• Denali Park Shuttle (Green) Buses - Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska

      by
      Rick Quinn
      Published on 06-07-2016 12:31 AM
      2 Comments Comments
      green bus
      Photo by Rick Quinn
      Three types of buses travel the Denali Park Road. At the high end are the tan buses, guided tours led by experts who provide running commentary throughout the drive. Passengers stay with the same bus and driver throughout their tour, getting off only at rest stops. Least expensive are the camper buses, which are for the benefit of tent campers traveling to and from their reserved camp sites in the interior of the park. In the middle are the green shuttle buses: purchase a round trip to one of several possible turnaround points: Toklat River, Eielson, Wonder Lake, or Kantishna. You can get off and on the shuttles as often as you'd like to hike, explore, or even take a multi-day trek. When you're done, you simply go back to the road and flag down any green bus passing by in either direction, and continue your journey where you left off.

      If you go:
      The park buses are operated by a private contractor, Aramark, and all of them begin their run at the Wilderness Access Center, near the main entrance. On any given day, the earliest departures are best, if you want to improve your odds of joining the "30% club". (That's the proportion of overall visitors who actually get to see the mountain, when it's not hidden by clouds).

      Links:




      Bus Stop
      Park Road
      Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska 99755 USA

      Mailing address:
      Denali National Park
      P.O. Box 9
      Denali Park, AK 99755 USA

      Phone Numbers:

      Aramark Reservations
      +1 (866) 761-6629

      Denali Visitor Information
      +1 (907) 683-9532

      Tags: denali, park, shuttles
      Comments 2 Comments
      1. Pmount's Avatar
        Pmount - 06-07-2016, 07:43 AM
        When we took this bus ride in June 1998 I don't think we saw the peak, but we saw so many grizzly bears that on the way back when the driver saw a grizzly and asked if he should stop the bus for viewing and photographs, a collective response was "We're good, seen lots of bears today". Also saw a wolf crossing the tundra in the distance. Great day!
        Pat
      1. DonnaR57's Avatar
        DonnaR57 - 06-07-2016, 06:13 PM
        My mentor teacher from student teaching days drove the tan bus for years, in the summer. I was riding in a green bus with my family when we pulled up next to the tan bus. I thought, "that driver looks familiar!" When our driver called him by name, I told her right away who he was, she immediately backed up and hollered to him, "hey, I have one of your student teachers on board!" It was really a small world story.


        Donna