Flightseeing Denali National Park, Alaska

To really understand how vast the wilderness of Alaska is, a low-level flight provides the best vantage point, and there are many options to do that throughout the state. In late August while visiting Denali National Park, I woke up to find a spectacularly clear morning, and decided to try to get the best possible view of Denali, the mountain.

The tallest mountain in North America at 20,310 feet (6,190 meters), Denali towers far above all the surrounding mountains and is visible from both Anchorage and Fairbanks on clear days. 

I phoned the closest company that does Denali flightseeing, Denali Air, and lucked into an empty seat on a flight in their 6-seat, twin-engine Piper Navajo that was departing in less than two hours. I had a quick breakfast and hit the road to the small private airport, only 9 miles south of my hotel.

Mornings are the best time to see Denali in her full glory. It is very common, even on clear mornings, for the peak to cloud over by noon. Although it's often said that due to weather only 30% of visitors to Alaska get to see the mountain, my experience from many visits over 35 years has been that the percentage is far lower than that. A clear view of Denali truly is a gift.

The flight lasts an hour, and the variety of terrain seen is incredible, from brightly-coloured slopes and vast valleys to glaciers of all sizes and rocky spires that may have never been climbed. The highest we flew was 12,000 feet so that oxygen wasn't needed - the granite peak of the mountain was over a mile and a half above us as we approached! The climbing season on Denali starts in late April and continues through the middle of July, so on flights during that period you may see some of their colourful camps. On the way in, we flew low enough to see both caribou and Dall sheep on the slopes, and a grizzly on a dry river bed. Although not nearly close enough for photos, it was wonderful to know they were there, living their lives completely undisturbed by humans.

If possible, track your flight path with one of the many GPS apps, to help you put names to the rivers, glaciers and mountains you see.

If driving to Denali is not possible, flights are also available from Anchorage and Talkeetna.

I'll let my photos tell the rest of the story...