denali bus tour times

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Denali National Park Tour Information

Check availability, *a child ticket is for anyone 15 years of age and under..

All passengers, regardless of age, must have a reservation to board the bus.

Departure Times: The departure times for Tundra Wilderness Tours and the Denali Natural History Tour are different daily. Departure times are assigned two (2) days prior to your departure. Please self-check by click “ Retrieve Reservations ” on your confirmation email or at the bottom of this website to find your actual departure time. Simply provide the Itinerary number and your Last Name to retrieve this information. If you do not have your itinerary number, or cannot retrieve it, please call us at 1-800-622-7275 . When booking, visitors must select AM or PM departure and a pick-up location. There are two general departure times daily: the AM departures leaving generally between 5:00am and noon, and the PM departures leaving generally between 12:00pm and 5:00pm. Individuals looking to take a tour bus on the same day as a train departure from Denali, please ensure to indicate in the note about your train departure when booking the tour.

Loading Information: Pick-up locations are at various hotels in the Denali area and the Denali Bus Depot located inside of the National Park. If you are unsure where you will be staying or which location to select, please select the Denali Bus Depot as your pick-up location.

Pick-up times are the same as departure times! Please arrive a minimum of 20 minutes prior to your pick-up time to avoid missing your bus. Buses will not be held for late passengers.

Parties Traveling Together: It is highly recommended that all parties traveling together book together on one reservation to prevent being split across multiple buses. This is the only method to guarantee not having the party split among different buses. If this is not possible, please ensure parties traveling together provide notes with each reservation - including the last names of all parties traveling together.

Car seat for children: For those traveling with younger children, please review the Alaska Car Seat Laws:

• Children younger than 1 year of age or less than 20 pounds (9 kilograms) must be in a rear-facing infant seat.
• Children 1 to 4 years old and at least 20 pounds (9 kilograms) must be in a child restraint.
• Children 4 to 7 years old and are less than 57 inches (1.4 meters) tall or less than 65 pounds (30 kilograms) must be in a booster seat. Booster seats are no longer required for children ages 5-7 once they reach 57 inches (1.4 meters) tall or weigh 65+ pounds (30 kilograms).

Parents are responsible for providing the appropriate car seat.

Entrance Fees: All adult tickets include a $15 per adult entrance fee required to enter the park. This fee is automatically included in all adult tour ticket prices listed above. Visitors with a valid National Park Service pass may request a refund at the Denali Bus Depot. Refunds are processed on an in-person basis only. For more information please visit https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/fees.htm .

Cancellations/Changes: There is a $8.25 fee per transit ticket and per tour ticket to change or cancel a reservation up to seven (7) days prior to departure. Transit tickets/Tour tickets that are changed or cancelled within seven (7) days of departure will be nonrefundable.

What to bring: Bring warm clothes and rain gear, camera, binoculars, and personal medication as necessary. Depending on your length of tour, visitors may also want to bring additional food and water. No food or water is available for purchase once the tour is underway.

Restrooms: Restroom stops occur every 60-90 minutes. There are no restrooms aboard the buses.

Wheelchair Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible buses are only available upon request when you make your reservation. Wheelchair buses are for those passengers who are fully confined to a wheelchair. Please make a reservation via phone ( 800-622-7275 ) and inform the reservation agent of the wheelchair bus need. For those visitors who are not confined to a wheelchair and can go up and down the stairs of a bus, but are unable to walk longer distances, courtesy wheelchairs are available at every stop for your convenience. All stops are wheelchair accessible.

Smoking: Smoking is not permitted aboard any bus. Receptacles are provided at rest areas in designated smoking areas.

Alcohol: Alcohol consumption is not permitted aboard any bus.

Firearms: A passenger/visitor may not possess a firearm on board a Tour Bus. These include the Tundra Wilderness Tours, Denali Natural History Tour, Eielson Excursion and Kantishna Experience buses.

For more information about firearms in Denali National Park & Preserve, visit the National Park Service at https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/management/firearms.htm .

• Park History
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Go into the Wild!

Tour information.

*Price includes $15.00 Park Entry Fee (Adults Only)

NOTE: Exact departure times are based on tour demand and will be provided to you within 48 hours of departure.

Check Availability

Tour Description

The Denali Natural History Tour focuses on the rich natural and cultural history of Denali National Park. Several interpretive stops enhance the experience with an hour of off-bus experiences. Beginning with a stop at the Denali Bus Depot, learn about the creation of the Denali Park Road with the film “Across Time and Tundra.” Next, visit the historical Savage Cabin to learn how the cabin was once used, and how it continues to be used today. Finally, a stop at Primrose Ridge to experience a memorable Alaska Native presentation that will enlighten you with how the land has been used for nearly 10,000 years! Your driver/naturalist will provide a great introduction to the landscape, geology, and history of Denali National Park and Preserve aboard the Denali Natural History Tour.

Tour Overview

Box lunches available (recommended).

We suggest you pre-book a boxed lunch for the trip, as there are no concessions available in the wilderness of Denali National Park. Pre-booking your boxed lunches can be done at Denali Park Village Lodge. Advance reservations are highly recommended.

View Options (PDF)

Know Before You Go

Important information about your pick-up time.

There are two general departure times daily: the morning departures leaving generally between 5:30am and 7:30 am are designed to get you back for the afternoon train to Fairbanks, while the afternoon departures allow you to arrive on the noon train from Fairbanks, departing generally between 1:30 pm and 3:00 pm. Tour Times and Pickup Locations are assigned approximately 48 hours prior to actual tour date. Your actual pickup location may vary, please reconfirm with your Hotel Front Desk or the Wilderness Access Center upon arrival.

Electronic Tickets

After completing an online reservation, you will be sent an electronic ticket, which lists your departure date and either morning or afternoon tour. Once you arrive at Denali National Park, you can take this electronic ticket to the Denali Bus Depot, up to three days prior tour departure date, and exchange it for your bus ticket and confirmed departure time.

National Park Pass Holders

Adult rates include the National Park Service Entrance Fee. All pass holders prepaying the National Park Service Fee will be entitled to a refund. Along with confirmation and/or tickets, please present photo ID with pass to obtain National Park Service Entrance Fee Refund. Please visit the Denali Bus Depot in the National Park to receive your refund.

Reservations

You can make your reservation online or in person at the Denali Bus Depot. Advance reservations are strongly encouraged.

Wheelchair Requests

If you have a need for a wheelchair seat on your tour, please call us at 866.761.6631 or 866.761.6629, so we can assign you to the correct bus to meet your needs.

How to Visit Denali National Park: Practical Guide

May 2, 2023

Paula Martinelli

If you are planning that dream trip to Alaska and wondering how to visit Denali National Park, you are in the right place! No visit to Alaska is complete without a trip to Denali National Park, as it should definitely be on top of your Alaska bucket list .

After a lot of research, followed by my visit to Denali during my Alaska Itinerary , I will be sharing all my best insider tips with you in this guide so that your time in Denali can be just as memorable as mine.

Denali National Park is one of the largest National Parks in the USA and it is named for the Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, at 20,310 feet (6,190 meters), with 6 million acres of a remote vast, and rugged wilderness area.

This is is the most comprehensive guide you can find on the internet and this should be your one-stop guide on how to visit Denali National Park. This guide is packed with very helpful information , such as the best time to visit Denali, where to stay, how to go camping, and what to pack to make your visit easy and safe.

You will also love:

• Denali National Park Guide: 10 Best Things to + 20 Top Hikes
• Ultimate Alaska Bucket List: 22 Unmissable Experiences
• A perfect Alaska road trip itinerary

Visiting Denali with a Road Lottery

Multiple days at denali, 5 safety tips to camp in denali.

Read More: The Ultimate Alaska Road Trip Itinerary

Where is Denali National Park

If you are searching for how to visit Denali National Park in Alaska, the first thing you need to be familiar with is where the park is located, so you can plan your Alaska itinerary accordingly.

Denali National Park is located in the interior of Alaska, roughly halfway between Anchorage and Fairbanks . If you are planning to fly, both cities have international airports where you can pick up your rental car, or take a train to Denali National Park.

• Anchorage: 240 miles, 4 hours
• Fairbanks: 125 miles, 2.30 hours
• Talkeetna: 155 miles 2.5 hours
• Glenallen: 340 miles, 6 hours
• Seward: 365 miles, 6 hours
• Homer: 353 miles, 6.15 hours
• Valdez: 460 miles, 8 hoursGlenallen:
• Juneau: 853 miles, 16.3 hours

How to Get to Denali National Park

There’s only one entrance to Denali National Park and that’s situated at Mile 237 of the George Parks Highway (also known as Alaska Highway 3). From there, you can continue driving up to Savage River where you’ll have to stop at Mile 15.

