Getting Oriented

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• The Entrance. Just outside the park you'll find a strip of hotels, restaurants, and shops; just inside the park are the official visitor center, the least scenic campsites in Denali, and a level of chaos—at least in high season—that does not reflect the park's amazing beauty. Just put all this at your back as soon as you can.
• Eielson Visitor Center. Deep in the heart of the park, near a favored caribou trail, Eielson offers great mountain views and sweeping vistas of the glaciated landscape. If you can't make it all the way to Wonder Lake, at least make it here.
• The Mountain. Call it Denali or just "the Mountain." It's the highest spot on the continent, a double-edged peak that draws more than 1,000 climbers a year. Fewer than half make it to the top, but that's okay: it's easy enough to enjoy the view from below.
• Wonder Lake. The end of the road for most vehicles, the lake is a full day's ride on one of the park buses. For your time, when the weather allows, you get the best view of the mountain anywhere in the park. And even when the mountain is hiding in the clouds, this is one of the prettiest stretches of landscape in the world.