Road to Wildness

In 1921, Mount McKinley National Park superintendent Harry Karstens argued that a main artery road through the passes was the park's most urgent need, recognizing that a national park had to be accessible to visitors. Yet growing access also raised the prospect of harm to wildlife and the wilderness experience from large numbers of visitors and vehicles. Constructed between 1922 and 1938 as a joint project of the Alaska Road Commission and the National Park Service, the park road extended ninety miles to the mining community of Kantishna. After completion of the George Parks Highway in 1972 made it possible for large numbers of visitors to drive to the park, officials anticipated a dramatic increase in visitation and established road access restrictions and a shuttle bus system that same year. By traveling aboard buses, visitors can enjoy Denali's wildlife and scenic beauty without the traffic, noise, and pollution that thousands of individual vehicles would create, helping preserve the park's wilderness character much as it was in Karstens' day.

Healy, Alaska · United States