Denali Bus Depot - Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska

Jamie Paychev

Darrin did an amazing job driving the shuttle tour. I enjoyed the trip so much more than I had expected. He was very knowledgeable and happy to share stories and information even though he wasn’t required to. He also answered a lot of questions and spotted a good number of animals. The park ranger on the way in also serenaded all the passengers. How refreshing to see people who truly enjoy their jobs and nature!

OSR AD

Only visit Denali if the weather is clear if you wanna see the peak. The shuttle bus ain't that comfortable and it's mostly gravel road. The scenes are beautiful however, it's beautiful anywhere you drive around this area even from the highway, you'll get good views. Except for a few sheep and Elk didn't see any other wildlife. The shuttle bus takes you to point which only covers about 1% of the entire Denali National Park. Then you can walk on food to hike, camp and see more. Bus ride from the depot and back will take about 5 to 6 hours with very limited narration from the bus driver as this the regular bus service. They have other bus service with lot more narration and information for a much higher price. Be on time otherwise they might not b able to accommodate you on the next bus. But seeing the Denali peak is most important thing which is only possible on a clear skies day. Probably won't do the bus again however, would love to hike and camp there.

Jean-baptiste Guillemot

You can only drive a few miles with your car and so of course stay quite at the entrance of the park, while with the bus you can drive another 35 miles I believe (you can actually go another 70 miles or so but a bridge collapsed...so not for now) and this is really where you have the added value as you see so much more nature but also wildlife. Caribou, moose, grizzly, arctic ground squirrels, willow ptarmigan...incredible

Melissa Youssef

We were originally booked on a Tunda Wilderness Tour bus that ended up skipping our stop and started the tour without us.
However, after raising our disappointment (this was the whole reason we came to Denali), the manager, Randy Mantler, went ABOVE & BEYOND to not only refund us the full amount but also arranged a private bus tour to take us to East Fork with the BEST driver!
We saw bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, a porcupine, fox & wolverine among other things. The tour was nothing short of INCREDIBLE and I’m partially convinced that Randy was personally driving up ahead of us, dropping these critters off for us to see because it was unreal to get to see that much wildlife in one shot!

Shout out to Justin & Tracy who gave up their evening plans to drive us and give us an UNFORGETTABLE experience!!!!

Dennis Gavrilenko

This is where you buy bus tickets to go on park buses along the park road past the Savage River staging area. To buy a ticket for the camper bus, you need to first get a permit at the nearby Backcountry Information Center. All the backcountry buses that go along the park road depart from the depot.

There's nice bathroom facilities, park maps, and a shop to buy souvenirs, coffee, and food. There are a few trails here that go to Riley Creek Campground and the Visitor Center!

Mike Benbow

Sam, the manager, was extremely helpful in his suggestions and his opinions to make our experience at the park a day we will remember. Busses were comfortable. Can not say enough about Bill. His 35 years of experience brought great insight into our ride.

Kathan Kashiparekh

Very friendly staff! We had booked a tundra wilderness tour and got allotted the 11:45 slot. We had to catch the afternoon train to Fairbanks and would not have made it back in time! The staff was very helpful and helped us get moved to an earlier tour which had space! Had a lot of fun on the tour, we saw bears, a moose, a wolf and many Dall Sheep!

Richard Kingswell

Really helpful staff very clean lots of great information to help you in your trip in Denali national