Best time of day to see wildlife in Denali

[mpk]

Ok, I'm on the shuttle bus now. I read on a wildlife guide that the best time to see wildlife is at dawn and dusk. That matches my experience from Yellowstone.

 

But with sixteen hour days in the summer, is the above still true?

[AlaskaLivin]

After 30 years in Alaska, and about 4 trips into the park each year, I can tell you that any time of day you see wildlife. However, think of it like this... the animals come out when it is cooler. It really is not based on the light. So an overcast days brings more movement from them, than a sunny day - but everyone wants the sunny day to see the mountain (Denali). So it's a bit of give and take. The only suggetion I have is take food, as there is no food in the park. Make sure no to drink coffee before you go, only 3 bathrooms on a 4 hour drive in. And watch for wildlife near streams, snow patches, and thickets. They cool off in streams and snow patches, and they lay under thickets to keep cool. Hope this helps.

 

Corky in Alaska

[Mezzaluna]

Does this hold true for July? We'll be in the park July 6-9 with a Princess land tour.

 

Stella Solaris '80

Carnival Celebration '92

RCCL Majesty of the Seas '01

Coral Princess '04

[Yukon]

Corky's advice is true for the whole summer.

 

Murray

[Budget Queen]

I do find an advantage with the first bus out seeing moose, rarely do I see them on the return trip out. Denali is an excellent opportunity for wildlife- binoculars are a must. If one a cruisetour- your tour will be scheduled for you with probably no option to change.

[hooked-on-travel]

There are always options. Our cruisetour has us on the lame don't-go-as-far-as-Eielson tour bus, so we're just not going. We have two nights in Denali, so the day they have us booked for the tour bus, we got shuttle bus tickets. If we get there and find room on a ranger-lead Discovery Hike (not much hope, but a little) then we'll change our tickets for that. Otherwise we'll take the shuttle to Wonder Lake and get out and hike on our own. We plan to use the hotel shuttle to get to the park for our personalized excursion. I know we can't get a "refund" for the tour bus we skip, but the $31.75 to do what we actually want is nominal. It would be an even bigger crime to go all the way there and not be able to get out and experience it.

[Budget Queen]

Wonder Lake is less than ideal before the end of August- significant bug problems. It is a shame to have booked the tour to begin with?? I hate seeing people pay for the tours and not use them. Especially at $70+++ on the Tundra Wilderness. I'm glad you understood the options before going- some don't realize the different distances in. Good SIGHTINGS!!!!!

[hooked-on-travel]

It is a shame to pay for a tour and not use it, but I wasn't going to let an overall cruisetour package deal keep me from the best Denali experience. Last year my husband and I cruised the inside passage then rented a car and did the interior for a week. We must have made it sound pretty good b/c my parents and sisters decided they needed to go this year and they asked us to go along as their tourguides. Needless to say, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go back. We learned enough from last year to understand our options this year. For the legistics of 6 people the consensus was to book cruise tour instead of going on our own, so the Tundra Wilderness is the only thing we're skipping. My sisters live in Colorado and hike in the mountains all the time. We enjoyed our off-roads hiking experience last year when we did the Discovery Hike at Denali. The fact that this is the only National Park that not only doesn't prohibit, but actually encourags straying off the trail is too good to pass up. We could only get off and hike it if we're on a shuttle. Thanks for the tip about the bugs at Wonder Lake. We booked it (mid July) because my husband and I wanted to go farther in than the Eielson we went to last year. I think it means when we get off to do our off-roads hiking we won't do it at Wonder Lake.