After leaving the Sapphire Princess Saturday morning we boarded a Princess dome train for a spectacular 10 hour train ride through Alaska, reaching Denali in time for dinner and much needed rest. The front desk took our room number for a call if the lights came out but we knew the chances weren’t good with the cloudy overcast sky and some rain. We had two nights at the Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge as part of our Princess Cruisetour.

Both nights in Denali were rainy and overcast so we knew there was no chance of being woken up with that phone call saying the lights were dancing. All the people working in Denali was ready to go home, we met no locals, all the Hotel staff, restaurants and stores in the area were staffed with temporary summer workers all anxious to go home after the long summer season. There was some Americans but lots of Europeans and some from South America who come in to work from May to mid September. They explained to us they were given standard rooms they had to share, located about 30 minutes out of town as well as some of their food and the younger ones said it was one big party.

Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley and still commonly referred to by that name, is the tallest mountain in North America, its summit standing 20,310 feet above sea level. Its status as the tallest mountain in the U.S. has made it a popular tourist attraction for decades.

We had a wonderful day touring Denali National Park with perfect if a bit chilly weather with the afternoon clouds set in along with rain so again gave our room number to front desk with some hope to get woken up but knew the second night wouldn’t be any better than the first night here.

You haven’t been to Alaska unless you’ve been to Denali National Park. Its boundaries encompass an impressive six million acres which is the size of the state of Massachusetts. Home to Denali, North America’s highest peak towers an unbelievable 20,310 feet in the sky. The Park hosts an array of wildlife from moose, caribou, Dall sheep and grizzly bears to gray wolves and red foxes.

The Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge is the closest and most comfortable place to stay when visiting the park. The entrance to Denali National Park is located only a mile from the front door. With an expansive deck overlooking the Nenana River with views into the park, Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge is the ideal spot to relax, visit with friends, and savor the exquisite landscape.

This comfortable wilderness lodge features restaurants and lounges, a cafe, tour desk, meeting rooms, and shuttle service to the Denali National Park Visitors Center.

The mountain formerly known as Mount McKinley was officially renamed Denali in 2015, after a long process of name changes and controversies: 

• 1896 Gold prospector Frank Densmore named the mountain “Mount McKinley” to honor the presidential candidate William McKinley, who later became the 25th president. 
• 1917 The name “Mount McKinley” became official when the Mount McKinley National Park Act was signed into law
• 1975 The Alaska Board of Geographic Names officially changed the name to Denali, but the federal government did not adopt the change.
• 1980 The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act changed the name of the park to Denali National Park and Preserve, but the mountain’s official name remained “Mount McKinley”.
• 2015 President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell officially changed the mountain’s name to Denali. The Secretary of the Interior used a 1947 law to justify the change, as the U.S. Board on Geographic Names had not acted within a reasonable time. 
• The name Denali comes from the Koyukon Athabaskan language and means “the high one”. The Koyukon people have referred to the mountain by this name for centuries.