Great Drives - Alaska

Denali National Park

The boundary of the park is at the north end of Crabb's Crossing Bridge, the second bridge over the Nenana River. The highway runs through the park for another 6.8 miles (11 km) before coming to the main entrance road. As you get closer to the en trance road, more lodges and restaurants are seen. The turnoff to the main park road is 120.7 miles (194.2 km) from Fairbanks.

The park visitor center is a half-mile along the entrance road. Campsites in the park are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with sign-up forms available at the visitor center. For details, click on the park link at the bottom of the page.

Past the park road, another few miles of rustic motels, cabins, restaurants, RV parks, and assorted tourist traps assail the traveler. Because accommodations within the park are limited, you may choose to stay in one of these highway places.

Broad Pass & Salmon Country

After leaving the Denali area, the Parks Highway continues to climb, to the unsigned summit at Broad Pass, a beautiful mountain valley with fine vistas. The pass is on the divide between the Cook Inlet and Yukon River watersheds. Rest areas with picnic tables are located at East Fork (52 miles from the park road), where a half-mile loop road leads to the picnic area and overnight park ing lot, and at the Hurricane Gulch Bridge, 8 miles past East Fork. The highway then drops out of the Alaska Range, into the broad Matanuska/Susitna Valley. In this area are found the most impressive salmon runs accessible by car. When the salmon aren't in the streams, anglers set their hooks for rainbow trout.

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