Denali National Park

More from Amy

Feb 13

Hang on a second, is that a grizzly bear?

Rex brought the bus to a gravel-grinding halt and I thought Kevin might jump out of his seat with excitement.

We were on the day’s last transit bus in Denali National Park and my outdoorsman husband had been successfully spotting wildlife off in the distance for much of the drive. Months earlier, when he had reviewed my Power Point presentation of potential summer vacation destinations (Yep, I am totally that person. Hit me up if you want me to put one together for your next getaway.), he had hinted that if we went to Alaska, his biggest hope was to see a grizzly bear.

I made sure to clarify that I would like to see a grizzly bear from a safe distance and preferably with a strong physical barrier between us. Just because I knew I’d have bear spray did NOT mean I wanted an opportunity to use it.

And here we were, 40 yards away from a young grizzly; he was munching on the shrubby grass, slowly meandering his way along a narrow creek, and giving absolutely zero thought to the bus of onlookers attempting to stay as quiet as possible while simultaneously losing their minds over what they were seeing.

Believe it or not, as incredible as that moment was, it’s difficult for me to admit that was the highlight of our time within the park because the entire experience was well, in a word, magical.

Since the park is designed for visitors to truly respect and appreciate the wildlife and nature, there is extremely limited access on the park road for private vehicles. This is why there are several bus options that allow you to get deeper within the park; we opted for the transit bus tour and loved it! Transit buses allow you to hop on and off throughout the day for hiking and exploring. Most are not narrated, but since our tour group was small, our driver Rex was happy to answer all of our questions and share some of his own personal stories - including a few that involved coming face to face with wildlife while camping in the park!

We couldn’t have asked for a more ideal day: blue skies, warm breezes, and the most stunning landscape I’ve ever seen. Yes, Yellowstone is amazing and the Grand Tetons live up to their name…but Denali is on a level of its own.

Every curve in the road brought something new, from rivers and snow-peaked mountains to caribou and Dall sheep. Every hill we climbed was more exciting than the last.

Knowing what I do now, I would go back and plan to spend several days there instead of just one. I found the National Parks website to be very helpful when planning our visit and recommend you check it out to get the latest information on buses, camping, and more.