Denali+National+Park

By Calvin S.

Denali is a beautiful six million acres of land. All this land is bisected by one road. As you travel along you will see low elevation Taiga Forest lead to a huge, and high snowy mountains. As you travel to the top you will soon reach an elevation of 20,320 which is America's tallest peak. As you travel along you will notice animals big and small walking around as they are, because they are not fenced in. So grab your bags, and family, because an exciting adventure awaits!

Location/Size/Distance
Denali National Park is along Alaska Highway 3, which is about 240 miles north of Anchorage, and 120 miles south of Fairbanks, and 12 miles south of Healy. The size of Denali is huge! It's six million acres of beautiful mountains, wildlife, and forests. To understand the size of Denali, it's bigger than the state of Massachusetts. Denali is located in Alaska, so it's very far away for some places. From my hometown (Oskaloosa,IA) it's 3472.83 miles, or 58 hours and 56 minutes away.

Park Hours
Denali National Park is so beautiful, so when should you come see it? Well you can come whenever you like (even three in the morning,) because its open 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year. The visitor center is open May 15 through September 18 from 8am - 6pm

Climate
During what current times of the year would be best to visit Denali? Here are ranges of the temperatures (fahrenheit) and precipitation (inches) of all the seasons. Winter- The temperatures range anywhere from -8.1 to 15.4 degrees. The precipitation ranges from 0.59 to 0.86 inches Spring- The temperature range anywhere from 0.9 to 53.3 degrees. The precipitation ranges from 0.32 to 0.79 inches Summer- The temperature ranges anywhere from 39.3 to 66.6 degrees. The precipitation ranges from 2.31 to 3.12 inches Fall- The temperature ranges from 0.9 to 50.8 degrees. The precipitation ranges from 0.87 to 1.01 inches.

History
A man by the name Charles Sheldon was a hunter and naturalist. He loved Dall sheep, and traveled the world hunting sheep. He was soon drawn to Denali, which had the worlds only White, white mountain sheep! Charles studied these creatures, and soon noticed that railroad workers and gold miner's started coming into Alaska, and they just might hurt the wildlife. He went to Washington D.C. with Boone and Crocket club, and told congress to establish Mount McKinley into a national park to preserve wildlife. After his hard work and dedication President Wilson, on February 16, 1917, signed a bill saying that the two million acre wildlife preserve of Mount McKinley was a national park. Two million soon became to small for the animals, so Jimmy Carter and some promoters of wildlife expanded it to six million acres, and named it Denali National Park.

Facts
Mount McKinley, which is located in the park, is the tallest mountain peek in North America. You can climb, and even fly over it today. If you fly you will be able to land on it, and take some pretty cool pictures. There are dinosaur tracks located in the park. It is known that some dinosaurs did walk on the preserve, So take your kids, and see if you can spot any. Recent warming of Denali has badly affected it. It is reducing spring snowfall, earlier snowmelt, and earlier green up, and thawing permanent snowfield.

Things to see
In Denali there is a lot to see. You can see lots of Grizzles and Black Bears roaming around on the trails. When you're there why not check out the tallest peak in North America. You can climb,drive, or fly tosee this huge mountain. Are you a naturalist? Come check out the plants, and animals the Denali holds. The animals aren't fenced in, so you can take careful looks, and study these animals.

Things to Do
In Denali you can ride horses through parts of the park, and even be given a tour. You can camp inside the park itself. With campsites set around Denali, you can surround yourself in the beautiful wilderness of Denali. There are stations set up around the park where there are sled dogs. You can watch them pull sleds, and even get to pet them. There are other things to do to, so go check it out!

Resources
Thanks to [|**http://www.mapquest.com/directions**] [|**http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Alaska/Denali_National_Park_and_Preserve-738184/Things_To_Do-Denali_National_Park_and_Preserve-TG-C-1.html**] [|**http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/things2do.html**] [|**http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm**] [|**http://www.nps.gov/dena/naturescience/upload/Dinosaur-kids2011.pdf**] [|**http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/hours.htm**] [|**http://www.denali.national-park.com/weather.htm**] [|**http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/visitorcenters.htm**] [|**http://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm**]

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