{"id":169056,"date":"2025-09-20T05:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/169056\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T05:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T05:06:09","slug":"wildlife-abounds-as-denali-national-park-opens-road-to-private-vehicle-traffic-until-oct-15-anchorage-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/169056\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife abounds as Denali National Park opens road to private vehicle traffic until Oct. 15 \u2013 Anchorage Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Brown bear sow surveys a traffic jam while tending to her two cubs in Denali National Park and Preserve on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) <\/p>\n

Denali National Park and Preserve opened the Denali Park Road to private vehicle traffic last week, a policy that will remain in place until the middle of next month.<\/p>\n

The road is scheduled to remain open to Teklanika, roughly Mile 30, weather permitting, until Oct. 15 or when snow or ice closes the road at park headquarters at Mile 3.4 to vehicles.<\/p>\n

The road opened on Sept. 12 and visitors on the first weekend got a glimpse of the snow that will soon cover the park. By Saturday afternoon, roads were clear of snow, leaving a layer covering the park. <\/p>\n

Visitors who hit the road last weekend got a big eyeful of wildlife. <\/p>\n

\"\"Motorists watched a bull moose cross Denali Park Road on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) <\/p>\n

Sloane Hobbs of Queensland, Australia, was visiting Alaska for the first time.<\/p>\n

She was able to get a close-up glimpse at brown bears from the safety of her vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were crazy,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were just right there having a good old dig.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of motorists stopped at points along the road to get a look at bears, moose, ptarmigan and even sheep. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a bit insane, everyone trying to get around and stop and see them and get their photos.\u201d Hobbs said. \u201cPeople pulling out and then pulling back in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Park rangers ask visitors to be on alert for wildlife, National Park Service personnel and construction equipment on the road.<\/p>\n

The park may close the road on short notice as weather conditions can change quickly. <\/p>\n

The Teklanika and Savage campgrounds closed over the last week. Now, the Bear Loop of Riley Creek Campground will be open and free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis. No water will be available, and visitors should plan to pack out their own trash. A minimum of five sites will remain open over the winter.<\/p>\n

The road\u2019s closure at Mile 30 is in part due to continued work on a bridge near the Pretty Rocks landslide area around Mile 43. That area is expected to be closed<\/a> through 2026 with bus service set to resume in 2027.<\/p>\n

\"\"A ptarmigan walks across the road in National Park and Preserve on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"A flock of ptarmigan on both sides of Denali Park Road caught the eye of photographers traveling in Denali National Park and Preserve on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"Brown bear sow surveys a traffic jam while tending to two cubs in Denali National Park and Preserve on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"Hikers stand on a rock formation near Savage River in Denali National Park and Preserve on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"A snowman melts on a picnic table outside the Riley Creek Mercantile near the entrance to Denali National Park and Preserve on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"A vehicle travels on Denali Park Road with fresh snow on the Alaska Range visible in the distance on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"Sandhill cranes fly over Denali National Park and Preserve on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"A bull moose walks through tall brush in Denali National Park and Preserve on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) \"\"A brown bear sow and her two cubs negotiate parked vehicles as they crossed the road in Denali National Park and Preserve on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025. (Bill Roth \/ ADN) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brown bear sow surveys a traffic jam while tending to her two cubs in Denali National Park and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[101545,79,201],"class_list":["post-169056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-denali-national-park-and-preserve","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}