Logistics on How to Visit Denali National Park

Denali National Park is one of the most popular destinations in Alaska and it’s not hard to see why! With ample wildlife-watching opportunities, plenty of fantastic hiking trails, and awesome campgrounds – it’s the perfect place to visit for adventure travelers.

If you are wondering how to visit Denali National Park, here is a list of practical information, and it is a great start to planning your visit:

Read More: 10 Epic Things to do in Denali National Park

Getting Around Denali National Park

Private vehicles.

If you are driving your own car, note that you are allowed to drive only the first 15 miles of Denali Park Road to the Savage River Area. Beyond this point, the road turns into gravel and the only way you can advance is by taking the park bus, by bicycle, or if you have a special permit. The Denali Park Road is not open to private vehicles so most guests will visit the park on a bus tour .

The Denali Park Road starts at the visitor center, close to the main entrance of the park, and it heads west of the park. It will take you to the north side of the Alaska Range, crossing many rivers along the drive.

Check here the complete list of the 20 top hikes in Denali

Denali Park Bus Tour

There is a free shuttle at the park, taking visitors from the main bus depot and the railroad station to the Visitor Center, as well as the sled dog kennel, the Riley Creek Campground , and the Savage River Campground.

The buses heading to the park beyond the Savage River at milepost 15 – and this is the best opportunity to venture further into Denali Park.

There are four bus tours in total; the Tundra Wilderness Tour, the Denali Natural History Tour, the Eielson Excursion, and the Kantishna Experience Tour . No matter which one you choose you’ll have a guide on board who will teach you all about the local area!

However, it’s the Tundra Wilderness Tour that often steals the spotlight due to its awesome wildlife-watching opportunities. As you travel along Park Road you’ll also be treated to breathtaking views and a narrated history of the park. You can book your bus tours in advance online to secure yourself a spot!

Visiting Denali when the roads are closed

If you choose to visit the park in your private vehicle, or if you are visiting during low season when the park bus doesn’t operate , you still can catch some beautiful views of the park, try to see some wildlife, and here is a short list of options of how to visit Denali National Park when the park is closed:

• go on some hikes such as the horseshoe lake trail or hike the Mountain Healy Overlook trail, and hike the Savage River Loop Trail.
• You still can visit the Sled Dog Kennels
• Take a flightseeing tour to experience the incredible and vast landscape from above, I really recommend it!

There is not a shortage of adventures to do in Denali Nationa Park, but again, booked early to ensure your spot, be flexible having a couple of days/ time slots in mind in case your first choice is booked or suspended because of weather conditions.

The Denali Road Lottery is one of the best ways to visit the park. It is a special event hosted by the National Park Service for a few days in mid-September. But in 2021 and 2022, the park has announced that Denali Park Road closed at Milepost 42 , and will remain closed due to the continued landslide at Pretty Rocks, until further notice (I will update this post when this changes again).

For future consideration, if you are wondering how to visit Denali National park with the Road Lottery, here is how it works.

Each September the park hosts a four-day event called the Denali “Road Lottery.” During these four days, winners of a lottery drawing are given a chance to purchase a single, day-long permit, allowing them to drive as much of Denali Park Road as weather allows. In years with early snow, Park Road might open no farther than Savage River (Mile 15); in milder years, lottery winners are able to enjoy a trip out to the end of the park road (Mile 92). 

The dates offered in the Road Lottery vary each year. Generally, the event usually begins the second Friday after Labor Day. Applicants must apply here for the lottery, from May 1 to 31, for the chance to drive the road in September.

How Many Days do I need at Denali National Park?

Day trip to denali.

If you’ve only got one day in Denali then you’ll want to stop off at the Visitor Center to feel situated and o learn about the park., and visit the sled dog kennels. If you are looking to go hiking in Denali, you have options for shorter trails nearby, such as Mt Healy, offering incredible views of the park and the Horseshoe Trail. Check here for all the hikes in Denali National Park.

You can also check my complete Alaska itinerary article, which includes Denali for a day trip.

Spending several days in Denali is recommended as there is so much to do! As well as the activities mentioned for day one, you’ll want to attend a ranger program, hike some of the park’s longer trails and head out on a backcountry safari to see wildlife!

You would need at least 2-day at the park to be able to get the bus tour into the park because the bus leaves early in the morning and it takes the whole day.

Where to Eat at Denali National Park

You are not going to find food or drink available inside de park, so I recommend packing snacks and food with you. If you’re planning to go camping and hiking plan to pack high-energy food for hiking that is easy to carry.

If you missed anything, there is a small grocery shop at the entrance of the park. Also, Healy is the closest full-service, year-round community located about 11 miles north of the entrance of Denali Park.

Here, you will find some lodges and restaurants, and during peak season, many offer evening entertainment such as live music and dinner theater. In this area, you can also find some grocery shops and a gas station.

Best time to Visit Denali National Park

Denali National Park is open all year round but each season offers a different experience. Generally, the best time to visit Denali is during the summer but let’s take a look at every season and see what they offer!

I also recommend visiting the Denali National Park Current Conditions Page for a full list of operational updates.

SPRING: Spring in Denali is usually very short and runs from mid-April to early May! You’ll find activities and services to be limited during this time and you’ll need to hire a car for your trip as the buses don’t start to operate until mid-May. The climate tends to be cool during this time of year, but temperatures are known to plummet and you may experience plenty of snowfall so keep that in mind!

SUMMER: Denali’s peak season runs from late May to early September and is the BEST time to visit the park. With pleasant temperatures, regular bus services, and operating tours – it offers the best experience. During the summer, you’ll also have fantastic wildlife-watching opportunities, and the hiking trails will be in good condition too.

FALL: The Autumn/fall season runs from mid-September to October and is when the snow starts to accumulate in Denali. The temperatures start to drop dramatically although if you’re lucky, you can get some pleasant weather conditions too. Fall is another season where you’ll need to hire a vehicle as the bus services stop in September. However, during this time you’ll be able to drive up to Mile 30 if you’ve won the Park lottery.

WINTER: If you’re heading to Denali during the winter be prepared for freezing temperatures and plenty of snow. The only campground open during this time is Riley Creek although it’s FREE to stay there in the winter. Due to snowfall, you may find the road to be temporarily closed at Mile 3 and wildlife spotting becomes very difficult.

Weather at Denali National Park

The weather in Denali National Park is notoriously unpredictable so make sure you’re prepared! It can change without warning and you’ll often be treated to a variety of conditions throughout the day. This includes sun, rain, and wind so you’ll need to dress for the elements.

Even if you’re heading to Denali during the summer, you might experience snowfall too – especially in the mountains. If you’re planning to climb within the national park, this is something to keep in mind.

Although the weather is changeable throughout the park, this is especially the case if you’re hiking some of the higher elevation trails. The Eielson Visitor Center and the Polychrome Overlook are located at quite a high altitude, so expect temperatures and conditions to vary dramatically.

If you’re unsure of the expected weather conditions you can chat with one of the rangers or check out the NPS webcams!

Where to Stay Close to Denali National Park

There are plenty of hotels, lodges, and cabins around the Denali Park entrance. Most of the Denali Park Hotels are located near the park entrance, from the Denali Canyon 1 mile north of the entrance to the Denali Village area. About 7 miles to the south.

Make sure you book your accommodation well in advance because they book up fast. Below are my top picks for you:

TOP OVERALL PICK: Denali Lakeview Inn

Rated: 9.4 Exceptional

Located on a gorgeous beachfront in Healy, with a private beach and water sports facility. The rooms have mountains and lake views, and the rooms have kitchenettes, with comfortable beds. This is a family-owned operation, and they will take great care of you!

Denali Tri-Valey Cabins

Located in Healy, Denali Tri-Valley Cabins has accommodations with free WiFi, air conditioning, and access to a garden with a grill. Cabins are well equipped with a full kitchen, barbecue area, sitting area, and very comfortable beds.

Grande Denali Lodge

Rated: 7.6 Good

The rustic lodge sits high up on the hill, with views are stunning panoramic views of Denali Canyon. They offer a shuttle service to take guests around the area. The location is 1.6 miles from Denali National Park. The Alpenglow Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Camping in Denali National Park

Camping in Denali National Park is a bucket list experience for sure, and is something everyone should experience! There are two main camping options within the park; backcountry camping and campground reservations so let’s take a look at each one.

Backcountry Camping

If you’re an avid explorer and you don’t require facilities then backcountry camping may be the best option for you! This is an experience like no other and will allow you to explore Denali’s rugged wilderness. You won’t need to stick to the trails either so you can find some of the park’s hidden gems!

There aren’t any campgrounds out in the wilderness so you can literally pitch up wherever which is super exciting! Just keep in mind that you’ll need to carry approved bear-resistant food containers (BRFC) and bear spray.

To camp out in the wilderness, you’ll require a backcountry permit . These permits are FREE but you’ll need to attend a backcountry orientation first before they are issued. Once you’ve attended this, you can get your permit from the Backcountry Information Center or the Denali Bus Depot Campus.

