Denali National Park & Preserve guide · 1 min read
Denali, the High One: A Still-Rising Peak
Denali's summit rises to 20,310 feet, the highest point on the North American continent. The mountain sits within Denali National Park and Preserve, a park that was once known as Mount McKinley National Park.
The Athabascan people who lived north of the Alaska Range called it the High One, which is what Denali means in their language. The mountain carried the name Mount McKinley from 1897 until it was officially renamed Denali in 2015.
The height of the mountain above its surroundings is just as striking. Measured from the lowlands near Wonder Lake, Denali's 18,000-foot vertical relief is more than the relief of Mount Everest, and no other mountain on Earth rises as far above the ground around it. The peak crowns the Alaska Range, a chain roughly 600 miles long that runs east to west through the park.
Inside the park lie the range's loftiest peaks, along with many glaciers and the glacial valleys that stretch south out of the range. Ice sheets once covered much of this terrain, and they began retreating roughly 10,000 to 14,000 years ago. New soil then needed hundreds of years to start forming. The ice-shaped landscape also gave the park large rivers and countless lakes and ponds.
Denali Park Road is the sole way in by car. Starting at the visitor center, the 92.5-mile route heads west, passing Polychrome Pass and Eielson before coming to Wonder Lake. It finally ends at a small group of lodges in Kantishna. Reflection Pond is another place to look for the mountain.
A flightseeing tour offers a different angle, with the peak seen from the air. Clouds can hide the summit for long stretches, so it pays to build a few extra days into your plans.
