Denali Scenic Highway Road Trip

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If you want to experience the vastness of Alaska, Denali Highway (SR 8) is ideal. From Cantwell, this remote, gravel road traverses land between the Alaska Range to the north and the Talkeetna Mountains to the south. At 4,086-foot MacLaren Summit, you’ll be treated to sights of MacLaren Glacier and a panorama of mountain peaks. The byway closes October to mid-May.

Denali Highway (SR 8)—mostly gravel and closed seasonally—offers a rugged Alaskan journey. The lowlands on the western two-thirds of the route, between the Alaska Range and the Talkeetna Mountains, are watered by broad, glacial rivers and lakes formed by sinkholes in the tundra. On the eastern end, MacLaren Glacier and the snow-capped peaks that formed it dominate.