Denali
The highest peak in North America, Denali stands as a monument of natural grandeur and cultural history.
Last updated
Denali National Park and Preserve · via Wikipedia: Denali National Park and Preserve · Public domain
Where it is
Coordinates: 63°25′48″N 150°19′12″W (63.4300, -150.3200) · Open in OpenStreetMap
Coordinates and connected clubs: the infobox of Wikipedia: Denali National Park and Preserve (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map: drawn by Codexery from OpenStreetMap tiles.
Denali National Park and Preserve is a protected area in Interior Alaska centered on the highest mountain in North America.[1]
Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.
Geography and history
The bill creating Mount McKinley National Park was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on February 26, 1917.[2] Within the park, the Teklanika River site is the oldest known, with a date of approximately 7130 BC.[3] Construction of the 93-mile Park Road took 17 years and was finished in 1938.[4] Denali National Park and Preserve was created in 1980 by merging Mount McKinley National Park with Denali National Monument.[5]
What the cited sources add
The Brown historic resource study notes that Sheldon first recorded the idea of a "Denali National Park" in his journal entry of January 12, 1908.[6] The same source states that Sheldon continued to urge the name Denali, but Mount McKinley won out when the park was created.[6] The National Park Service ethnographic overview reports that five Northern Athabascan groups—Dena’ina, Koyukon, Lower Tanana, Upper Kuskokwim, and Western Ahtna—consider the Denali area part of their aboriginal homeland.[7] The "Thinning Glaciers" NPS article notes that according to modern satellite imagery, there were 881 glaciers in the park in 2010.[8]
That article also states that most large glaciers originating from high elevations in the Alaska Range are showing signs of thinning and retreat.[8] An NPS article titled "Melting Denali" notes that glaciers now cover about 17 percent of the park, which equals 1,563 square miles.[9] That same article mentions that research by Arendt and colleagues indicated many of Denali's glaciers were experiencing annual vertical water-equivalent losses of up to 6.6 feet.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Denali National Park and Preserve" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Park Statistics - Denali National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)", www.nps.gov (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Denali National Park and Preserve" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sheldon, "A History of The Boone and Crockett Club", Boone and Crockett Club, 1931, p. 54–59; "Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920", U.S. Statutes at Large, p. 938–39 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Denali National Park and Preserve" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Norris, Vol. 1, pp. 2–3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Denali National Park and Preserve" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Park History" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Denali National Park and Preserve" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sheldon, Charles (1931). A History of The Boone and Crockett Club. Boone and Crockett Club. pp. 54–59. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Brown, "A History of the Denali–Mount McKinley Region, Alaska: Historic Resource Study of Denali National Park and Preserve", National Park Service, 1991. facts only, no text reused. npshistory.com
- "Historic and Contemporary Ethnographic Landscapes of Denali National Park (U.S. National Park Service)", www.nps.gov. facts only, no text reused. nps.gov
- Park, "Thinning Glaciers - Denali National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)", www.nps.gov. facts only, no text reused. nps.gov
- "Melting Denali: Effects of Climate Change on Glaciers (U.S. National Park Service)", www.nps.gov. facts only, no text reused. nps.gov
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Denali National Park and Preserve (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in US National Parks
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Denali National Park and Preserve (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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