Fall Colors in Denali National Park

Hi. I'm planning to visit Denali National Park for fall colors for 2 weeks next

year. I was just there in early July, and a shuttle driver told me that best

time for the fall colors are late August to early September. How was the fall

colors and weather this year? If anyone was there, please share your

experience, thank you!

Here's another place to ask. http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53

 

It's the photography forum of the Alaska Outdoors Directory. There's a short discussion about Denali at the top of the list right now, but it's not really about fall colors. In Anchorage right now we are just starting to see a little color. That seems about a week late to me, but that seems to have become the pattern for the last decade. Denali is always a lot earlier than Anchorage though. I haven't been up that way all year, so I am no help otherwise.

The bus driver was correct -- usually the last week of August and the first week of September are best. I haven't been down to the park recently, but live a couple hours north of it, southwest of Fairbanks. We (and the park) have had a very sunny and warm August. Here, the trees just started turning today, and the tundra earlier in the week -- this is almost a week later than usual. Because of the lower altitude, we are usually 10 days to 2 weeks later than the park in terms of colors, so my guess is that the colors should still be good there at least thru next week. I could see Denali on my way to work today, but the intervening mountains blocked any view of the surrounding colors.

The fall colors this year are a bust. Reds on the tundra almost nil, even the bearberry. Some plants went from green to brown to dead to bare in a matter of days. I live here and just came in from ten days in the park and widlife is also very, very spare and not much going on. (Moose rut coming on. Both moose and caribou numbers way down. Caribou now 1500 instead of 3000 a few years ago.) The yellows in the canyon on the aspens are good in places, burned out in others. All in all a very poor year. We think it is the dry weather, unusual warmth for this time of year and a dry and warm summer.

 

Tom Walker

Thank you for respinding my question.

 

Jim, thank you for introducing the forum. I quick looked at the site, and I like the details of information about Alaska.

 

John, thanks for sharing current info aboyt the area.

 

Tom, thanks again for responding my posting. I was shocked to hear about this year wasn't good for fall colors and wildlife. I hope next year will be better.

Look here for current mountain conditions but it also has some color foreground info.

http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/parks/denacam/denacam.cfm

 

TW

Sunny,

 

I think the shuttle bus driver gave you good information. That is a good time to be there for the colors. The problem is that the color lasts a very short time (compared to the fall colors in the lower 48). Typically, the color will only last a couple of days and it can happen at any time during that two week time frame (generally the last week in August through the first week in September).

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that Denali is a very big park. The colors can peak in one part of the park, while they have not even started to change in other parts of the park.

 

Good luck.

 

Kevin Ferris

I've gone the past 5 years in a row. The Peak is almost always Labor Day weekend, give or take a few days either way. Usually if it's off it's a little later. Colors were not as great this year as some others, but there were a few patches here and there.