Denali National Park and Preserve in Denali Borough, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
Nature's Wonderland
Denali National Park and Preserve
| | National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior | |
Photographed by Thomas Smith, August 7, 2025
1. Nature's Wonderland Marker
How did you imagine the park before you had seen it for yourself? In years past, travelers' expectations were shaped by railroad brochures that touted the marvels of Alaska and portrayed the park as a wonderland. The words below are from a 1939 brochure.
[Captions:]
"We feel equal to the hardships endured by pioneers of an earlier day, but we encounter none of them, The old trails have been made easy for us.
"The All-Rail trip from Steward to Fairbanks and return is a journey crowed with panoramas, and scenes beyond description - Kenai Lake, the 'loop," Spencer and Bartlett Glaciers, Turnagain Arm, Anchorage on Cook Inet, the rich Matanuska Valley, Wasilla lake, the overwhelming view of Mt. Mckinley monarch of north American mountain- Curry Hotel, where we rest for the night in luxury amid the stillness of the wilderness. Northward again across Hurricane Gulch, through broad Pass, to - Mt. McKinley National Park."
"Here are singing cascades and rumbling waterfalls; torrential glacial streams and trout - filled creeks, limitless stretches of mountain meadow resplendent with gorgeous flowers; and moss - covered
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"The glaciers in the park are many, Silent rivers of solid ice , miles in length, creep and gnaw their way out of mountain retreats that have never heard the footsteps of man. Some of these glaciers contain more ice than all glaciers in Switzerland."
Mt. Mckinley National Park is also a great game preserve and here the visitor may see an abundance of wildlife - caribou, moose, and mountain sheep, as well as black and grizzly bear."
"But above and beyond all is the very vastness of this great National Playground. Here complete rest is found and there is created a realization that the mysterious working of nature render but puny the effort of man."
Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Animals • Environment
Photographed by Thomas Smith, August 7, 2025
2. Nature's Wonderland Marker
Location. 63° 43.993′ N, 148° 55.295′ W. Marker is in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, in Denali Borough. It is at the intersection of Bus Concessionaire Road and Murie Road, on the right when traveling west on Bus Concessionaire Road. Next to the Denali Railroad Station. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Healy AK 99743, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Alaska Railroad Corridor, in the Athabascan Region, and in Interior Alaska. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, the Pacific Rim, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Challenge of Wilderness (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Park and Railroad: A Shared Story (about 400 feet away); The Road More Traveled (about 400 feet away); The Park Hotel (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Time-Honored Trail (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Station Through Time (approx. 0.3 miles away); Meet the Neighbors (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Ties That Bind (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Denali National Park and Preserve.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 8, 2025, by Thomas Smith of Waterloo, Ill. This page has been viewed 38 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 8, 2025, by Thomas Smith of Waterloo, Ill. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
