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Denali Road Rule Allows 160 Vehicles a Day Past Mile 15
A final rule replaces the seasonal cap of 10,512 permits and fixes the season's end date. Buses return to the west end in 2027.
The Interior Department and National Park Service have issued a final rule changing how many vehicles may use the restricted section of the Denali Park Road, from mile 15 to mile 90. Up to 160 vehicles a day may travel it during the visitor season, as long as the park's standards for resource conditions and visitor experience are met. That daily limit replaces the current cap of 10,512 vehicle permits a season.
The rule also fixes the season's end date. The season now always runs from the Saturday before Memorial Day through the second Thursday after Labor Day; language that could end it on September 15 in some years has been removed.
The agencies say the rule brings the regulations in line with the park's 2012 Vehicle Management Plan, which was developed with public input, and present it as part of an executive order on expanding access to national parks. Secretary Doug Burgum called it cutting red tape while protecting the landscape; Superintendent Brooke Merrell said it lets the park meet visitor demand while preserving its resources.
The road itself is about to reopen in full. The Pretty Rocks Bridge, which reconnects the east and west halves of the road after the 2021 landslide, was completed in September, and the park plans to restore public bus service to the west end in 2027. The release does not say how the daily limit will be divided among buses, permits and other users; check the park's road pages before planning a 2027 trip.
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