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Denali National Park and PreserveKarstens-Stuck Expedition of 1913
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Denali National Park and Preserve
Access to the Park and Preserve

Permits, harvest tickets and tags are important tools used by wildlife managers to monitor and protect wildlife populations. Subsistence users are required to follow harvest reporting rules.

Federal Registration Permit

ANILCA, Title VIII, Section 8 11 , authorized the use, for subsistence purposes, of snowmachines, motor boats, and other means of surface transportation that were traditionally employed. These uses are only authorized on Denali National Park and Preserve lands added, in 1980, to the former Mt. McKinley National Park.

Motorboats and Dog Teams may be used to access the ANILCA park and preserve additions for any purpose, including subsistence.

Snowmachines may also be used for subsistence and traditional activities, in the ANILCA park and preserve additions providing there is sufficient snow cover.

Subsistence use of Off-Road vehicles. Operating a motor vehicle off road is prohibited except by authorized residents as defined in this section when engaged in subsistence uses. "Authorized residents" means residents of the Cantwell resident zone community or those residents of Alaska Game Management Unit 13E holding a 13.440 Subsistence Use permit. Operating a motor vehicle off road for subsistence purposes outside any trail or area designated by this section is prohibited. A map and GPS coordinates of designated trails and areas are available here on the website and at the park visitor center. 

Authorized residents may operate vehicles off road only in the following designated areas and trails:

  • The Windy Creek Trail
  • The Cantwell Airstrip Trail
  • The Pyramid Trail
  • The Cantwell Creek Floodplain

Aircraft may be used to access the preserve lands for the federal subsistence taking of fish and wildlife. They may also be used to access the preserve for the taking of fish and wildlife under State regulations.

Airplanes are not permitted for providing access to the ANILCA park additions for subsistence taking of fish and wildlife. Subsistence users may not land outside the ANILCA park additions, in the preserve or on private land, and walk into the ANILCA park additions to engage in subsistence hunting and trapping.

However, a qualified subsistence user for Denali may use an aircraft in the park or preserve to carry supplies to a base camp or cabin but may not utilize an aircraft to work a trapline in the park.

Denali Park Road. A park road travel permit is required for subsistence users accessing the Kantishna area during the primary visitor season. The primary visitor season is the time when the shuttle buses begin operation, on approximately June 1, and continues until about September 15. To obtain a road permit for subsistence use, contact the park at (907) 683-9544.

Remember there is a public safety restriction on the discharge of firearms along the park road in the Kantishna area during the summer months.

Image of footprint found in Denali National Park and Preserve  

Did You Know?
Did you know that in the summer of 2005 a footprint of a dinosaur was found in Denali National Park? The print has been identified as belonging to a three toed foot of a Cretaceous Theropod.

Last Updated: December 05, 2008 at 16:25 EST