Accommodations along Denali Hwy (1 Viewer)

[madpitta]

Its 2022 and looks like most are still closed even for the busy June season. Tangle River Inn is definitely closed for this season. Maclaren is open. Does anyone know if Denali Hwy Cabins in Paxson is open?

 

[Trinovid]

Paxson and Cantwell are probably the two safest bets right now, but if McLaren River is open there might be others too.

 

[MiddleRiver]

Hope this thread is not too old...

Planning AK trip and looking at Denali Hwy Cabins. My understanding is that the road should be open in May. Is that optimistic?

Also, in general terms, the idea is to spend a little less time in Denali NP proper and enjoy the solitude of the Hwy instead. Any opinions on that? Frankly the lodging around NP (and the crowds) is very unappealing.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[lgonz1008]

Hope this thread is not too old...

Planning AK trip and looking at Denali Hwy Cabins. My understanding is that the road should be open in May. Is that optimistic?

Also, in general terms, the idea is to spend a little less time in Denali NP proper and enjoy the solitude of the Hwy instead. Any opinions on that? Frankly the lodging around NP (and the crowds) is very unappealing.

Thoughts anyone?

I'm planning a trip to Alaska with my family in the last week of May, my plan is to stay south of of Denali and north of the highway, both places within 30 minutes of the lodging. A day in the park is mandatory since my family wants to see the landscape and big mammals, but I'm planning to spend a second day in the area to do a day trip to the highway (whether that's enough time in the region, hard to tell, and I know I'll likely miss Arctic Warbler since it might be too early).

Overall, staying within the park seems too costly for both the amount of people you have to deal with and the cost lodges within the park.

 

[MiddleRiver]

I'm planning a trip to Alaska with my family in the last week of May, my plan is to stay south of of Denali and north of the highway, both places within 30 minutes of the lodging. A day in the park is mandatory since my family wants to see the landscape and big mammals, but I'm planning to spend a second day in the area to do a day trip to the highway (whether that's enough time in the region, hard to tell, and I know I'll likely miss Arctic Warbler since it might be too early).

Overall, staying within the park seems too costly for both the amount of people you have to deal with and the cost lodges within the park.

We're starting at the Kachemak Bird Festival, so it'll be earlier in month. Trying to use B&B's in less congested areas (nearly impossible). The cabins at E end of Denali Hwy look interesting, the question is how much time do we want for poking around the hwy?

 

[lgonz1008]

We're starting at the Kachemak Bird Festival, so it'll be earlier in month. Trying to use B&B's in less congested areas (nearly impossible). The cabins at E end of Denali Hwy look interesting, the question is how much time do we want for poking around the hwy?

It depends on your targets, some species like Rock Ptarmigan are there year round, but others like Smith's Longspur and Northern Wheatear don't appear until the last week of May and usually on the Eastern half of the highway closer to Paxson. That's why I'm giving the area a full day when visiting, but it might be best to check your targets and whether those are migratory (long or short distance) or residents as that affects how likely they are in the 2nd or 3rd week of May.