Campgrounds

If you’re not sure about a wilderness experience then I recommend staying at one of the campgrounds within Denali Park Instead. There are six campgrounds so let’s take a look at each one:

• Riley Creek Campground – Mile 0.25, open all year round, suitable for RVs and tents
• Savage River Campground – Mile 14, open in summer only, suitable for RVs and tents
• Sanctuary River Campground – Mile 22, open in summer only, suitable for tents
• Teklanika River Campground – Mile 29, open in summer only, suitable for RVs and tents
• Igloo Creek Campground – Mile 35, open in summer only, suitable for tents
• Wonder Lake Campground – Mile 85, open in summer only, suitable for tents

TIP #1: The first two campgrounds are located before mile 15 so are accessible by car. However, after that, the majority of the campgrounds are accessed by bus so are only suitable for tents.

TIP #2: Teklanika River Campground is located at Mile 29 and is accessible via car. You’ll have to stay for a minimum of three nights but this gives you the chance to drive past Mile 15 which most visitors to Alaska often won’t get!

TIP #3: The best way to secure a campground is to make a reservation in advance. This can be done months in advance if you know your route or you can do it closer to the time. However, just keep in mind that you’ll find there to be limited availability if you leave it too late.

TIP #4: Camping in Denali is a great way to cut your costs as the campground fees are extremely reasonable! They vary site by site but you’re looking at an average of $20-40 per night. If you decide to visit Alaska during the winter and camp at Riley Creek, your stay will be FREE!

TIP #5: Regardless of where you choose to camp in Denali, you are required to secure your food in a bear-proof container , that you can borrow from the park service when you get your camping permit. Also, always have bear spray with you, it is extremely important to follow the safety guidelines on any wildlife encounter.

What to Pack for Denali National Park

Considering that Denali National Park is located in a remote location and that Alaska is the land of extreme weather, you need to make sure you plan and pack accordingly. If you forgot to pack any essentials, or you plan to bring some items that you cannot fly with, such as bear spray or camping gear, you can buy these things in Anchorage or Fairbanks.

This is my list of essentials I recommend you to pack for Denali National Park:

• Complete Packing List: If you are short on time, check my Ultimate Packing List for Alaska with a FREE printable packing list
• Pack food & Snacks: You will need to bring your own food and snacks to the park, especially if you are planning to go hiking in remote areas. Plan to pack high-energy food for hiking that is easy to carry, and has a good mix of carbs, proteins, and fats.
• Portable water bottle:  Remember to bring and drink a lot of water and if you need to refill, a  LifeStraw Filtered Water Bottle  is the best option. You will find stations to refill your water along the hiking trails
• First-aid kit:  Always remember to pack a  first-aid kit  for your hikes.
• Bear Spray: Especially if you are planning to hike in the backcountry you will need a bear spray
• Day-Backpack:  I love my  day-backpack   and it is very handy for any hiking.
• Headlamps:   Carry a flashlight or  headlamp  even on a day hike. If you have trouble on the trail, darkness may fall before you can finish your hike.
• Wear sturdy shoes for hiking:  The most important thing is to protect your feet and avoid twisting your ankle and getting injured. I recommend investing in a good hiking boots brand such as  Teva, Salomon , or even  Keens .
• Moisture-wicking clothing:  These clothes help to pull the sweat away from your body and stay cool and dry during your hiking such as  light hiking pants   &  long sleeves shirts.
• Warm Layers:  Early morning or late night can get cold so it is important to bring layers, a  lightweight puffy jacket   is a must!
• Packing for winter hiking:  During winter make sure to have a good quality  hiking jacket   and pack a  warm pair of pants  for your hike.
• Wear a hat and sunglasses:  It is always important to protect yourself against the sun. Bring a hat with a  good face cover like this  one and don’t forget to pack a pair of  polarized sunglasses
• Bring your Camera:  You will see some incredible views during your hiking, so don’t forget your camera, or check out some  great value options here

Read More: What to Pack for Alaska + FREE Printable List

How to Visit Denali National Park Conclusion

I hope you have found all the information you need about how to visit Denali National park, for fun and most importantly, a safe visit.

If you still have any questions such as what are the best things to do in Denali or wondering what are the best hikes in Denali National Park, just visit my other articles where you will have all the detailed information you need.

If you are planning your trip to Alaska, I would also love:

• 10-Day Ultimate Road Trip Itinerary in Alaska
• 21 Fun and Interesting Facts about Alaska
• Ultimate Guide on How to hike Exit Glacier
• Harding Icefield Trail: The Complete Hiking Guide
• 30 Best Things to do in Seward
• 21 Best Things to do in Valdez
• 15 Best Things to do in Talkeetna
• How to Take the Ferry from Whittier to Valdez, Alaska
• What to pack for Alaska + FREE Printable pack list

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Plan your Trip

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Where to Stay in Alaska: 7 Top Towns + Hotel Guide

What is Alaska Known For? 20 Things Alaska is Famous For

Ultimate Packing List for Alaska in Summer & Winter + Printable

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Denali Bus Tours

Note: The tours listed below will NOT be running during the 2024 season! - Denali is a fascinating and beautiful national park with a wonderfully diverse mix of geology and wildlife to see and discover. However, visitors choosing to explore the park road on their own, are only allowed to drive 15 miles into the park before they have to stop and turn around.

If you want to go further into the park and discover the true heart of Denali National Park, then taking a bus tour through the park is a must.

Below you will find details of the two best and most popular bus tours through the park. Each of these tours will travel the entire 90+ mile length of the road and take you all the way to the old mining town of Kantishna, Alaska.

To really make the most of your visit to Denali National Park, a bus tour through the park is a must-do experience, and these two options receive our highest recommendation!

Kantishna Wilderness Trails Tour An up-close, interpretive tour through the heart of Denali National Park!

Kantishna wilderness trails bus tour.

• Interesting and informative narration throughout the entire length of the road
• Receive an expert education on all things Denali!
• Get an up close encounter with Denali's premier points of interest including Wonder Lake, Igloo Mountain, Tolkat River
• Travel to the historic mining town of Kantishna
• A hearty lunch will be provided at the exclusive Kantishna Roadhouse
• Fun activities to take part in once you reach the Kantishna area - gold panning, hiking, or relaxing in the saloon or on the patio at the Roadhouse
• Possible opportunities to see Denali, the tallest mountain in North America! (weather permitting)

Call to Book: 855-245-1289

Description

This tour wil NOT run during the 2024 season due to the in-park road closure at mile marker 42. Please check back for the 2025 season.

Want to get a truly immersive experience in Denali National Park? The Kantishna Wilderness Trails Bus Tour is the perfect opportunity to do just that. This top-rated Denali Park tour is an all-day adventure that starts at the Denali Village near the park entrance and allows you to experience the entire 90+ miles of the Denali Park Road, enjoying all of the sights, sounds and scenery along the way.

The Kantishna Wilderness Trails Tour is one of the most popular tours in the park and for very good reason. This comprehensive park experience will give you an up-close and intimate view of the flora and fauna and the breathtaking scenery in the heart of Denali National Park. You will also be treated to a hearty lunch in the town of Kantishna, and have a little time to explore the area or simply relax by the river for a little while before returning back to the park entrance.

This tour takes advantage of the entire stretch of the park road, and gives you a comprenensive and detailed view of all of the wonderful diversity and scenery that Denali National Park encompasses. On clear days you will enjoy amazing views of the Alaska Range and if you are lucky some stunning views of Denali Peak.

Scenic beauty abounds on this tour with opportunities to see some of the parks most popular features such as Polychrome Pass, Igloo Mountain, Wonder Lake and of course the quaint town of Kantishna.

The Wilderness Trails Tour is also a great option for viewing Alaska and Denali's most popular and sought after wildlife. You will have lots of opportunities to see all sorts of wildlife in its native habitat in the wilderness surounding the road. Including opportunities to see the big five...moose, grizzly, dall sheep, wolves and caribou!

Terms & policies

Cancellation:.

Prior to 60 days of excursion date, a $25.00 service fee per seat is charged.

Between 60 & 30 days of excursion date, forfeiture of 50% of total charge.

Within 30 days of excursion date, forfeiture of full payment.

Cancellation for any reason is subject to this cancellation policy. Travel insurance is strongly recommended.

Denali Backcountry Adventure Tour Experience a Guided Wilderness Safari 92 miles deep into Denali National Park!

Denali backcountry adventure tour.

• Travel the entire 90 miles stretch of road
• Jaw-dropping scenery and many wildlife viewing opportunities
• Narration from your local expert guide
• Many photo opportunities along the way
• Enjoy a tasty lunch in the old mining town of Kantishna

The Denali Backcountry Adventure Tour allows you to explore the entire 92 mile stretch of road from the Denali Park entrance to the town of Kantishna on a comprehensive 13-hour national park experience. This tour is a wonderful opportunity to see the beautiful scenery in the heart of Denali National Park as well as the amazing wildlife that calls the park home.

