Advice on Denali backcountry zones

Once you get to Denali NP cheap stops...except for the bus ride from the Visitor Center to Wonderlake - no personal cars allowed. You can depart the bus at anytime and catch another bus later by waving both arms for it to stop. In general the National Park would like to know where you are going in case you don't come back. You book a wilderness permit (no reservations) get a bear movie and discussion and you are on your way. As far as I know there is no fishing permit required - check on limit. This is pretty much make your own trip. The Rangers are happy to match your trip with your abilities. You can do that at the Visitor Center, or at Eielson Visitor center 60 miles up the road and at end of road at Wonder Lake. Camper buses are $31 and run on a schedule you might want to have handy if you are going to be jumping off. There are some multi-day hikes along the ridge lines north and south of the bus route. Hard to get lost, and you might want to stay either above the bramble and low bush or along the rivers. You could make it a 'follow the prospector/miners' adventure or just see how far you can get in half of the time you have. Some spectacular glaciers.

You will see all of the large mammals within hours of getting on the buss and, if back packing and closer to valley floor, all of them a bit more intimately. Bear canisters are free if you return them. Golden and Bald Eagles are as plentiful as crows near waters that have fish. June is a good month for weather but if you are planning to go very high, later in July would be better.

There are several campgrounds along the bus way. You should check with Denali on those for availability before you leave for the airport. Not sure they reserve.

Another area to consider is Wrangle NP - less controlled and more drive-to trail heads. Spectacular stuff there as well. You could spend a lot of time in either of the NP and see a very small percentage of them. Wrangle has fly in base camps and pick you up when you think you will have had enough.

Eielson Visitor Center is as good a place as most for Denali views - rare even tho they are.

Prepare for sticker shock as soon as you get off the airplane in Alaska. There may be a few relatively inexpensive hostels. You can check those on line. The restaurants farther away from Denali are more reasonable (Talkeetna, eg) and pleasant. All of the cities between Anchorage and Denali have off the main road mom/pop restaurants that are friendly with some good food. The main tourist area is NOT in the Denali NP, but about 3 miles north on the highway. Good planning in that they did not sacrifice Denali like they have Yosemite. It is jokingly called "Glitter Gulch" and has all of the trappings a tourist would expect - including a fake gold town, including overpriced rooms for all of the major cruise lines.

Anything can happen in Denali so be sure to always have a plan B or C.

mapper.acme.com/?ll=63.71240,-149.05169&z=12&t=T

10mi south of Denali. 
Carlo Creek Area Lodging. 907.683.2576  $85 per cabin walk to toilet/shower.  Hostel associated with it.
www.CCLdenaliparkAlaska.com
McKinley Creek Restaurant (across road) (McKinleyCabins.com)
Denali Mountain, 907.683.7503  Morning Hostel and lodge $32 per person.  Free shuttle twice a day to Park.
(www.hostelAlaska.com)
Moon Handbook to ALASKA.  Good and mostly recently updated.