If you make the 90 mile trip into the backcountry of Denali National Park do yourself a favor and stay a few nights at the lodge. The trip in is unbelievable with views of mountains and wildlife but being at the lodge really sets the stage well. The service is top notch and everyone is so friendly as they accommodate all of your needs. The food is amazing. You wouldn't think it would be so good considering it all has to flown in but it was outstanding. The rooms were exceptionally clean and it was the most comfortable bed I had while in Alaska. They have plenty of activities scheduled with hikes and such or you can just relax by the river that the lodge sits on. Add this to your trip, you won't be disappointed.

i love this hotel because we had a room on the river and we were right next to the fireplace hut thing that was screened in and the meals are great we saw alot of moose and we went on a hike we saw a bear [the first hike that our guide ever saw a bear] so we had to make noise on the way down and we saw denali it was we stayed 2 night overall it was one of the most fun places i had ever stayed

Overall it was a nice stay. If not for the hefty price, I would give it a five-star.

The most impressive part is the service in the lodge. The management has thought about everything you might need and made them readily available. They give you water-proof pants, mosquito head nets, and benedryl! Some of the things never even came across my mind when I was packing but turned out to be so useful in the true wilderness of Denali.

Food is another memorable experience. Their three-course dinner gives you the illusion that you are dining in a Zagat rated restaurant in New York, instead of at a remote backcountry lodge. Passing creamy pasta and tenderly baked seafood around the table while sharing travel stories with other guests was quite enjoyable.

The site says:

"Surround yourself with miles of wilderness, not thousands of tourists..."
It touts “relax here” at Denali Back Country Lodge.


GUESS WHAT TRAVELERS: You will be surrounded by hoards day trippers AND have almost no privacy from the paper thin walls.

The greatest disappointment was when the herd came in. Not wild animals that Denali is known for, but the paying day-trippers who invaded our camp. We came back from a hike to find some day trippers sitting on our terrace, on our bench! We were told not to lock our doors and were shocked to find strangers at our doorstep, with tens of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry just inside the unlocked door. We shoo’d them away and were surprised to find the hoards of people walking to the lunch lodge. When we got there, we were told that there was no more of this and that, because the day trippers had already eaten it all. Really?


We sought tranquility and remoteness when we booked our $1000.00/night stay for 3 nights at the Lodge. We live in Chicago and we thought the end of the road in Kantishna would give us the remote, quiet we sought. After flying and sitting at our table, my water started to shake, and a loud rumbling surrounded our room. I actually thought we were experiencing an earth quake. Nope. Just the staff rolling some new luggage down the long deck next to our room. We certainly didn’t expect that very high noise level, especially from staff who could have carried the bags instead.



The rooms offered no additional sound abatement, with each 5:30 wake up call for the single-nighters and late night conversations from the packed room of 4. We opted to stay in a King Suite on the water and couldn’t fathom that such thin walls would separate us from the others in the quad. We had to personally ask others to please be aware that their sounds were so easily travelling to other rooms: each conversation, hair dry, sneeze and others’ snoring created our sleepless nights.

TO EVERYONE: We are experienced, world travelers and I have never once written a complaint about any location. So we are definitely not negative people.

But for $1000 per night, we did not expect to be in a swarm of people in this exclusive place at the end of the road, nor did we expect to hear every snore or hiccup from the 3 other rooms in our quad.

PLEASE CONSIDER another option to experience all the wonder of Denali. THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO GO.


Best regards from 2 who travel 8-10 times per year and Alaska 3 times in the last 5 years.