Your driver and guide for the day is a local expert on Denali's geology, history and wildlife. During the tour your guide will point out many points of interest along the way sharing fascinating facts and history about the park.

Your guide is also an expert at spotting wildlife in the wilderness surrounding the park road and will be sure to point out wildlife that you otherwise might have missed.

The tour makes several stops along the road at significant points of interest and scenic viewpoints. And at the end of the road you will enjoy an unforgettable creekside lunch at the Miners Day lodge in Kantishna.

Terms & Payment Policies:

Unless otherwise noted, all rates are per person based on double occupancy and subject to adjustments without notice. Taxes and other applicable fees are extra.

Major credit cards are accepted such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover. Full Payment is due at time of booking.

A fee of $50 per person, is applied for changes made less than 45 days before your booked date.

Cancellation Policy:

From 60 to 46 days prior to arrival, forfeiture of deposit

45 to 0 days prior to arrival, non-refundable

Due to the abbreviated season and remote location, the purchase of travel insurance is strongly recommend.

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A Guide to the Denali Transit Bus: Comparing the Transit Bus and the Narrated Tour Bus

June 12, 2023.

Denali National Park is an incredible six million acres of mostly undeveloped and protected land. The park is home to the highest point in North America, wildlife, high alpine tundra landscapes and many mountain peaks.

Here are some things to know about Denali:

• Mount Denali has an elevation of 20,310’.
• Denali National Park is larger than the entire state of New Hampshire and has only 92 miles of road.
• Glaciers cover one sixth of Denali.
• Denali is located four hours north of Anchorage.
• Most of the trails in Denali are unmaintained. You are encouraged to spread out and explore where you wish for most of the park.

Table of Contents

When to visit denali national park, the denali tour bus vs the transit bus, what to expect on the denali transit bus, the wildlife in denali national park, seeing denali mountain.

Note that an ongoing landslide inside the park will impact bus service through 2024 and buses can go no further than Mile 43.

Summer is the time when the vast majority of visitors go to Denali National Park. Transit bus service into the park typically begins on May 20 each year, but the buses do not go down the entire road until June. The summer season ends in mid-September.

If you visit in the spring or fall, buses will not be available and services will be limited, but this can still be a great time to see wildlife and explore certain parts of the park.

Typically, each year in September Denali hosts a “Road Lottery” for permits to drive private vehicles on the Denali park road. Visitors can apply to win the permit to drive as far as they can. An extra fifth day of the lottery is dedicated to active duty military service-members and their families. Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled for 2021 due to a landslide.

In the winter, vehicle access is limited but you can explore the park by skis, snowshoes or even dog sled.

This blog post is based upon my experience of visiting Denali in August and taking the Denali transit bus.

Denali National Park is unique in that there is only one road that goes into the park. This is especially wild when you consider that the park is larger than the size of New Hampshire.

The road through the park is 92 miles long, but private vehicles are only allowed to drive the first fifteen miles of the road. After the first fifteen miles, the road becomes unpaved and only park buses and authorized vehicles are allowed.

The national park offers two different types of bus journeys into the park. There is a narrated tour bus and non-narrated transit bus.

Narrated Tour Bus

• Costs $114 for the Natural History tour and $141.25 for the Tundra Wilderness Tour in 2023.
• Includes lunch.
• Bus driver is a trained naturalist and narrates the trip.
• Not set up for passengers to disembark and re-board.

Non - Narrated Transit Bus

• Costs $32.75 per person in 2023.
• You can be dropped off for hiking or to take a different bus back at any time.
• The bus stops for wildlife.
• The bus driver is not required to narrate the bus ride, but is often knowledgeable about the park.

Which bus is for you?

The non-narrated is best if you are interested in disembarking for a hike or a picnic, or if you would like to see the park with more flexibility and at a more affordable price.

The narrated tour is best if you have no interest in hiking and would like to learn as much as possible about the park.

When should you book Denali bus tickets?

The narrated tour bus was sold out by the time I went to book, which was two months in advance of my visit in August. If you know you would like to do the tour in 2022, reservations open on December 1, 2021.

The Denali Transit Bus was an amazing way to see the park, spot wildlife and learn a little bit along the way. I took the bus to the Eielson Visitor Center at Mile 66, which was the furthest destination offered in 2021.

The round trip bus to mile 66 lasts 8 hours, and can extend if you decide to disembark and explore. Due to time constraints, I got on the last bus of the day which left the depot at 2pm. This meant that I stayed on the bus the whole time without any hiking. I would recommend getting an earlier bus time and giving yourself time to hike or have a picnic along the way.

If you plan to hike from the transit bus, you will wait on the side of the road for any other green transit bus to pick you up. Be sure you check ahead of time when the last bus is expected so that you don’t end up stranded. Whether you are hiking or just enjoying an overlook, know that the transit buses do not wait around and count everyone. They follow a schedule whether you’re there or not, so don’t delay in getting back on the bus.

The Bus Itself

The buses are almost exactly like the old school buses that I rode to school growing up. The windows didn’t all stay shut and there is no restroom on the bus. However, they do have individual seats instead of bench seats, heating and air conditioning and overhead space for your things. While the leaky windows made for a cold trip, the transit buses are very sufficient for exploring the park.

What to Bring on the Denali Transit Bus

You will need to bring your own food and drinks on the bus as there are no services available along the way. You should also bring layers on the bus and depending on the weather, consider bringing a blanket.

If you plan on hiking, you should definitely carry bear spray but you will be asked to put it in your pack for the bus trip. There were signs I liked that said “There are no bears on buses so there is no need for your spray to be accessible.”

Finally, I recommend bringing a zoom lens and/or binoculars to enjoy spotting and photographing wildlife during your trip.

The Journey

The bus takes about four hours each way between the bus depot and visitor center. After the first 15 miles, the road becomes unpaved and the bus travels about 20 to 25 MPH. While the road is unpaved, I found the bus ride to be pretty smooth for the most part. My bus route stopped three times for restrooms each way, plus another stop for an overlook without restrooms.

The entire route has amazing scenery. You will begin in a forested area but soon go above the treeline and into the tundra. As you reach higher elevations, the mountains surround you in all directions and vast valleys open up with streams criss-crossing in all directions. A portion of the ride involves driving on a windy road built into the mountains. If you are very afraid of heights, this might not be for you.

Some highlights of the trip scenery included:

• A great view of the Teklanika River at the Teklanika Rest Stop.
• Polychrome Pass, where you ride on the edge of the cliff along a colorful mountain face rich with yellows, oranges and pinks.
• The Polychrome Overlook, our only stop without a bathroom, located right after driving through the pass. You can see reddish mountains framed against a vast valley here.
• An incredible view of glacier run off and the surrounding mountains from the Eielson Visitor Center.

When Glacier ice melts, silt is carried down downstream, giving the streams a milky-color described as glacial milk.

At Mile 53, there was a small gift shop at the Toklat River Rest Stop. In addition, there were moose and caribou antlers that you could pick up and use in photos! Finally, if you have taken an early bus and have spare time, the Eielson Visitor Center has a couple marked trails with great viewpoints on both sides of the road. These would be good short hikes if you have time!

While the scenery was amazing, I found the wildlife to be the best part of the Denali transit bus experience. I saw four out of five of the “big five” mammals commonly spotted in Denali: moose, caribou, dall sheep and grizzly bears (the fifth that I didn’t see was a wolf).

The transit bus stops for wildlife and everyone is asked to remain quiet while watching the animals. The animals have gotten used to ignoring the buses and the park service does not want them to hear people nearby and become interested.

Grizzly bears are very active towards the end of the summer as they consume berries to bulk up for winter. I saw a gigantic grizzly bear less than 100 yards from the road devouring as many berries as it could with urgency. I also saw another smaller grizzly bear running.

Throughout the journey, I saw at least a dozen caribou. The herd of caribou in Denali is the only barren-ground caribou herd in North America that is not hunted. Currently, there are about 1,750 caribou in the park.

It was from a huge distance, but we also saw dall sheep up high on a mountain. These animals tend to stick to the ridges and steep slopes of the high mountains.

Moose tend to hang out near the lower elevation areas of the park near forests, lakes and marshes. I saw three moose during my last hour of the bus ride. They were along the paved road, so in an area accessible by car. These creations are so fascinating to watch and it’s amazing to see the sheer size of them!

As a bonus, we also saw a porcupine during the tour. Other small mammals you might spot include marmots, pike and foxes.

The great thing about wildlife is that you can see them no matter the weather! Since I visited on a particularly foggy day, seeing the wildlife was a highlight of the park.

