This Alaskan Lodge Requires a Multi-Day Journey, and That's Half the Fun

If you cut Alaska in half, each half would still be bigger than the state of Texas. Denali National Park and Preserve is home to Denali, the highest summit in North America, and is America’s third-largest national park, encompassing more than six million acres, roughly the same size as Vermont. Given the park’s size, it may surprise some to learn that it’s served by just one lonely road, which is currently closed beyond Mile 43. For now, reaching Denali Backcountry Lodge means trading a long drive into Kantishna for a helicopter flight over the park’s backcountry. By the time I checked into my cabin at the lodge, I’d already experienced more than I expected to see throughout the entire trip. It only got better from there. Here’s how to plan the ultimate trip around Denali Backcountry Lodge.

Start with the Denali Star Train

I opted to take the Denali Star Train instead of driving because it turned the approach to Denali into part of the adventure and allowed me to make the trip entirely car-free. The eight-hour ride covered 350 miles through Alaska’s interior, offering a firsthand sense of the state’s staggering scale. Along the way, the train passes rivers, forests, and sprawling stretches of wilderness, as well as landmarks like the Chugach Mountains, Knik River, the frontier town of Talkeetna, Hurricane Gulch and its 296-foot bridge, and the rugged cliffs of the Nenana River Gorge. If you’re coming from Fairbanks, the train ride to Denali takes about four hours.

Spend a night at the Denali Cabins, and see some sled dogs

Upon arrival at the Denali Park Depot near the Denali Visitor Center, I took the 15-minute shuttle ride to Denali Cabins, where I had dinner and stayed overnight. Staying at these cozy cabins is the easiest base camp for the 100-mile trek into the park. These classic cedar cabins have comfortable beds, private bathrooms, Wi-Fi, and TVs.

The next morning, after breakfast at the on-site restaurant Prey and a couple of cups of coffee at Mount Hunter Coffee Co., I had time to kill before my afternoon helicopter shuttle flight to Denali Backcountry Lodge, so I did what any sane person would do and made a beeline for the Denali Sled Dog Kennels. Denali National Park employs K9 park rangers. That’s right, roughly 30 Alaskan huskies are government employees here. Visitors can stop by the kennels to meet the dogs and watch ranger-led demonstrations throughout the day. Of all the stops along the way, meeting Denali’s four-legged park rangers was certainly the most unexpected.

See the Denali region from up in the air

The helicopter flight isn’t a gimmick. Since the Pretty Rocks Landslide closed the road beyond Mile 43, it has become the primary way guests reach the lodge. In 2021, the Pretty Rocks Landslide at Mile 45 forced the closure of Denali Park Road. For the past five years, the only way to reach the handful of lodges in Denali’s backcountry has been by bush plane or helicopter.

Because the road is currently inaccessible by vehicle, the lodges have had to strictly limit their capacities to between 12 and 25 guests at a time, meaning there are now only about 80 overnight guests in the area, compared to the thousands of visitors who typically traveled through Denali’s backcountry each summer before the landslide. If crews complete construction of a 475-foot steel truss bridge as projected in 2027, the road will reopen, and the opportunity to experience this pristine slice of Earth with so few other people around will pass.

After 35 minutes of flying over braided rivers, tundra, and rugged peaks, the helicopter dipped toward Moose Creek and the cluster of cabins that would be home for the next few days. We landed on the creek’s shore, where we were greeted by friendly staff and escorted to our private cabins.

The miles I traveled to get there made the arrival feel like more of an accomplishment.

Settle into life at Denali Backcountry Lodge

At this point, the trip shifted from getting there to settling into lodge life and deciding which adventures to pursue. The individual cedar cabins have unobstructed forest and creek views and are appointed with plush pillows, pillowtop mattresses, temperature controls, blackout curtains, and table sets.

Despite its far-flung location, the lodge and cabins are fully equipped with indoor plumbing and electricity because the property generates its own power on-site with off-grid generators. Each cabin provides essential gear for your stay, including daypacks, reusable water bottles, trail maps, hiking poles, mosquito head nets, and bug-zapper rackets.

All meals are served in the main lodge, where guests can dine and get to know one another, as well as members of the lodge staff. Joan, the head chef, and the rest of the culinary team greeted all of the guests and made sure we were taken care of throughout our stay.

Each meal felt thoughtfully prepared and surprisingly sophisticated for such a remote setting. The made-from-scratch dishes were creative and colorful, built with seasonal Alaskan ingredients. This is where I had the best sockeye salmon of my life, and now I’m ruined for all future salmon. The culinary team easily accommodated dietary restrictions, and snacks and coffee were available throughout the day.

Join the ‘30 Percent Club’ (if you can)

One of the best parts about staying at this all-inclusive lodge was that activities were included alongside meals. Each day, I could choose from guided adventures like biking, hiking, fishing, and kayaking. Hikes are offered based on difficulty level and terrain and are led by naturalists. I learned a lot from our guide, Quinlan, on the McKinley Bar Trail, most notably that many of the edible plants we sampled tasted like cucumber.

On this hike, we joined what Alaskans refer to as the “30 Percent Club,” the small fraction of visitors fortunate enough to see the full cloudless view of Denali. The mountain is famously cloud-shrouded 70 percent of the time, so it’s rare to see Denali in all its 20,310-foot grandeur. It was a glorious 30 seconds before the clouds rolled back in like stage curtains.

Encounter the world’s most dangerous animal

Although it’s said that bears are as common as cows in Alaska, spotting them isn’t as easy as it seems. I get very excited about the prospect of seeing bears, so when our gold panning session was infiltrated by rumors that a mama bear and her cubs had been seen near one of the maintenance sheds, our prospecting priorities quickly shifted. Sadly, we didn’t make it in time to catch a glimpse.

We did manage to spend a few minutes observing a lady moose while kayaking on Wonder Lake and, though moose can be highly dangerous if provoked, neither she nor her partner, Bruce, whom we later saw near Reflection Pond, seemed fussed about our carefully maintained presence.

Denali National Park’s most abundant wildlife is, unfortunately, the mosquito, aka the world’s most dangerous animal. I thought I would be too cool to wear the mosquito head net. It took me less than 10 seconds to cave. Every time I left my cabin, I doused myself in DEET and armed myself with the provided electric bug-zapper racket, but battling 17 trillion mosquitoes was a losing game. The staff naturalists said the best time to visit to avoid the mosquitoes is mid-to-late August, which delightfully coincides with the fireweed blooming season. For me, that proved something to keep in mind for next time. I imagine it must be quite nice to wander the trails without helicoptering my arms like a deranged semaphore enthusiast.

Relax at a backcountry spa

An amenity I did not expect to find so far from civilization was a wellness center. Denali Backcountry Lodge has a little spa called The Nest with a massage menu and add-ons like hot stones, foot scrubs, and scalp massages. What a great way to wrap up my stay and prepare for the long trip home.

I booked a post-hike 60-minute Denali Deep Tissue massage with Mindy, the on-site massage therapist and miracle worker, and took advantage of the hot tub and wood-fired cedar sauna afterward. Getting to Denali Backcountry Lodge is part of the appeal. For our trip, trading the seven-hour drive into Kantishna for a 35-minute helicopter flight provided a unique perspective on one of the most dramatic landscapes in North America. When the road reopens in 2027, that arrival experience will disappear. But for now, reaching the lodge remains one of the highlights of staying there.