{"id":4502,"date":"2005-08-21T02:00:22","date_gmt":"2005-08-21T02:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backroadswest.com\/blog\/?p=4502"},"modified":"2022-09-14T02:44:08","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T02:44:08","slug":"denali-highway-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.backroadswest.com\/blog\/denali-highway-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"Denali Highway Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Go on a driving tour along the western half of the Denali Highway in Alaska, near the entrance to Denali National Park and see the amazing and brilliant fall colors which normally peaks in late August.<\/strong>\u00a0 Denali Highway (Hwy 8) was the original dirt road built in 1957 to access Denali National Park and Denali, the tallest mountain in North America.\u00a0 After the paved George Parks Highway (Hwy 3) was completed in 1971, Denali Hwy no longer sees much traffic.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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One of the attractions to Denali Hwy is access to a large remote area in central Alaska.\u00a0 Unlike Hwy 3, which is lined with tall trees often limiting your views of the spectacular Alaska scenery, Denali Hwy passes through large forests of stunted-growth trees allowing you to see the wide and long vistas Alaska is known for.<\/p>

Another attraction to touring Denali Hwy is seeing the unique fall colors that Alaska offers in the early fall \u2013 which is typically late August.\u00a0 Instead of the familiar fall colors of trees that everybody flocks to see in New England, the ground-hugging tundra of Alaska turns color and produces stunningly bright yellows and reds.\u00a0 Better yet, because of those big vistas, you can see these colors for many, many miles.<\/p>

Since Denali National Park is a major attraction to tourists in Alaska, chances are that you\u2019ll be staying for several nights in that area.\u00a0 There are several hotels and restaurants located near the park\u2019s entrance.\u00a0 A trip on the western half of the Denali Hwy is a great way to spend an entire day away from the crowds of the national park and enjoy more genuine Alaska scenery, while not venturing too far away from where you are staying.<\/p>

Getting There<\/h3>

This tour covers the western half of the Denali Hwy.\u00a0 We did not travel the eastern half which runs between the Susitna River and Richardson Hwy (#4).<\/p>

For anybody from the lower 48 States, keep in mind that the driving distances in Alaska are overwhelming. Also keep this in mind when you are trying to second guess the available fuel left in your vehicle.<\/p>

If you are renting a car like we did, realize that most rental car companies require that you sign a contract that states you will not drive the car on several dirt roads, including the Denali Hwy. Don\u2019t tell anybody, but we did anyways. When we turned off Hwy 3 and started our adventure on the Denali Hwy, we didn\u2019t find any \u201crental car police\u201d making sure we didn\u2019t drive their car on what we thought was going to be a treacherous road (it certainly wasn\u2019t).<\/p>

More…<\/p>

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Pictures<\/h3>

Below are some pictures of what you will see along the way.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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