Denali camp sites

I agree. Don't give up on Teklanika campground. We only made our reservations 3 weeks prior as we were traveling because we could better judge when we would be closer. We stayed 5 nights at Teklanika and thoroughly enjoyed it. We saw every one of the big animals over and over again. If you stay there, get the TEK bus pass and you can ride as often as you want daily. We took one long ride to Wonder Lake and the other days we went out in the morning and toward evening. That's when the critters are out. You can also get off the bus wherever you want and walk around or along the road and then catch the next bus. They come by approx. every 15 minutes. It makes for a nice break and it's soooooo quiet in that immense space when the bus pulls away.

Even though we had reservations for TEK we got closer to the park earlier than expected. So on a whim we boondocked nearby at a lovely spot and pulled into Denali early morning. Without reservations we easily secured another 5 nights in Riley Creek campground with our 40' motorhome. There is a lot to do in the front portion of the park.

We spent a total of 10 nights in Denali and saw 'THE' mountain 7 out of 10 days for hours at a time. We had gorgeous weather mid-August.

Make what reservations you can, and then keep checking back as dates may open up. We had riley and Tek reservations made in Dec for 2nd week of July 2013. In mid June we realized it would be a push to make those and I kept checking for later dates and one day I found them, so we changed to those.

I had called the res center to make the change, and it got messed up, up with reservations at two campgrounds for one night. I waited until we go to Denali to get it fixed in person.

There will be cancelations like ours. And the reservation person I worked with at Denali thought that some sites may be held and freed up closer to the dates.

Have fun!

I stay at 7 days at TK. Lots of room. Took the bus ride (first in the AM) came home for lunch and a quick nap. Then the late PM bus ride. Buy one ticket then ride free if space available. Enjoyed the wild life.

If I do it again, I think I will stay close to the visitor center where there is more to do. Since I spent most of my day on a bus, the location is not that important but at TK one miss the wild life between the visitor center and TK.

Don't give up on Tek. They have cancellations and no shows. Enquire about availability when you arrive. You can even call them and enquire about availability prior to your arrival. Just because they are full today doesn't mean something won't open up tomorrow. Tek is definitely the best place to be!

The two campgrounds aren't that far apart. I would try to stay at only one to save having to move.

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