One thing I did not see during my trip to Denali was Mount Denali. While the summer months are most accessible to visitors, they are also the wettest months of the year, meaning you are even less likely to see the mountain. It turns out that only about 30% of visitors see the mountain. The more time you can spend in Denali, the more likely you are to see the mountain, as the weather is always shifting quickly.

At the Eielson Visitor Center, there is a daily sketch showing when Denali has been visible in the past month.

Overall, I highly recommend the transit bus for exploring deeper into Denali National Park. However, there is a lot more to explore in Denali in addition to the bus. Check out my blog post with the best things to do in Denali to continue planning your trip !

Stay tuned, I will have another blog post that covers where to stay and other things to do during your trip to Denali National Park.

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The Best 7 Day Alaska Itinerary for a Summer Road Trip

Snowy peaks and hot springs: A Fairbanks-Denali-Anchorage road trip

Most of Alaska can be rugged and impenetrable by car, but the 360-mile road trip between the state's largest cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks is a breeze.

As you drive the well-maintained George Parks Highway, you'll visit the breathtaking wilderness of Denali National Park — home to the highest mountain peak in North America — and the spirited small town of Talkeetna.

Fairbanks and Anchorage lay claim to a couple of the best museums in the state. Plus, they offer easy access to nature, whether your passion is hiking, kayaking, biking or fishing.

You can easily continue your journey south from Anchorage through the alluring natural scenery of the glacially sculpted Kenai Peninsula.

Southcentral Alaska road trip planning

The main stops on this scenic journey are at roughly two-hour intervals along two of the state's principal thoroughfares: the George Parks Highway and the Glenn Highway (closer to Anchorage). The mostly two-lane (and four-lane in and around Fairbanks and Anchorage) roads are labeled Highway 3 and Highway 1, respectively, on maps. Alaskans never speak of highway route numbers, so refer to them by their proper names to avoid receiving blank stares from locals.

Although there are very few towns on the northern stretch of this route, you'll rarely be more than 40 miles between gas stations. Keep your tank above a quarter full, and you'll be fine. Wildlife, including moose and bears, are commonplace; stay alert, stick close to posted speed limits and heed "animal crossing" signs. Cell service is spotty north of Talkeetna, so download maps in advance.

Car rentals are expensive in Alaska during the high season (late spring to early fall). One-way, one-week rentals in Fairbanks and Anchorage start around $1,500. The price drops by as much as 50% if you pick up and drop off at the same location, so consider adding an extra day to this trip to return to where you started. Without stops, the drive between Anchorage and Fairbanks is six hours.

DIY versus an organized tour

For road trip fans, exploring Southcentral Alaska by car is a joy. You can go at your own pace, choose cozier and quirkier restaurants and accommodations, and pull off to snap a photo of a moose or bald eagle at whim.

The vast majority of visitors to this part of the state travel by way of a glass-domed or picture-window train tour on the scenic Alaska Railroad, a luxury motor coach tour or some combination of the two. All major cruise lines with itineraries that start or end in Whittier or Seward offer these as pre- or post-trip excursions, typically spanning two to five days.

You can also book these trips directly through popular companies like Alaska Tours (from $1,759 per person, double occupancy, for five nights by motor coach and train) or directly through the Alaska Railroad . The latter offers several packages that cover Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks, usually in combination with Seward or Whittier (from $3,795 per person, double occupancy, for seven nights by train).

Given the steep cost of rental cars and hotels in summer, you won't save money traveling on your own versus taking a group tour. The prices are similar for comparable levels of comfort. But a do-it-yourself road trip is easy to plan thanks to this region's tourism-friendly infrastructure. So, if you prefer the freedom of hitting the open road at your own pace, free from a group, an independent road trip is the right option.

Budgeting your time

At a brisk pace, you can see the major attractions on this trip in five days and four nights. For a more relaxing experience, allow a week.

Getting to Fairbanks or Anchorage

This itinerary begins in Fairbanks, the largest city in the upper half of the state. You could also drive it in reverse, beginning in Alaska's largest metropolis, Anchorage.

Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) is served by most major airlines, with direct flights at least once daily from northern and western Lower 48 hubs. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) offers many more flights and connections, including several direct international routes.

The best months to visit central Alaska

The best and only practical time period for this trip is mid-May through early October. There are great reasons to visit Fairbanks and Anchorage in winter — like seeing the northern lights and watching dog-sled races — but road-tripping isn't one of them. Driving conditions can be hazardous during this time, and services in or near Denali National Park are extremely limited in winter.

You'll encounter the biggest crowds and steepest hotel rates from mid-June through Labor Day, but this is also when you're likely to experience the best weather. You'll find partly sunny skies with some rain possible; temperatures are mild, with average highs in the 60s. Fairbanks in mid-June can be a lot of fun when you experience the true midnight sun. All summer, the region's long days provide more time to hike and avoid driving in darkness.

Fairbanks to Denali National Park

Alaska's second-largest city (with a population of around 32,000), Fairbanks is a friendly, slightly sprawling expanse of gently undulating woodland. It's bisected by the snaking Chena and Tanana rivers. The city is about 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle, and it's the first large community visitors reach when driving to Alaska from Canada via the legendary Alaska, or Alcan, Highway.

Visit the sleek, contemporary Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center downtown. As with any visitor center, you can pick up brochures and ask the staff for sightseeing advice. However, the building also contains a superb (and free) museum about human and natural history. Walk through the series of life-size dioramas that touch on Native Alaskan culture, local flora and fauna and archaeology. Then, go outside to the walking path flanking the Chena River to snap a selfie beneath the Moose Antler Arch, fashioned from more than 100 antlers.

Then, stroll west along the river and then south a couple of blocks into the heart of downtown and grab breakfast or lunch at the locally beloved Crepery or dinner at refined Lavelle's Bistro .

The city's other must-see attraction is the Museum of the North , set in a striking, angular building on the hilltop flagship campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The museum's great draws are the natural history exhibits — which depict seals, caribou and a gruff-looking, nearly 9-foot-tall grizzly bear.

Don't overlook the excellent gallery on the second level: It's filled with works by generations of Alaskan artists. As you climb the staircase, behold the 42-foot-long skeleton of a bowhead whale on one side and the vast panoramas south toward the Tanana River Valley and Alaska Range through the window. The museum shop has an exceptional collection of Alaskan-made art and crafts.

For a different perspective on the landscape, book a three-hour narrated cruise on the Riverboat Discovery , a vintage stern-wheeler that plies the Tanana and Chena rivers. The Tanana Valley Farmers Market — open Wednesday and Saturday in summer — is worth a stop for its bounty of local foods and crafts.

The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum also stands out. It holds more than 70 vehicles inside — many of them rare. They nearly all date to the pre-1940s and have been meticulously restored. Beside the cars is an equally impressive trove of period fashion, with photos of intrepid adventurers driving their early autos across the formidable Alaskan landscape, often through mountains of snow, on the walls. It's inspiring material for your road trip through the Last Frontier.

The drive to Denali National Park is a straight shot about 120 miles down George Parks Highway. Immediately southwest out of town, the road climbs steadily into the hills before dipping about 60 miles later to cross a dramatic bridge over the Nenana River, where it enters the larger Tanana.

Pull off the highway for a quick look around Nenana village. Stop by the Historic Alaska Railroad Depot, walk along the river, and drop into rollicking old Moochers Bar for an Alaskan beer. It's a little less than an hour from Denali.

Optional side trip to Chena Hot Springs

Before leaving Fairbanks for Denali, consider making this one-hour side excursion in the opposite direction. About 60 miles northeast, Chena Hot Springs Resort is a funky and remote 440-acre resort run entirely on renewable geothermal energy. It's most popular for its indoor and outdoor soaking pools, and in winter, it's a magical viewpoint for the northern lights. It's a pleasure to soak in the two spring-fed pools, which maintain a temperature of 82 to 86 degrees.

At this tranquil property, you can explore the Aurora Ice Museum, book a sled-dog kennel tour or horseback ride, dine in the excellent geothermal greenhouse-to-table restaurant, sip appletinis out of ice goblets, and even spend the night in the simple but pleasant lodgings.

The drive here through mossy forests is super-relaxing until you spy a giant moose bathing in one of the roadside ponds. At this point, you'll want to (carefully) pull over and snap some photos from a safe distance. The odds of seeing these towering ungulates increase early or late in the day as you pass through Chena River State Recreation Area, within about 15 miles of the resort.

Where to stay near Fairbanks

Wedgewood Resort (rates start at $279 per night) is a comfortable option, a short drive from downtown but with a quiet parklike setting. (Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum is on the grounds.)

Close to the airport and set along a pretty expanse of the Chena River, Pike's Waterfront Lodge (rates start at $234 per night) has several distinctive amenities: an aromatherapy steam room and dry sauna, a theater showing films about the northern lights, a speakeasy-style billiards lounge and a very popular riverfront restaurant.

