Denali Lodges: Kantishna, Camp Denali, Denali Backcountry Lodge and Princess Wilderness Lodges

A bus grinds along the Denali Park Road past the Teklanika River, and somewhere ahead a caribou lifts its head from the tundra. At the end of that road, a lodge porch waits with a view that most visitors to the park never reach.

Which lodges are in and near Denali National Park?

Three backcountry lodges sit deep inside the park (Kantishna Roadhouse, Camp Denali and Denali Backcountry Lodge), while the Princess Wilderness Lodges sit at the edges, near the entrance and in neighboring Denali State Park. All of them are privately owned and operated, since there are no National Park Service-run accommodations in Denali.

Kantishna Roadhouse

Kantishna Roadhouse is the only Indigenous owned and operated backcountry lodge in Denali National Park. Round-trip bus transportation between the park entrance area and the lodge comes with your stay, and so do meals and snacks. The days fill with guided and self-guided hikes, mountain biking, fishing, gold panning, interpretive programs and excursions to Wonder Lake, plus Alaska Native cultural presentations in the evening.

The roadhouse has no television, cell service or internet access, which suits anyone who wants the trip to be about the land. A two-night minimum stay applies, and staying three or four nights is recommended for a lodge this deep in the park. The Summer 2027 season runs from June 11 through September 11.

Camp Denali

Camp Denali is a wilderness lodge at Mile 89 of the Denali Park Road. It is the only lodge in the park with direct views of Denali and the Alaska Range, so the mountain becomes part of breakfast and the evening porch. Stays run on a fixed schedule: three nights from Friday to Monday, or four nights from Monday to Friday.

Guests can join guided group hikes sorted by activity level, from easy walks to challenging backcountry outings, or borrow trail and topographic maps, canoes, bicycles and fishing gear and go it alone. A greenhouse supplies lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and edible flowers through the summer, and evenings bring talks by scientists, artists, historians and other specialists.

Denali Backcountry Lodge

Denali Backcountry Lodge stands deep in the park’s backcountry, beneath North America’s tallest peak. Its 2027 season runs from June 8 to September 8. Guests ride in by adventure bus along the Denali Park Road, passing Polychrome Overlook and the Teklanika River, and may see moose, bears and caribou from the window.

Meals, daypacks and essential equipment are part of the stay. The kitchen cooks fresh, regionally inspired food from morning coffee to late-night bites, and guided hikes are tailored to each guest’s experience level. Those who book a Creekside cabin get a bus ride in and a flight out on an Alaska bush plane.

Princess Wilderness Lodges

Princess Alaska Cruisetours link a seven-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise with rail travel and nights at Princess-owned wilderness lodges. Two of those lodges are in the Denali area. Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge overlooks the Nenana River, and Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge stands near the Chulitna River with views of Denali.

Where are they?

The lodges lie along one road, the Denali Park Road, and their places are measured in miles from the park entrance. Addresses inside the park are given as a mile number, such as the Denali Visitor Center at Mile 1.5, so a lodge’s mile marker tells you how far into the park it sits.

Deep inside the park

Camp Denali is at Mile 89, and Kantishna Roadhouse is 90 miles inside the park. Both are reached by bus along the Denali Park Road, which is why their stays come in blocks of nights rather than a single evening. Denali Backcountry Lodge is also in the backcountry beneath the peak, and the same road carries its guests past Polychrome Overlook and the Teklanika River.

Along that road, visitors may see caribou, moose, Dall sheep, grizzly bears and other wildlife, and wolves are among the animals the park lists as possible sightings on the road or on trails. These are chances, not promises, but the long ride in is part of the experience in itself.

Near the entrance and in Denali State Park

Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge is 1 mile from the park entrance, above the Nenana River. Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is a separate case, inside Denali State Park by the Chulitna River. From either you reach park attractions by other means than a long backcountry bus ride.

A park shuttle takes visitors from the entrance area to hotels, the visitor center, the dog sled kennels and front-country hiking trails. Morino Grill, next to the Denali Visitor Center, is the only sit-down restaurant inside the park, so the entrance area is where visitors without lodge meals find a table.

