The Denali Highway, Alaska route 8, is a 135 mile mostly-gravel road from Paxson on the Richardson Highway to the east, to Cantwell on the Parks Highway to the west. I have wanted to drive this road for many years.
Opened in 1957, it was the first road access to Denali National Park and the only road until the Parks Highway opened in 1971. The Denali Highway is not maintained in the winter. The road follows the southern slopes of the central Alaska Range.
Its highest point is Maclaren Summit in the Amphitheater Mountains, at 4086' the second highest road pass in Alaska, after Atigun Pass on the Dalton Highway on the North Slope.
Birds:
Raptors:
Northern harrier, Circus cyaneus
Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Merlin, Falco columbarius
Ducks:
Northern shoveler (male), Anas clypeata
Green-winged teal, Anas crecca
Ring-necked duck, Aythya collaris
American wigeon, Anas americana
Barrow's goldeneye (male left, female right), Bucephala islandica
Lesser scaups (female left, male right), Aythya affinis
Common merganser, Mergus merganser
Swallows:
Cliff swallows, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota
Loons:
Common loon, Gavia immer
Sparrows:
White-crowned sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys
Corvids:
Common raven, Corvus corax
Gulls:
Herring gull, Larus argentatus
Flowers:
Alpine arnica, Arnica alpina ssp. augustifolia
Arctic lupine, Lupinus arcticus
One-flowered cinquefoil, Potentilla uniflora
Dwarf fireweed (river beauty), Epilobium latifolium
Labrador tea, Ledum palustris ssp. groenlandicum
Mammals:
Arctic ground squirrel (sicsic), Urocitellus parryii
North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum
North American beaver, Castor canadensis
Denali Highway scenery:
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Last modified 2 July 2022