Chena Hot Springs Resort (rates start at $210 per night) has 86 hotel rooms, plus cabins and yurts. If you're not in a rush, it's worth spending a night here. The setting is magical.

Denali National Park to Talkeetna

As you approach Denali National Park from Fairbanks, you'll first pass through Healy, a diminutive, laid-back town with several lodging options and restaurants. It's far less commercial than the strip of eateries, tour businesses and hotels 10 miles farther south — just outside the park's main entrance — known as "Glitter Gulch."

Though convenient, Glitter Gulch teems with park visitors. However, it's home to Prospector's Pizzeria & Alehouse — a must-stop for outstanding pies piled with inventive ingredients and an exceptional list of Alaska craft beers.

Set aside a couple of days to explore Denali National Park . The vast majority of this 7,408-square-mile park is untrammeled wilderness, and there are just two ways to explore it in a vehicle.

The most popular way is to book a ride in one of the green school buses that plies Denali's 92-mile park road. Alas, in 2021, the massive Pretty Rock Landslide washed out this gravel byway at mile 43. Until a mammoth rebuilding project is completed around summer 2026, buses can travel only as far as mile 43; the gorgeous and hugely popular Eielson Visitor Center (at mile 66) is closed.

Your other option is to drive into the park, but private autos are permitted only as far as mile 15 of the park road, at the Savage River picnic area. Still, given that the scenery along these first 15 miles is arguably even more beautiful than on the additional 28-mile stretch accessible to park buses, driving your car is arguably the more enjoyable option. You can go at your own pace, and you're guaranteed a good view out your car window. Best of all, you don't have to scramble for a seat on a crowded bus.

The parking lot at Savage River can fill up, however, so try to go when it's less crowded (either early in the morning or late in the afternoon).

Whether you drive or take the bus, you should visit Savage River. From here, you can access two of the park's best hiking trails. The easy 1.7-mile round-trip Savage River Loop Trail meanders through a breathtaking river valley. Departing from the same trailhead, the moderately challenging Savage Alpine Trail (4.2 miles one-way or 6.5 miles as a loop) climbs about 1,500 feet over a craggy, wildflower-strewn ridge with astounding views before descending to Savage River Campground. From here you can flag down a bus or walk along the Park Road the final 2.3 miles back to where you started.

During your visit, you may glimpse the park's namesake 20,310-foot-tall peak. However, Denali has fickle weather, and the summit is often shrouded in clouds, even when it's sunny at Savage River. The park is about more than just the mountain, though. Near the park entrance, there's a lot to see around the main visitor center, including the sled-dog kennels at the park headquarters and several outstanding hikes. One of the best is the 4-mile round-trip jaunt to Horseshoe Lake.

For the most memorable views of the park, consider splurging on a flightseeing excursion. Several reputable outfitters offer this, like Healy-based Fly Denali and Talkeetna's K2 Aviation , one of Alaska's best and longest-running flightseeing companies.

K2's one- to two-hour tours fly directly over the park's awesome peaks and massive, blue-tinted glaciers, offering eye-popping, up-close views and (weather permitting) a great look at Denali Peak. For an extra charge, you can book a flight that lands on a glacier, where you can hop out for a quick walk.

To get to Talkeetna, it's a 2.5-hour drive from Denali's park entrance, south down George Parks Highway. The final 14 miles are a jag north on Talkeetna Spur Road.

Where to stay near Denali National Park

Avoid the crowds from bus and train tours and stay in one of the smaller, slightly off-the-beaten-path accommodations either north of the park in Healy or south of it around Carlo Creek.

A notable exception to this rule is Grande Denali Lodge (rates start at $369 per night). Although it's in Glitter Gulch and is popular with groups, it has a spectacular setting high on a bluff. The lodge is situated away from road traffic and offers fantastic views of the park, including from the terrific Alpenglow restaurant.

About 15 miles south in Carlo Creek, McKinley Creekside Cabins (rates start at $289 per night) is a wonderfully relaxed little compound; it has a cute cafe and bakery and accommodations in 13 cabins and three larger vacation homes.

Talkeetna to Anchorage

Talkeetna has become a bit more discovered than when it inspired the town of Cicely in the hit '90s TV show "Northern Exposure." It's still endearingly offbeat, though. Its vibe is inextricably linked with Denali National Park, as most who visit the park also spend time here. It's also a popular stop on the Alaska Railroad; when trains come through, the town seems to quadruple in population.

It's an excellent place to spend the night if you're booking one of the town's popular flightseeing tours of Denali, but it's also just a picturesque little town with a fun personality. Also, you stand a better chance of seeing Denali's peak from Talkeetna than you do from the section of Denali National Park nearest to its entrance. Talkeetna Riverfront Park, at the west end of Main Street, is one of the best spots to take in the view.

The town also has an atmospheric 1920s general store, Nagley's, which is the residence of Talkeetna's feline mayor, Denali. (Denali replaced the former mayor, an internationally famous orange manx mix named Stubbs, who passed away in 2017 at age 20.) Talkeetna also has a small but impressive selection of galleries and restaurants. Good bets for a bite to eat include Denali Brewpub for its spacious deck and Homestead Kitchen for its mix of Southern- and Alaska-inspired dishes.

Mat-Su Valley

From Talkeetna, after returning to Parks Highway, it's a straightforward drive to Anchorage. It takes about two hours without stops, but there are a few interesting spots to check out en route in the Mat-Su (short for Matanuska-Susitna) Valley. You'll enter the valley about an hour after leaving Talkeetna.

This region is somewhat suburban, especially sprawling Wasilla, which became instantly infamous when John McCain tapped its former mayor and then-Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate during the 2008 presidential election.

Interesting stops include the Museum of Alaska Transportation Industry and Palmer — a short way up the Glenn Highway past the fork leading to Anchorage. This historic town hosts the Alaska State Fair in late August, which is famous for its humongous produce. (We're talking 138-pound cabbages and 2,000-pound pumpkins.) Alaska's long summer days result in a short but impressive growing season.

Palmer is also home to the Musk Ox Farm , a wonderful nonprofit where you can book a guided "oxperience" to see these gentle and furry Ice Age mammals up close. The Vagabond Blues Coffee House and Palmer Ale House are appealing lunch stops.

Where to stay near Talkeetna

Steps from shops and cafes, Talkeetna Cabins (rates start at $285 per night) is a dapper little complex comprising four modern log cabins and a three-bedroom log house set around a lawn. Each comes with a full kitchen.

It's a few minutes from town and lacks the area's historic funkiness, but Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (rates start at $299 per night) offers a nice range of creature comforts after a day of driving or hiking (or bouncing around in a tiny flightseeing plane). The property's 212 upscale rooms are set among several buildings. Amenities include multiple restaurants, a gym and a back terrace on a bluff with postcard-worthy views of Denali.

Exploring Anchorage

Home to nearly 40% of Alaska's 733,000 residents, Anchorage ranges across nearly 2,000 square miles — an area larger than Rhode Island. With its big-box stores and wide, well-maintained roads, the city can feel oddly familiar and even a bit tame at first. But make no mistake: It's surrounded by rugged wilderness, from the craggy peaks of the immense Chugach Mountain range to the vast waters of Cook Inlet and its Knik and Turnagain arms.

Anchorage is an excellent base for hiking, kayaking, mountain biking and skiing day trips. It's a gateway to the pristine rivers and fjords of the Kenai Peninsula and has a diverse restaurant scene. It's also home to a pair of the state's most impressive cultural attractions: the Alaska Native Heritage Center and the Anchorage Museum.

From Mat-Su Valley, you'll reach the turnoff for the Alaska Native Heritage Center on your way into the city. Opened in 1999, this 26-acre, wooded campus is Indigenous-operated and comprises six village settings that interpret the cultures of the state's 11 Native groups.

Time your visit to watch the engaging demonstrations of traditional games and dances in the central hall. Then, explore the outdoor villages. They are set around a lake and offer the opportunity to converse with tribal members, view crafts demonstrations and listen to stories.

Continue into downtown Anchorage and walk around Town Square Park and along Fourth and Fifth avenues. Pick up a snack from one of the reindeer hot dog carts or have dinner at the trendy restaurant Whiskey & Ramen .

Architecturally, the city is a mishmash. Nearly all of its buildings were constructed after 1964, when the Good Friday Earthquake (which had a devastating magnitude of 9.2) virtually leveled it. The Anchorage Museum occupies a striking glass structure and requires at least two hours to fully explore. It contains the engrossing Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center gallery; it showcases more than 600 Native Alaskan artifacts, including fishing and hunting tools, clothing, masks and wood carvings.

There's also the first-rate Art of the North gallery, a comprehensive Alaska history exhibit, an interactive science and technology center with a planetarium, an always-compelling array of rotating exhibits and an excellent restaurant.

