Q: I want to visit Denali, but I hate large tour groups and the thought of being on a bus makes me cringe. That said, I’m traveling solo, love hiking, and want a cool trip that allows me to photograph the park’s beauty of the park and wildlife. What would you suggest?

A: Denali is an amazing place, but it poses some challenges. The dirt Park Road that winds through Denali only allows private vehicles up to mile 14. Beyond that, you have to be with an authorized vehicle—as in, a tour.

If budget is not an issue, and if you want an in-depth view of Denali on your own, I highly recommend staying in Kantishna, about 95 miles from the Park entrance. I don’t think there’s a place in the park more photogenic than the Wonder Lake area, a few miles from there.

You could accomplish this by taking an escorted small group tour with a group such as Alaska Wildland Adventures whose guides are great naturalists, the itineraries emphasize hiking; and a few of its tours stay in Kantishna. You could also just book lodging in Kantishna on your own, at Camp Denali, North Face Lodge or Kantishna Roadhouse—the latter was originally used as a roadhouse and visitors’ center almost a century ago.

The downside is these options are expensive compared with just staying near the park entrance: packages at Kantishna Roadhouse start at $720 per night, based on two people, while the Alaska Wildland packages start at about $1,600 for 3 nights. But when you take into account all you get with that rate (transportation to and from your lodging inside the Park, all meals and most activities), the price difference is not as big is it initially appears. Plus, you get tons more hours of just the kind of wilderness solitude you’re looking for, rather than just shuttling out there for the day. We have great info on Kantishna Lodging and Small Escorted Group Tours on Alaska.org

If you just want to dip in and out of the park, your best option is the hop-on, hop-off Park Shuttle. You can take it as far as you want, get off, hike around, then hop on another bus to come back at the end of the day. I personally think taking this bus into the Eielson Visitor Center is a superior experience to the other bus tours. It goes further (86 miles, rather than 60 or even just 19) and it’s wildly less expensive: it starts at $23, compared to about $100 or more for others. If you’re budget-minded, this is an incredible way to see the park. The second you get off the shuttle, you’re surrounded by wilderness, much like being dropped off by a floatplane—the only difference is you always have an easy retreat back to the Park Road.

I have some good pages on Alaska.org that might help you, too: Denali Independent Vacations, Denali Park Road Tours and Denali Off the Beaten Path.