Even for a brief and road-limited visit, Denali National Park and Preserve offers stunning vistas. The massive namesake mountain is iconic and visually striking. Physically and emotionally, it is "The Mountain." Its summit is 20,310 feet above sea level, but at 18,000 feet from base to top, it is more prominent than Mt. Everest. Seeing it is never guaranteed; it is often at least partly obscured by weather and is usually hidden by terrain until the viewer is well inside the park. Moreover, visibility and light in general are weather dependent. Nonetheless, overcast or cloudy skies don't prevent the park from inspiring awe. Even if Denali itself is obscured by cloud or terrain, the remaining views are beyond great.

What is remarkable, even for residents accustomed to living in the largest state and to seeing Denali from 138 air miles away, is the park's scale. "Vast" accurately describes it. But even though the park is large (at 6 million acres, slightly smaller than Vermont, slightly larger than New Hampshire), it is the visual impression of size that overwhelms. Looking out over park tundra, the Alaska Range, 600 miles long, seems distant, and the sky soars huge overhead. 

To give a sense of scale, this panorama was created from a series of images taken with a telephoto zoom lens set at 100mm, not a wide-angle lens. 

And this single-exposure image was taken with a lens set at 200mm, a mid-length telephoto setting.

The Savage River bridge is the limit of non-permit private vehicle entry. The road to the bridge is off to the left; the road onward into the park is to the right.

"Ordinary" ramparts loom.

And the sky soars overhead.