Beyond downtown, two adjacent neighborhoods, Midtown and Spenard, contain many of Anchorage's best restaurants. In the former, duck into Kinley's for inventive modern American fare and Moose's Tooth Pub & Pizzeria for great people-watching.

Spenard notables include Spenard Roadhouse , with its elevated gastropub fare, and Pho Lena , which serves excellent Laotian and Thai food in a modest building that once clearly held a Pizza Hut.

Take in a dramatic view of the city and surrounding Cook Inlet with a climb up to the top of Flattop Mountain, said to be the most climbed peak in Alaska. Although the trail is just 1.5 miles each way, you'll gain about 1,500 feet in elevation.

Where to stay in Anchorage

Within walking distance of many restaurants and attractions, the upscale Marriott Anchorage Downtown (rates start at $391 per night or 43,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night) rises 20 stories. Rooms on the upper floors have fantastic views of the water and mountains.

In Midtown, Aloft Anchorage is a great choice for road-trippers as it offers free parking and easy access to major roads (rates start at $256 per night or 32,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night). It's a gleaming four-story property with nice views of the Chugach Range and an inviting lobby bar, a well-equipped fitness room and one of the nicer indoor hotel pools in town.

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Alaska Hike, Bike & Kayak

7 days | get active in some of alaska’s best national parks through gorgeous natural landscapes.

Get ready for some active adventuring on a seven-day trip that’s big on natural beauty! Hike, bike and kayak around some of Alaska’s best scenic spots and make the most of countless photo ops. Visit Denali National Park – home to some of Alaska’s best and most scenic walking trails, paddle the pristine waters of Resurrection Bay, take a guided hike on top of the Matanuska Glacier, cycle the scenic Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and visit one of the oldest and most picturesque towns in the state (which is also the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park). With an expert local leader to guide your way and a small group of likeminded active adventurers, you’ve got the perfect week!

Trip overview

• Kayak the calm waters of Resurrection Bay among the mountain vistas and look out for sea otters, seals, bald eagles, porpoises and leaping salmon. Then, head out on a beach walk and rainforest hike, stopping by a waterfall.
• Cycle the paved Tony Knowles Coastal Trail as it hugs the shore of Cook Inlet and travels through coastal marshes over forested hills. Soak in the amazing views of Mount Susitna as you go.
• Visit Denali National Park – home to the tallest peak in North America (Denali) – and witness the gorgeous scenery of this Alaskan hotspot.
• Hike the spectacular Triple Lakes Trail, Denali National Park’s longest trail, which has great views of Riley Creek, towering mountains and the three Triple Lakes.
• Walk atop the ice of the largest car-accessible glacier in Alaska – the Matanuska – on an educational tour led by a local Alaskan guide and glacier expert (with all technical gear provided).
• There are hikes on this trip, so a reasonable level of fitness is required to enjoy all activities to the fullest. It’s also essential that you’re both confident and competent in riding a bicycle.
• Alaska is a big state, so be prepared for some long drives. That said, it means you’ll get the chance to pass through some of the incredible scenery that Alaska has to offer.

View the itinerary for departures between 01 January 2024 - 31 December 2024

Welcome to Alaska! Your adventure begins in Anchorage – the gateway to some of Alaska’s finest parks and cycling trails. You’ll have a welcome meeting at 12 pm today with your trip leader to meet your fellow travellers. After, enjoy a warm-up ride along the paved Tony Knowles Coastal Trail as it hugs the shore of Cook Inlet from downtown Anchorage through coastal marshes and over forested hills, with great views of Mount Susitna along the way. After, you’re free to freshen up and head out to the vibrant downtown, where you might like to enjoy dinner at one of the restaurants.

• Hotel (1 night)

There are no meals included on this day.

• Anchorage - Tony Knowles Coastal Trail Bike Tour
• Anchorage- Alaska Native Heritage Center - USD29
• Anchorage - Museum - USD25

It’s very important that you attend the welcome meeting as we will be collecting insurance and emergency contact details at this time. If you are going to be late, please let your travel agent or hotel reception know. Ask reception or look for a note in the lobby for more information on where the meeting will take place.

Your total cycling distance today will be approximately 32 km (20 mi) along a mostly flat paved bike path.

After an early breakfast, sit back and enjoy the drive along the Parks Highway to Denali National Park – 6 million acres of the Alaskan wilderness. Keep an eye out for caribou, birds, wolves and other wildlife along the way. Stop in Talkeetna to stretch your legs and sit down for lunch with your group. When you arrive at the park – home to the tallest peak in North America – you’ll go to the visitor centre for a safety overview, then out into the wilderness for your first hike. The routes here will vary depending on the weather and the preference of your group.

• Denali NP hiking

Your travel time today will be approximately 5 hours.

Today's hike starts by winding through the spruce forest as you walk the spectacular Triple Lakes Trail – the longest trail in Denali National Park and home to some great views of Riley Creek. With the towering mountains in the distance, you’ll trek along creeks, forest and rolling hills before the first of the three Triple Lakes comes into view. From here, you’ll either continue (if time permits) or return to the trailhead back to the hotel for a free evening. For those who want to see more of the park, you can choose to forego today's hike and pay for the full-day Tundra Wilderness Bus Tour, which includes the Toklat River’s incredible scenery and some of the park’s best wildlife spotting opportunities.

• Denali - Triple Lakes hike
• Denali - Tundra Wilderness Bus Tour - USD167

Your trekking distance today will be approximately 14 km (9 mi) with an elevation gain of 300 m (1000 ft).

If you wish to take the optional Tundra Wilderness Bus Tour instead of joining the hike, you’ll need to book well ahead of time as seats are limited and the tour is very popular. Please visit https://www.reservedenali.com/ to buy your ticket.

Embark on a scenic drive along the Glenn Highway towards the town of Palmer this morning – a trip that’s packed with gorgeous mountain vistas and plenty of time for photo ops. You’ll eventually reach the famed Matanuska Glacier – Alaska's largest road-access glacier. It’s a jaw-dropping 27 miles long and 4 miles wide and has some of the most accessible walking areas of any glacier in the state! Don your ice cleats and helmet (included) and begin exploring the glacier on foot with the help of an Alaskan guide and glacier expert. Marvel at the ice that formed thousands of years ago, high in the Chugach Mountains. Amazingly, every day is unique at Matanuska, due to the dynamic nature of the glacier.

• Hotel/Inn (1 night)
• Matanuska Glacier Guided Hike

Your travel time today will be approximately 6 hours.

You'll be on the ice for approximately 3 hours today. This hike is designed to give you time to explore and prioritizes the quality of the experience over covering significant distances, therefore your total hiking distance can vary based on the group's interests. Typically we hike between 3 and 8 km (2 to 5 miles). There is minimal elevation loss or gain, but terrain can be uneven.

Today, enjoy a slow start to the morning and then take a leisurely drive to Seward – one of Alaska's oldest and most picturesque towns. Along the way, you’ll stop at Turnagain Arm. A waterway into the northwestern part of the Gulf of Alaska, this area was named for British explorer James Cook, who was forced to ‘turn again’ when the waterway didn’t hold the fabled Northwest Passage on his 1778 voyage. Explore this scenic area, then continue to Seward. This vibrant town is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park and has galleries, boutique shops and a bustling harbour.

• Anchorage - Turnagain Arm

Your travel time today will be approximately 3.5 hours.

Enjoy a change of scenery as you venture out onto Resurrection Bay on full-day sea kayaking and rainforest hiking adventure. Learn about life in Seward as you travel to the shoreline. After a quick briefing, hit the kayak and paddle around the calm waters of the bay, soaking up the mountain vistas as you keep an eye out for sea otters, seals, porpoises, bald eagles and leaping salmon. From mid-July to early September, you‘ll paddle directly past the outlet of Tonsina Creek to view a salmon spawning stream! Then, explore Tonsina Point with its ghost forest, tall waterfall and gorgeously green scenery. Stop for a picnic lunch with your group in the forest, then take walk on the beach – today is full of photo ops!

• Seward - Resurrection Bay Sea Kayaking

Before you leave Seward today, there will be time for a classic Alaskan hike to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. You’ll get so close to the dense blue ice that you’ll be able to listen to the sound of the glacier! It’s then time to drive back to Anchorage, where your adventure comes to an end. If you’d like to extend your stay, just speak to your booking agent ahead of time.

• Seward - Exit Glacier Hike

Your travel time today will be approximately 2.5 hours. Your trekking distance will be 3.5 km (2 mi) with an elevation gain of 100 m (330 ft).

6 breakfasts, 2 lunches

Private vehicle, Bicycle, Kayak, On foot

Hotel (6 nights)

Dates and availability

Important notes.

1. This trip starts at midday (12pm) in Anchorage on day 1.

2. This trip finishes with a drop off around 3pm in Anchorage on day 6. Please do not book any flights until after 6pm this evening.

