’ve learned something new. In addition to the wildlife viewing, which is great from a bus due to its elevated height, the actual historic and scientific information is wonderful to hear.

Whether you’re a geology geek (like me) or you’re just there for the tour because you weren’t sure how else to see Denali National Park, you’ll love it. Something unique about the Natural History Tour is the stop they do at the Savage Cabin. Here you can get off the bus and do the short trails to the historic cabin and hear all about the birth and establishment of Denali National Park.

Gear to Bring on Your National Park Bus Tour

One of the things I like about the Denali Natural History Tour is that you’re not just on a bus the whole time. The tour makes several stops where you can get out, so walking around and doing a bit of exploring on foot is very likely during your tour. You won’t be hiking during this time and never going too far from the bus, so dress appropriate to the weather knowing that you’ll have some times that you may be outside for up to twenty minutes. On the bus it’s plenty warm and dry, and in summer there is AC, but it can get toasty on afternoon tours if the weather is really nice.

For photography, sometimes the wildlife is very close to the bus and you can easily take photos and video with your phone or a basic camera. If the mountain, Denali (formerly Mt McKinley), is out then you may get a great photography opportunity from Inspiration Point. There may not be a long enough opportunity to set up a tripod for either the mountain or wildlife, but you’re welcome to bring it along. A great way to photograph wildlife from the bus is to bring a bean bag to set on the window sill to steady your telephoto lens if you’re using one. This is a great tip for capturing wildlife shots on the Denali Natural History Tour.

Tips for a Great Denali Natural History Tour

Something you cannot forget about the Denali Natural History Tour is that your driver guide’s first and foremost job is to drive your bus safely and navigate the park road for your tour. Yes, your driver is absolutely looking for wildlife as they drive, but that is not their primary function. With that, YOUR job during your tour is to watch outside your bus for wildlife of all sorts.

The Denali Natural History Tour is the shortest of the options offered, so you’re not going super deep into the park, but you’ll still cover enough ground to hopefully see moose, bear, ptarmigan and more. Be alert to what you see outside while listening to the driver guide and like any guide will tell you, if you see wildlife YELL IT OUT. Sometimes the stars align and you’ll be on the Denali Natural History Tour and the clouds part to show off the mountain, Denali, but that’s not always the case. I like to approach this experience with high hopes and low expectations for seeing the mountain.

Parking and Catching Your National Park Bus Tour

When you book your Denali Natural History Tour you can say where you’re staying or where you’d like to be picked up. You then get scheduled 48 hours before your tour for an exact tour pickup time and location. If you are staying in Cantwell or Healy or someplace and are driving in, you can park at the Denali Bus Depot or Visitors Center (you’ll clarify with the tour operator). Either way, it’s very easy to communicate with the dispatch and make sure you can make your tour. Within the park parking is free, but the different hotels in the townsite may charge for parking.

Booking Denali National Park Tours

As soon as you know you’re coming to Denali National Park you should book your tour. The Tundra Wilderness Tour books out months in advance and the Denali Natural History Tour can as well, but there are more of these tours running, and they go later in year, so you’ll have a good chance at booking one.

For your booking, you’ll get an email confirmation with a link for confirming your tour time and pick up location 48 HOURS BEFORE YOUR TOUR DATE. This is very important. When you’re booking, you’ll have the option of two or three different time slots, but these are more of tour windows. Once it’s time for dispatch to schedule buses and drivers they’ll distribute the booking among different times to pace entry into the park and space out tour groups, keeping the Park Road less busy and very quiet.

“Do I have to book a tour into Denali NP?”

You can drive yourself into Denali National Park on the Park Road as far as Savage River. Here there is a parking area and one of the few maintained trails in the park. There is a ranger station to prevent private citizens from driving their own vehicles past Savage, so don’t plan on going al the way to Toklat on your own.

Note: at the end of the season when Tundra Wilderness Tours end, the park may choose to open the Park Road to private vehicles quite far. In 2024 the Park Road opened to driving all the way to the Teklanika Overlook around September 14th, but then closed at Savage around the 21st. Point being, don’t count on driving yourself far into the park.