• Image of Mount McKinley and the Alaska Range

    Denali

    National Park & Preserve Alaska

Bear & Wildlife Safety

Bear approaching a BRFC
A grizzly bear may investigate your Bear Resistant Food Container
nps photo
 

Bears

Symbolic of the Alaska wilderness, both grizzly bears and black bears inhabit the park and may be encountered in the backcountry. To keep these magnificent creatures wild and enhance your personal safety, keep the following in mind:

  • Make noise while hiking to alert bears of your presence
  • Use Bear Resistant Food Containers and store them 100 yards (meters) from cooking areas and tent sites
  • Be alert for bears and alter your activities to avoid them
  • Never run from a bear
  • Pepper spray can be carried as an added precaution. However, it is useful only as a last resort in the event of an emergency, and should not be viewed as substitute for proper backcountry behavior.

When you visit the Backcountry Information Center, you will be provided with more detailed information about hiking in bear country.

Wildlife

Denali is home to sheep, caribou, wolves, foxes, bears, moose, eagles, ptarmigan, and other wildlife that you are very likely to encounter in the backcountry. Please keep Denali's animals wild by following these guidelines when encountering wildlife:

  • Do not feed or allow wildlife to obtain human foods.
  • Maintain a minimum 1/4-mile (.7 km) distance from bears
  • Do not approach or follow wildlife. Maintain a minimum 25 yards (meters) distance from all other animals, dens, and nests.
  • If your presence alters an animal's behavior, you are too close
 
Know the difference between black and grizzly bears
Use tracks and the physical appearance of a bear to determine whether it is a black or grizzly. Do not use color for identification.

Did You Know?

Storms sweep in small amounts of pollution from around the Northern Hemisphere

Small amounts of airborne pollutants from around the world arrive in Denali every year. Remoteness alone cannot protect the park's clean air. As global human population grows, it is likely that increasing global emissions will affect Denali's air quality.