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We’ve already seen a huge grizzly munching on a ground squirrel, four Dall sheep, Caribou (get a load of those antlers that grow an inch a day in summer! There is a herd 2,200 strong in the park!), a moose and two recently born calves, a red fox … and we had only been in Denali National Park a few hours.

Only one road leads into Denali’s 6 million acres and after mile 15, the road is restricted to park buses. Because we are staying 95 miles deep in the park at Camp Denali, one of just a few remote lodges and six campgrounds inside the park, we are on a special Camp Denali bus.

What visitors don’t realize, said Simon Hamm, who with his wife, Jenna, runs Camp Denali and North Face Lodge, which Jenna’s parents ran for more than two decades, is that only these two lodges can provide guided hikes in the wilderness areas of Denali because when they were established 70 years ago, they were outside the boundaries of the park.

Two adventurous young women, Celia Hunter and Ginny Wood, met in the WASPS in World War II and came back nursing a dream to start a back-country lodge like they’d experienced in Europe.

Along with Ginny ‘s then husband, Morton “Woody” Wood, they homesteaded land on what was then just outside the north entrance of Mt. McKinley National Park in view of the tallest peak in North America. When the park was enlarged to 6 million acres, re-named Denali in 1980, they now were inside the park (as was North Face Lodge, which the owners who followed them ultimately bought). This gave them rights to lead guided hikes in this part of the park, rights no one else had.

The place also offers a lesson in sustainability. There is a greenhouse, and food is bought from local farmers. The sled dogs at the end of the road typically get leftovers as well. There is a solar system to provide hot water for the kitchen, and all the baked goods are homemade.

Even though our stay at Camp Denali was nearly a decade ago, our visit remains one of the most iconic we’ve experienced — and one of the most socially distanced. Consider that less than 700,000 people visit Denali National Park each year, as compared to nearly 6 million who typically visit the Grand Canyon.

Taking a road trip in Alaska means miles and miles of majestic mountains, peaceful coastline, lush forest or flat tundra streaming past your car, RV or camper van windows. The landscape changes as you drive through the state — past large swaths of national and state parkland, glaciers, waterways and other protected areas.

Available campgrounds and RV parks are just as varied and can often be found in these wilderness settings offering modern conveniences to go with your Alaska adventures. Denali State Park is home to one of the state’s newest campground sites, K’esugi Ken RV & Tent Campground, where you can pitch your tent in the shadow of North America’s largest peak. To find more campgrounds and plan your trip, visit www.travelalaska.com/Places-to-Stay/Campgrounds-and-RV-Parks.

Today, the most common day trip is round trip eight hours, or to Wonder Lake and back – 11 hours, and many of those taking these trips are cruise-ship passengers. This year, for the second year in a row, there will be no big ships in Alaska as Transport Canada has banned almost all cruise activities in Canadian waters until February. 2022, canceling many trips that begin or end in Vancouver or stop at Canadian ports.

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