| How many days should we plan to stay
in Denali? |
A lot of people ask us how long they should stay in the Denali
area. This depends a lot on the individual, BUT, if you are interested
in hiking in a beautiful tundra/alpine expanse, venturing out into
a six million acre wilderness preserve by bus, foot or bike and
searching for the numerous bears, moose, dall sheep, caribou, fox,
marmots, wolves, etc. that it harbors, rafting, horseback riding,
flightseeing, learning about dog mushing and just plain relaxing
in a magnificent mountain landscape, then we can safely say that
you will want a lifetime. If this isn't possible, you will probably
want a minimum of three nights here. This is the average, with many
happy travelers staying for a week or more. Keep in mind that it
can rain here in the summer a lot, in addition to the grand 20,320ft
Denali, or Mt. McKinley, being enshrouded by clouds on many a day.
The possibility of overcast weather makes having three or more days
here a nice option. Many people come up for a day, however, and
are usually not disappointed.
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| Do I need to make reservations,
and how doI do so? |
We STRONGLY recommend that you make reservations, as summer months
are very busy in the Denali area. June, July and August are especially
busy months. It is possible to show up without a reservation and
get a bed, but we can't guarantee that we will have space for you
as we do fill up. You can secure your reservation with a credit
card via phone or via our secure reservation form, linked below.
YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THE ENTIRE AMOUNT OWED FOR YOUR STAY INCLUDING TAX AT THE TIME OF YOUR RESERVATION! IF YOUR PLANS CHANGE ANY REFUND OWED WILL BE SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS OF OUR CANCELLATION POLICY. (Special note for groups of 15+ persons: a deposit of 25%
of total accommodations is due at time of making reservation. Please
see special cancellation policy below.) If you choose to send us
your credit card info via mail, please include the card #, expiration
date, the 3 digit security code on the back, and name as it appears on the card. Our mailing address is:
PO Box 208, Denali National Park, AK, 99755. We highly recommend our secure
form on this website: it makes our lives easier!
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| What is your cancellation
policy? |
CANCELLATIONS: We recognize that plans do change. You will incur a cancellation charge of either $5.00 or 5% (whichever is greater) for all cancellations INCLUDING TOURS. Additionally, for groups of 6 - 9 people and for private accommodations, you must cancel or change your reservation no less than one week prior to your scheduled arrival. If you cancel with less than a one week notice, you will be charged 100% of your reserved accommodations. Reservations for groups and private room/cabin accommodations made within one week of arrival are non-refundable. Reservations for hostel bunks also incur a $5.00 or 5% (whichever is greater) minimum charge for cancelling. If you cancel a reserved bunk or bunks a least 72 hours before 12 noon of your check-in date, you will receive a full refund minus the minimum charge. After that time, if you cancel, you will be charged 100% of your reserved accommodation. And finally, for groups of 10+ people you will incur a 25% cancellation fee if you cancel less than one month prior to your scheduled arrival date. If you cancel less than two weeks prior to your arrival date, you will be charged 100% of your reserved accommodation. If you are not going to use your accommodations, but are too late to obtain a refund, you are kindly requested to let us know anyway. Accommodations are hard to come by in Denali, and some hosteler, like you, will be very grateful you did, even though you will not be entitled to any money we receive if we rerent your cancelled accommodation.
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| When is check-in and check-out? |
Check-in time is from 4:00pm - 10:00pm. Later arivals are permitted too, just let us know. Check-out is at 10:00am.
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| Should I fly into Fairbanks or Anchorage
if I want to go to Denali? |
The hostel and the entrance to the park are located about 2.5 hours (140 miles) from Fairbanks and about 4.5 hours (225 miles) from Anchorage. Although Fairbanks is closer, most flights you come into Alaska on arrive in Anchorage first and then may continue to Fairbanks. It usually costs more to fly on to Fairbanks. Most guests, if they are wanting to see more than Denali, go to the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage, which makes Anchorage a better choice. Other than that, it becomes a matter of how you are getting here from Anchorage or Fairbanks and how much that costs. If you don't rent a car, most people take a bus here. We recommend Alaska Trails out of either city or also you can take the Park Connection out of Anchorage. If you stay in Anchorage, we recommend you stay at our sister hostel Spenard Hostel International. The Alaska/Yukon Trails bus to Denali picks up and drops off at the Spenard's door. Plus we really do think it is the best hostel in Anchorage. Lastly, the trip from Anchorage is quite scenic with great views of 'the mountain' when weather allows. There is train service from both Fairbanks and Anchorage to Denali too.
