Denali dreamin'

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act that established the National Park Service. Since then, millions of people have visited national parks and historic areas in America, including here in Alaska, where Denali National Park and Preserve is the most visited site in the state.

Denali National Park and Preserve encompasses more than 6 million acres, making it one of the largest parks in the country. The park has several programs established for those looking for more in-depth visits, from seed collection in the fall to an artist-in-residency program.

Park visitors can only travel the first 15 miles of the road during the normal tourism season, which runs through August. There are several camping opportunities in the park, but people should have advance reservations, because the camp grounds fill up fast, early in the season.

For four days in September, after the tour busses that normally use the entire length of the road are gone, 400 private vehicles are allowed into the park. The deadline for submitting an application for the road lottery program is July 31 (see related story).

Weather is always a factor at Denali National Park and Preserve.

In 1992, a Labor Day blizzard closed the entire Park Road for the season. Usually by mid-September, snow is in the forecast. After the summer season, the weather is highly unpredictable. Just last year, a flash flood closed parts of the park and stranded visitors for a few days.

While Denali National Park and Preserve is the most visited site in Alaska, it certainly isn't the only national park in Alaska. Nationwide, more than 83 million acres of the country are part of the U.S National Parks System, and that represents 378 areas from sea to shining sea. Delaware is the only state that does not contain an area that is part of the National Park System.

The largest area in the National Parks System is right here in Alaska. The Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve contains 13,200,000 acres -- which comprises 16.3 percent of the entire system.

By contrast, the smallest area isn't a national park, but it is a historical spot. The Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial is .02 acres, and commemorates the life and work of a Polish patriot who was a hero in the American Revolution.

National parks are at the heart of the National Parks System, but it is much more than areas like Denali National Park and Preserve that complete the system. Since 1933, historical site and national memorials were included in the National Parks System.

All of the areas get much use from the public. In 2001, there were 279,873,926 recreational visits made to the National Parks System. Putting that in perspective is the fact that the entire population of the United States is little more than 280 million.