Early Entrance to Denali National Park

The early entrance to Denali.

P44-05-002. Alaska State Library, Skinner Foundation Photograph Collection

Quick Facts

Amenities

1 listed

Cellular Signal

Until 1932, the boundary of Mount McKinley National Park lay a few miles to the west of here. This clearing was part of the original road that led to the park. Nearby, a rustic log arch spanned the Park Road, serving for many years as the park’s iconic gateway.

Upon its completion in 1938, the Park Road led 92 miles from the railroad depot to the Kantishna Mining District, just outside the park boundary at that time. Much of it was cut by hand by teams of laborers, inching west, at a finished cost around $1.3 million.