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| How should we get to Denali? |
Your three best options for transport between Anchorage, Denali
and Fairbanks are taking a shuttle bus, taking the train or renting
a car. The train is about double the price of the bus, but very scenic; the shuttle bus is faster and cheaper
than the train. They will drop you at the Wilderness Access Center. Finally we do have plenty of parking space for rental cars.
Let us know if you are arriving by train or bus and we will pick
you up from the Wilderness Access Center at 5:30pm or 9:30pm. (Reservations
required). Important Note: if you are not going to have your own
vehicle, you will be limited by our four daily shuttles. The latest
you can be in the Park without your own vehicle will be 9:30pm.
If you want to stay in the Park later in the evening, you should
have your own vehicle or some plan. It is also possible to meet someone at the hostel or find a ride on the ride board in Anchorage. Lastly, lots of people hitch-hike, and it is quite successful.
Driving Directions to the Mountain Morning
Hostel
Alaska/Yukon Trails - offers daily service between Denali, Fairbanks and Anchorage. They will pick you up at Spenard Hostel in Anchorage if you ask.
Park Connection Bus - offers service between Seward and Denali, including a segment between Anchorage and Denali only.
The Alaska Bus Guy. They offer about the same service at about the same price, and they too will pick you up at Spenard.
Bus logistics: If you want to leave Denali in the morning for Anchorage,
choose the Park Connection bus. This is now the only morning bus departure from Denali. The hostel shuttle will take you to the McKinley Village on our 6:40am shuttle. The Park Connection will pick you up there. There is a cafe/restaurant at the McKinley Village. If you want to leave in the afternoon to Anchorage or Fairbanks, you will still need to take the hostel shuttle in the morning to the Park and catch the bus there.
A thing to keep in mind is the buses to and from Anchorage may drop you or pick you up at the Park Visitor's Center. We pick up and drop off at the Wilderness Access Center. They are two different places, but are close and the park has a free shuttle between them. The tour buses that go into the park pick up and drop off at the Wilderness Access Center.
The buses will drop you at the Denali National Park Visitors
Center where you can survey the scene, check your luggage at the Visitors Center, make national park
bus reservations, go for a hike. . .while you await our 5:30pm hostel shuttle pick-up. If you depart Denali on the afternoon
bus, you will take the 6:40am or 8:25am hostel shuttle to
the Park and await the bus there (hostel check-out time
is 10:00am). Choose to check you luggage at the Visitors Center and get coffee or a bite to eat at the Morino Grill, go to the Park Book Store, go for a hike, go rafting at 8am. . .
If you take the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage of Fairbanks you will arrive at the Visitor's Center in the afternoon. Take the Park's free shuttle to the Wilderness Access Center for the hostel shuttle pickup at either 530pm or 9:30 pm shuttle. For more information on our Mountain Morning Hostel Shuttle <-- Click here.
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| How will I get from the
Park to the hostel and from the hostel to the Park? |
We provide a shuttle to and from the national park FOUR TIMES DAILY.
Our shuttle service leaves the hostel daily at 6:40am, getting you
to the Park WILDERNESS ACCESS CENTER (WAC), where all park shuttle bus tours begin,
by 7:00am. We also provide a shuttle to the Park area at 8:25am,
arriving at the WAC at 8:45am. Our shuttle service picks
up at the WILDERNESS ACCESS CENTER, near the flag pole, at 5:30pm and
9:30pm daily. You must reserve space on the shuttle for our logistics, but YOU are responsible to be at the right place at the right time to get picked up. When you get to WAC find the flag pole. Stand at the flag pole looking at the WAC building. TURN RIGHT and walk about 100 feet. This curved bus loading zone is where we will pick up up and drop you off. After going to your right curve a little to your left. There is also a bus loading zone to your left (from the flag pole)- DON'T LOOK FOR US THERE, 'cause we won't be there.
If you are arriving by train or bus from Fairbanks or Anchorage,
we recommend that you go to the WILDERNESS ACCESS CENTER (WAC) while awaiting
our 5:30pm shuttle. This is a great opportunity to find out about
the Park, pick up your bus tickets and make reservations for tomorrow's
Park tour buses. You can walk the mile or so from the train depot
to the WAC, or you can catch the free Park shuttle bus
(green bus) which stops at the train depot and takes you directly
to the WAC. If you have a long wait, you can check your luggage at the Visitors
Center. There are some great hiking trails nearby, as well as river rafting, the Morino Grill, the Park book store, and more.. Click
here to go to a map of the entrance area trails.
