Flight around Mt. Denali

This video is a long one, but it’s worth it! Come along as we take a flight around Mt. Denali and then bus back through Denali National Park & Preserve.

Flight around Mt. Denali and then on to Kantishna in Denali National Park

Laura and Kevin in front of a prop plane.

We took a 6-seater prop plane with Kantishna Air on a 55-minute scenic fly-by of Mt. Denali. Our pilot Roger was awesome and has been flying the area for 40+ years.

Kevin is the co-pilot on our prop plane flight to denali.

view from plane to kantishna alaska.

view of a river from plane above denali national park.

view of snow on mountains in denali national park.

We were so lucky that we got clear views of the mountain. It looks otherworldly up there!

mountains in denali national park.

mountains in denali national park.

first look from our flight around mt. denali.

denali from our kantishna air flight.

The glaciers, the untouched snow – it was just stunning. We don’t have the words to describe how beautiful it was. You’re just going to have to watch the video to get a taste.

glacier from flight around denali.

glacier and mount denali.

glacier from flight around denali.

views from flight around denali.

Laura and Kevin with our pilot Roger.

Kantishna International Airport.

Welcome to Kantishna sign.

Kantishna Air also has a lodge at Kantishna where you can book a room. When you arrive, you hang out there until the next bus comes. You can also buy lunch as part of your package, and they will serve it there. And yes, they have vegan options! We brought our lunch though.

A bus ride from Kantishna back to the visitors center

We took the non-narrated bus from Kantishna back to the front of the park. You can get off of these buses, go for a hike, and then catch another.

We’d planned to do a hike in Eielson but the trails we closed because there was a mama and two baby grizzly bears out there. But, they were right there, and we got to see them!

grizzly bears at Eielson in Denali National Park.

You’ll see the most animals between Eielson and Toklat. We saw more bears and caribou.

caribou on the road in denali national park.

caribou herd on a snow patch in denali national park.

grizzly bears in denali national park.

The entire bus ride with bathroom breaks lasted about 4 1/2 hours. If you tend to get motion sickness, you might want to take some medication for that. The first hour or so is a bit nausea-inducing.

view from bus in denali national park.

view from bus in denali national park.

Wildlife count for the day:

106+ caribou!
5 moose
2 adult grizzly
4 baby grizzly
14 Dall’s sheep
1 harrier falcon

BOOM!

We can’t recommend this flight around Mt. Denali enough. If you’re up here and can only choose one excursion, the flight in and bus out is the way to go! Do yourself a favor though and leave at least a few days to explore Denali National Park. It’s huge and there’s so much to do!

Next post: Hiking in Denali National Park

Check out all the videos in our Alaska 2018 adventure here.

Laura Nunemaker

About the Author

Laura Nunemaker

vegan. full-time traveler. rv dweller. food lover. cow petter.

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