Denali National Park and Preserve, 237 miles from Anchorage and about half that distance from Fairbanks, is an immense subarctic wilderness centered on Mount McKinley – North America’s highest peak at 20,320 feet. From the gateway of the national park stretching along the George Parks Highway is Denali Park, a collection of mostly seasonal businesses providing visitor services. The nearest year-round community to the park is Healy, population 1,025, at Mile 248.7.
Healy has many businesses that serve highway travelers and park visitors including a gas station, hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, gift shops, auto repair shop, grocery store and RV parks. Many are open year-round.
To the north of Healy, on the highway's western side, is the historic Stampede Trail, originally built in the 1930s as a route to the Stampede Mine, once Alaska's prime producer of antimony. The mine ceased operations in 1970, and since 1980 its abandoned mill and other buildings have been located within Denali National Park and Preserve’s expanded borders. Much of the trail is now within Denali, but its first 25 to 30 miles are outside of the park. Today the trail is a rugged track used primarily by snowmobilers, mushers and skiers in late winter, when travel is easier. The wilderness trail does draw a number of summer visitors who want to view the Fairbanks City bus where Chris McCandless, the subject of Jon Krakauer’s 1997 bestseller Into The Wild, lived and died.
The town of The Usibelli Coal Mine is the town’s primary industry, is connected to the Parks Highway by Healy Spur Road, and the mine conducts daily one-hour tours throughout the summer. Guests visit its quality-control office, main shop, warehouse, coal hopper and crusher.