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| What do you recommend we do while we are there, ARE THERE TOURS YOU CAN BOOK FOR US? |
Yes we have several things we recommend and can book for you. Things such as Rafting (whitewater or gentle); Flight-seeing; Horseback riding; Flyfishing; Tour Iditarod Champ Jeff King's kennel and watch a dog team demonstration and more! See our TOURS PAGE for specifics. We don't book Park Buses into the park. You have to do that on your own, but you can do it on-line.
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Am I able to rent a car in Denali? |
Yes. There is a rental car company in Denali. If you would like to take an early shuttle bus into the Park one day, one that departs before our hostel shuttle service gets you to the Park, but you do not want to have a rental car for your entire stay here in Denali, renting a car for a day or two might be a nice option for you. Must be 21, have valid driver's license and proof of insurance. It is usually cheaper to rent a car in Anchorage or Fairbanks, and you'd save the price of getting to Denali on the bus or train, if you want to use it more than a couple days.
Teresa's Denali Car Rentals
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| Do you have kitchen facilities for your
guests? |
We do have a fully-equipped kitchen facility for our guests so
that you can cook your own food. This is a great way to save some
money, eat what you like to eat, and have a conversation with someone
from Japan, Spain or Michigan. Our kitchen is located in the Octagon and is available to all of our guests. Amenities include coffee urn, microwave, ovens, utensils, plates, cups, pots, pans, etc. .
. just about everything you might need to make a great meal happen!
An outside barbeque grill is also available for use by our guests.
Free coffee, tea, sugar and creamer for
your coffee is available too..
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| Do you serve free morning coffee for
your guests, and is it fair-trade, shade-grown, organic goodness? |
Why, YES, thanks for asking!! We are psyched (very happy) to be
serving Cafe Mam shade-grown, fairly
traded organic arabica coffee. We have served Folgers in
the past, a coffee more in-line with our budget, but not in-line
with our social consciousness. We feel that is important to support
sustainable practices in an industry that represents the second
largest US import after oil. Americans are the largest consumers
of coffee in the world, yet many Americans don't realize that agricultural
workers in coffee producing countries are often receiving far less
than living wages for their toil, that rainforests are being cleared
for coffee production and that pesticides banned in the US are still
being used by coffee producers in third world countries on the coffee
beans that we consume.
So, the Mountain Morning is serving Fair Trade Certified, Shade-grown,
Organic coffee as a morning service for our guests. We will have
a donation can next to the coffee so that anyone who supports our
efforts can help us out with the costs, which do far outweigh those
of Folgers. In the long-run, we think it's worth it!!
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| Can we buy our groceries there or should
we bring them with us? |
There are no large grocery stores in the Denali Park area! We have
a small, but well-stocked store in the hostel office with a variety
of reasonably priced breakfast, dinner, and snack fixings. Our assortment
includes: eggs, milk, bread, butter, cereals, gatorade,
hot chocolate, pancake mix, pastas and sauces, trail mix, candy
bars, etc. We carry fresh produce occasionally, but recommend that
you buy food at a grocery store in either Anchorage, Wasilla or
Fairbanks before coming to Denali if you have special needs. We
also carry a variety of mosquito repellents and hiking/camping gear
in our store, film included. There is a small mercantile at the
Park near the Visitors Center where you can also buy an array of
useful items.
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| If we don't plan to cook, where can
we eat? |
We are lucky in that we have three of the BEST Park area restaurants
as our neighbors. All three are within walking distance. Panorama Pizza
is a pizza pub, the Perch
is fine dining with beautiful views and the Creekside Cafe is good
home-baked cafe grubbin! The Perch and the Creekside will prepare a fresh sack lunch
that you take with you on your journey into the Park.
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| Are you a "youth only" hostel?
|
Far from it! Our guests fall in all age groups. The former 'American
Youth Hostels' association changed their name several years back
to 'Hostelling International,' reflecting the adult interest in
this popluar type of budget accommodation. Many hostels, such as
ourselves, are not affiliated with HI, but nonetheless share the
interest in accommodating all forms of travelers! More and more,
hostels are being discovered by all travelers who enjoy unique,
comfortable and friendly accommodations in spectacular places without
the spectacular prices. Those who are staying in our "lodge - private accommodations" should keep in mind we are a hostel, not the Hilton. If you want waited on, your in the wrong place.
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| Do you provide storage space
for luggage and gear? |
Yes, we provide a secure space for you to store your gear while
you are out camping in the Park, etc!
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