National Park Service finalizes 160-vehicle daily limit on Denali Park Road

The National Park Service on Thursday announced a final rule allowing up to 160 vehicles a day on the restricted section of the Denali Park Road, from mile 15 to mile 90, during the visitor season.

The daily cap replaces a seasonal limit of 10,512 vehicle permits dating to 1986. It holds only while standards for resource conditions and visitor experience are met, the agency said in its announcement of the final rule. The rule takes effect Nov. 15.

The limit covers every motor vehicle, including tour buses and administrative vehicles, according to the proposed rule published in May. The final version counts vehicles as they enter the section, with each westward passage through the gate counting toward the daily total.

The rule also fixes the season's end. The season now always runs from the Saturday before Memorial Day through the second Thursday after Labor Day.

The 160-vehicle framework came from the park's 2012 Vehicle Management Plan. Alaska News reported on the proposal July 15. The agency received 161 comments. Suggested daily limits ranged from banning vehicles entirely to as many as 240 a day, and several commenters opposed a fixed cap.

Many asked the agency to publish monitoring data first, or to do more review such as a supplemental environmental impact statement, citing changes since 2012, including the closure and reopening of a large section of the road. The Park Service said it expects conditions when the road is fully open to vehicles in 2027 to be substantially similar to those studied for the plan.

The Interior Department tied the rule to an executive order from President Trump on improving national parks.

"At Denali, we're cutting red tape, honoring a management plan shaped by years of public input, and expanding access while protecting the extraordinary landscape that makes this park so special," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.

The Pretty Rocks Bridge, a 475-foot steel truss at mile 45 that cost about $230 million, was completed in September, reconnecting the road cut by a 2021 landslide. Public bus access to the west end is scheduled to return in 2027.