Riding the Denali Hwy

Riding Day 34    July 4

near Cantwell, AK to McLaren river lodge on Denali highway 

Ride Mileage :  160            Weather condition: nice

Total Mileage :  6925

I started the ride moving back North to the entrance of the Denali park. I wanted to do the Park road, at least the portion that is allowed to any vehicle, that is about 15 miles, after that you have to take a bus…not too exciting but it does make sense from a traffic standpoint. Quite a lot of tourists and RVs.

That ride on the Park road didn’t take too long and the scenery was limited. You really have to take the bus if you want to see the Denali (aka Mt McKinley, 20,300 ft).

Went back south and had a solid breakfast at the creekside restaurant and then headed towards the Denali hwy. This road starts at Cantwell and ends up in Paxson about 131 miles east. It’s mostly gravel at least for the first half and very dusty but what a beautiful ride. The visibility was not ideal so the view of the surrounding mountains were just a bit foggy. 

The McLaren river lodge is located at about 80 miles from Cantwell, there is not much around and the facility is closed during winter months (as the Denali Hwy). I had pretty good dinner with two other riders that were coming from Anchorage. Nice evening.

Video of the day