When I arrived in Alaska in May 2021, I spent one night in Anchorage and the next morning headed a few hours up north to Denali National Park. I spent two nights in a very special B&B (Denali Lakeview Inn) in Healy, just north of Denali. Healy* is a tiny little town, but it does have essential services and supplies such as food and gas, and even a very good restaurant (Black Diamond Grill) near the B&B. For my full day in Healy and much of the day after that, I drove and walked around Denali National Park. Denali contains some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, as well as lots of wildlife, including Grizzly Bears, Caribou, Dall Sheep, Arctic Hares, and I even saw a Porcupine! Next night found me in the "tourist/frontier-ish" town of Talkeetna, where the B&B I stayed in (Denali Overlook Inn) was probably even more spectacular than the one in Healy. If the weather is clear, you get incredible views of Mt Denali. And good fortune was with me - clear skies and great views. Before leaving Talkeetna, I went into town to get a coffee for my upcoming long drive to Homer, and I saw a sign saying "Denali Flights". Hmmm, I said.... let me just check, and I went in. "You wouldn't by chance have any availability for flights today, would you?", I asked. "Why sure," said the man. "The airstrip is 5 minutes from here and there's space on the next flight that leaves in 20!" So off I went. There are different kinds of flights of different lengths and costs. Mine landed on a glacier where most climbing expeditions set up their base camps. The views from the air of Mt Denali and the surrounding Alaska Range were spectacular/ amazing/ unforgettable. Sorry to keep using all those adjectives, but hey, this is Alaska after all. "It is what it is", and it is whatever grand word you want!
By the way, if you ever want to visit this area, I highly recommend mid-May (when I visited). The days are (very) long, it is not too cold, migrating birds have arrived, most tourists haven't, and wildlife is active. Further, there is one animal that is not yet active at that time-- the mosquito! I only saw 2 or 3 during my whole stay. And best of all, until late May, you can drive about 60 miles up the single mountain road in Denali National Park and get out at many interesting stops along the way. After about May 20 or so, you can only drive about 15 miles up the road to the main visitor center, and then you have to take a school bus-type vehicle the rest of the way up to the accessible road's end. It's nice to have the freedom to go further on your own and stop wherever you want. All of that said... The B&Bs I mentioned are open year round, even in winter with skiing, snowshoeing, northern lights, etc., so any time could be great, but I definitely feel that mid-May is a great time to go.
* The town of Healy is named after a rough and tumble sea captain (Michael Healy) who played an important role in Alaskan history in the late 1800s. He is recognized as the first man of African American descent to captain a US Government ship. His boat was the Bear. Interesting story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Healy
The story of Denali is also interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali
By the way, if you ever want to visit this area, I highly recommend mid-May (when I visited). The days are (very) long, it is not too cold, migrating birds have arrived, most tourists haven't, and wildlife is active. Further, there is one animal that is not yet active at that time-- the mosquito! I only saw 2 or 3 during my whole stay. And best of all, until late May, you can drive about 60 miles up the single mountain road in Denali National Park and get out at many interesting stops along the way. After about May 20 or so, you can only drive about 15 miles up the road to the main visitor center, and then you have to take a school bus-type vehicle the rest of the way up to the accessible road's end. It's nice to have the freedom to go further on your own and stop wherever you want. All of that said... The B&Bs I mentioned are open year round, even in winter with skiing, snowshoeing, northern lights, etc., so any time could be great, but I definitely feel that mid-May is a great time to go.
* The town of Healy is named after a rough and tumble sea captain (Michael Healy) who played an important role in Alaskan history in the late 1800s. He is recognized as the first man of African American descent to captain a US Government ship. His boat was the Bear. Interesting story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_A._Healy
The story of Denali is also interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali
