Rent a car in Denali

[Mailgirl]

Has anytone ever rented a car in Denali. I was thinking of flying into Fairbanks and taking the train to Denali and renting a car for 2 days. I can't seem to find a car rental agency. :confused:

 

 

 

08/20/08 - Alaska Carnival Spirit

10/2006 - New England/Canada

08/2005 - Alaska Carnival Spirit

[AkSusan]

Has anytone ever rented a car in Denali. I was thinking of flying into Fairbanks and taking the train to Denali and renting a car for 2 days. I can't seem to find a car rental agency. :confused:

 

There aren't any at Denali. The only one that we've found is Denali Car Rental in Healy http://www.denalicarrental.com/

 

I've not personally used them, but maybe someone on the Boards has.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[Ivanova]

We were recently in Denali and ran into some folks working there for the summer ... the consensus was unanimous, don't try to rent a car in Denali (most of them thought they could, found out once they arrived that the couldn't, and had to go to Fairbanks or Anchorage to arrange for their rental cars).

[Rickey 88]

Denali is a National Park and is closely controlled as a protection to the park. Private cars (rented or not) are prohibited within the park itself and access is gained only by taking a bus tour operated under the supervision of the Park Service....

[Mailgirl]

There aren't any at Denali. The only one that we've found is Denali Car Rental in Healy http://www.denalicarrental.com/

 

I've not personally used them, but maybe someone on the Boards has.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

 

 

Thank You AKsusan I knew there had to be one, we are going to stay in Healy.

[fti]

Denali is a National Park and is closely controlled as a protection to the park. Private cars (rented or not) are prohibited within the park itself and access is gained only by taking a bus tour operated under the supervision of the Park Service....

 

True for the most part (cars are allowed up to mile 15 of the Denali park road) but to get from the train station to your lodging and then to the park entrance a car is a very nice item to have. Not many hotels/lodges offer shuttle transport and my experience is that the 'best' ones (best is relative and subjective of course) don't.

 

Conclusion? Rent in Fairbanks, drive to Denali, drive back to Fairbanks then if you want to take a train, take the all-day train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. Or do as most people do, rent in Anchorage, drive north and return to Anchorage. You can also rent in Fairbanks and return to Anchorage but you incur a hefty one-way dropoff fee.

[Mailgirl]

True for the most part (cars are allowed up to mile 15 of the Denali park road) but to get from the train station to your lodging and then to the park entrance a car is a very nice item to have. Not many hotels/lodges offer shuttle transport and my experience is that the 'best' ones (best is relative and subjective of course) don't.

 

Conclusion? Rent in Fairbanks, drive to Denali, drive back to Fairbanks then if you want to take a train, take the all-day train from Fairbanks to Anchorage. Or do as most people do, rent in Anchorage, drive north and return to Anchorage. You can also rent in Fairbanks and return to Anchorage but you incur a hefty one-way dropoff fee.

 

Teresa’s Alaskan Car rentals is not renting cars in Denali this year. She said to try back next year. I will probably rent a car I am just trying to deceide how much I want to spend.

If I land in Fairbanks it’s only about 2 1/2 hours to Denali which gives me more time to spend in Denali. I can than drive to Anchorage with some sightseeing a long the way.. The price of the rent a car hurts because it’s a one way car rental. There are 3 of us traveling together and the train would have cost us the same amount the only thing that worried me was the transportation in Denali. There are only 2 types of transportation cab or a transportation company which was kind of highly priced.

I liked the idea of having a car in Denali because I am not stuck in one place and I don’t have to rely on anyone to get me to the entrance on time for the shuttle bus.

 

Thank You FTI and AKSusan for your help.