Getting to Denali

Denali National Park lies in interior Alaska, about 5.5 hours by car from Anchorage and 2.5 hours by car from Fairbanks. The Alaska Railroad train takes 8 hours from Anchorage and 4 hours from Fairbanks. Princess also runs its Direct-to-the-Wilderness rail service, which takes cruisetour guests from the ship directly to a Denali-area lodge.

Anyone coming from Anchorage is advised to stay at least 2 nights, which leaves one full day for a bus tour or other activities. Bus tours along the Denali Park Road cover varying lengths, and visitors can also rent bicycles to explore on their own.

How do they differ?

They differ mainly in depth, view and style: the backcountry lodges are all-inclusive stays far down the park road, and the Princess lodges are bases tied to a cruise and rail itinerary. Within the backcountry group, each lodge has one thing nobody else offers.

Backcountry lodges compared

Lodge	Location
Kantishna Roadhouse	90 miles inside the park
Camp Denali	Mile 89, Denali Park Road
Denali Backcountry Lodge	Deep in the backcountry

Camp Denali is the pick for the mountain itself, with direct views of Denali and the Alaska Range. Kantishna Roadhouse offers Alaska Native cultural presentations and Indigenous ownership, along with gold panning and trips to Wonder Lake. Denali Backcountry Lodge stands out for its bush plane flight out with a Creekside cabin.

Days and evenings

At Camp Denali the day can start with a guided hike matched to your activity level, or with a canoe and a map borrowed from the lodge. Dinner may include lettuce and herbs from the greenhouse, and the evening brings a talk from a scientist, artist or historian. At Kantishna, programs lean toward interpretive talks and cultural presentations, and you can pan for gold or ride a mountain bike.

Denali Backcountry Lodge sends guests out with daypacks and essential equipment already part of the stay, and the guided hikes are tailored to each guest’s experience. All three keep meals in the price of the stay, which means no planning around restaurants once you arrive.

Princess lodges and cruisetours

The Princess lodges suit travelers who want Denali as one stop in a longer trip. The Denali Explorer cruisetour lasts 10 to 15 nights and includes a Denali Natural History Tour. The Denali Escorted cruisetour lasts 12 to 17 nights with a Tundra Wilderness Tour, and the Denali Essentials cruisetour lasts 10 to 12 nights. Each includes the 7-day Voyage of the Glaciers cruise, an overnight in Denali and rail travel.

That cruise runs from Anchorage (Whittier) to Vancouver, B.C., calling at Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, and takes in Glacier Bay National Park, Hubbard Glacier and College Fjord. Across the whole cruisetour, the stays on land take in lodges in Fairbanks, the Kenai Peninsula, Copper River and the Denali area.

Good to know before you go

Kantishna Roadhouse has no cell service or internet, so plan to be offline there. Outside the summer season the picture changes: from roughly mid-September to mid-May, the nearest restaurants and convenience stores to the park are in Healy, 11 miles north.

The Denali Park Road to Mountain Vista and Savage River is not plowed in winter, roughly October through late February. Riley Creek, near the park entrance, is shallow but very swift, so take care walking beside it.

For a cheaper night, campgrounds cost around $25 to $50 per night, and camping is free in winter. Most campgrounds are open May 20 through mid-September, and Riley Creek Campground stays open year-round.

Sources

Kantishna Roadhouse, Denali (https://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com/), checked October 11, 2026
Camp Denali (https://www.campdenali.com/), checked October 11, 2026
Denali Backcountry Lodge (https://www.denalibackcountrylodge.com/), checked October 11, 2026
Princess Cruises, Alaska wilderness lodges (https://www.princess.com/en-us/lodges), checked October 11, 2026
National Park Service, Denali National Park & Preserve, plan your visit: eatingsleeping (https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/eatingsleeping.htm), checked October 11, 2026
National Park Service, Denali National Park & Preserve, plan your visit: campgrounds (https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm), checked October 11, 2026
Alaska.org, dest denali national park (https://www.alaska.org/destination/denali-national-park), checked October 11, 2026