3. Bicycle hire is included so we require all clients' heights at the time of booking.

4. Bike helmets are also supplied but you may wish to bring your own.

5. We recommend wearing closed-toe shoes and suitable clothing for the walks and cycling.

6. The cycling on this trip is not accompanied by a support vehicle.

7. A single supplement is available if you’d prefer not to share a room on this trip. The single supplement applies to all nights on your trip and is subject to availability. Please speak to your booking agent for further information.

Want an in-depth insight into this trip? Essential Trip Information provides a detailed itinerary, visa info, how to get to your hotel, what's included - pretty much everything you need to know about this adventure and more.

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Tour buses entering NUS will need to register by Jan 2025

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By January 2025, tour buses entering the National University of Singapore (NUS) will need to register for limited daily slots, as part of longer-term measures to regulate visitor traffic on campus.

This includes tour buses bringing visitors to museums on campus and for official programmes and events. Priority will be given to this group of buses, said the university in a circular on Aug 21.

“This registration measure helps regulate the number of tour buses on campus, ensuring smooth traffic, pedestrian safety, efficient running of our internal shuttle bus services, and ease of point-to-point commuting for our staff and students,” it added.

Tour buses ferrying people for registered tours by NUS student ambassadors, who are paid to give guided tours, will be exempt from registration.

NUS added that by January 2025, all students running tours on campus will also need to register with the Office of the Provost.

They will receive annual training equivalent to the training provided to student ambassadors and be certified as registered student docents. They will also need to wear a special ID to be easily identifiable.

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“In our engagement with NUS Students’ Union (Nussu) and after hearing student feedback, we acknowledge that more needs to be done and will be introducing a number of new, longer-term measures to address the challenges around the high tourist traffic on campus during peak travel seasons,” said the circular.

The aim is for these measures to be ready by January 2025, in time for the next tourist peak season, said NUS. The peak seasons are January to February and July to August.

Speaking to the media after a town hall meeting organised by Nussu on Aug 21 to address students’ concerns about the recent influx of tourists, NUS associate provost Daniel Goh said the new measures are meant for the long term.

He added that the evening town hall was a constructive two hours spent listening to the students’ feedback.

All 120 seats of the NUS University Hall Auditorium, where the town hall was held, were filled. About 50 students were redirected to a lecture theatre where a live stream of the session was broadcast.

NUS is also looking to come up with “a technology-based visitor access system so that we can control crowds where we need to – in specific places like foodcourts, canteens and internal shuttle buses”, said Associate Professor Goh.

A fourth-year NUS student, who wanted to be known only as Samuel, described the discussion as a “consultative process” and felt that the NUS management was trying to listen to the students.

The 24-year-old said: “I think it’s hard to get a sense of the whole community’s concerns. The measures the management talked about look good on paper. But I hope that at the end of the semester, there is some follow-up to see the effects of the policies.”

Incoming Raffles Hall president Mohammad Afiq Ihsan Mohammad Hussien, 23, said he could sense how strongly the students present at the town hall felt about the surge in tourists and how it has affected them. He said that other students staying at his hall have complained about trespassers there.

The third-year chemical engineering student said: “We were questioning why more wasn’t being done at an earlier stage of this problem. But today, the management sought our understanding that they have limited resources and face constraints when addressing these issues.”

Nussu president Huang Ziwei, 25, said: “Students have very strong opinions and want to hear a concrete solution on the spot. I don’t think it’s very unfair for them to say that if it has been a persistent issue. So the discussion had a tense mood at times. But I think the students were also quite constructive and gave context to the issues they faced.”

He added: “Prior to the town hall, there were discussions between the union, faculty leaders and university staff. But they may have taken a more experimental ‘trial and error’ approach to see if their measures work. From the students’ perspectives, it’s not enough, which is why the town hall was called to ask them for stronger measures.”

In the Aug 21 circular, NUS said registered student docents must reserve slots for tours they wish to conduct, and only limited slots are available each day to manage the footfall on campus.

“They will have to strictly follow the university’s guidelines on campus tours and adhere to visitor etiquette to ensure that education and other activities of the university will not be disrupted.”

NUS added that providing tour guide services without a valid licence from Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is an offence under Singapore law.

“We strongly encourage all students running tours on campus to come forward to register with us,” it said.

Tour groups led by STB-licensed guides should sign up for the free tours, which will be led by student ambassadors, said NUS, and tourists without an STB-licensed guide can engage the trained registered student docents.

Unlicensed tour guides found conducting tours in NUS will be reported to the authorities, while students conducting unreserved tours will be subject to disciplinary action.

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Alerts in effect, how to explore denali national park and preserve, child restraint information.

Alaska State Law requires children to be in a car or booster seat as follows:

• Children younger than 12 months of age or less than 20 pounds (9 kilograms) must be in a rear facing infant seat.
• Children older than 12 months and younger than 4 years, and at least 20 pounds (9 kilograms), must be in a child restraint.
• Children aged 4 through 7 years who are less than 57 inches (1.4 meters) tall or less than 65 pounds (30 kilograms) must be in a booster seat. Booster seats are no longer required for children of this age once they reach 57 inches (1.4 meters) tall or weigh 65+ pounds (30 kilograms).
• Parents are responsible for providing the appropriate car seat.

Day hiking or backpacking may require extra logistical planning if your children require a car seat.

Beyond the Savage River Check Station at mile 15 of the Park Road, you'll need to be on a bus, bicycle, or on foot. Prior to the 1972 completion of the George Parks Highway (Alaska Route 3), which is the main travel artery into interior Alaska, visitation to Denali National Park and Preserve was fairly low. Anticipation of major increases in traffic resulting from a direct route to the park prompted park officials to implement a mass transit system beyond Mile 15 on the Denali Park Road. To provide for visitor access and enjoyment of the world class resources, our concessioner, Doyon/ARAMARK Joint Venture , offers several types of bus services along the park road.

Extending 92 miles from the park entrance to its terminus in the old mining community of Kantishna, this mostly-gravel road traverses boreal forests and sub-arctic tundra. The eastern half of the road (from Mile 0–43) crosses rolling mountainsides and scenic river valleys as it meanders through spectacular vistas and prime wildlife viewing areas. By riding a bus, you help to reduce traffic congestion and to protect the natural resources of the park. Even more information on how the park road is managed, as it relates to vehicle traffic, can be found in the Denali Park Road Vehicle Management Plan .

Beyond Buses: Recommended Itineraries

Planning a trip to Denali can be a big undertaking! Just getting to the park can take quite a while, and it is distinctly different from many national parks, so even seasoned park travelers can be unsure how to plan their trip.

Use the table below to start thinking about what might work well for you, given the amount of time you'll be here. There are plenty of other things to do than what is listed below - this is just a starting point.

Last updated: March 20, 2024

Other Trip Planning Info

Park footer, contact info, mailing address:.

PO Box 9 Denali Park, AK 99755

907 683-9532 A ranger is available 9 am to 4 pm daily (except on major holidays). If you reach the voicemail, please leave a message and we'll call you back as soon as we finish with the previous caller.

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Election Updates: Harris and Walz Tour Pennsylvania Ahead of Convention

Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, embarked on a bus tour of the critical battleground state a day before Democrats open their national convention in Chicago.

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Simon J. Levien Michael Gold and Jazmine Ulloa

Here’s the latest on the presidential race.

On the eve of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, rallied volunteers during a bus tour in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state that could decide November’s election. Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz, along with their spouses, greeted supporters in Pittsburgh before a stop in Rochester, where Ms. Harris thanked volunteers for their efforts.

Both campaigns are focusing intently on Pennsylvania. Former President Donald J. Trump — who won the state by a slim margin in 2016 but lost it to President Biden in 2020 — visited Wilkes-Barre on Saturday , attacking Democratic policies as “fascist” and calling illegal immigrants “savage monsters.” Mr. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, will also be in Pennsylvania on Monday, making separate campaign stops in York and Philadelphia.

Here’s what else to know:

Democratic convention: Delegates and party leaders will begin to fete Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz as the Democratic Party’s nominees on Monday, when the convention’s first day will include a speech by Mr. Biden . The party on Sunday announced the themes for each of the convention’s four nights .

Republican messaging: Mr. Vance suggested in an interview on Fox News that he didn’t believe the recent polls showing Ms. Harris ahead or newly competitive in swing states, and said putting her in charge of inflation policy would be like “giving Jeffrey Epstein control over human trafficking policy.” Two prominent Republicans, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, expressed frustration with the campaign’s focus on personal attacks on Ms. Harris. “Every day we’re not talking about her policy choices as vice president and what she would do as president is a good day for her and a bad day for us,” Mr. Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Walz goes home: Mr. Walz represented the Democratic ticket at a rally in his native Nebraska on Saturday, playing up his roots as the Harris campaign courts rural, working-class and moderate voters. Although solidly Republican, Nebraska is one of two states (along with Maine) that award an electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. The state’s Second District, which encompasses Omaha and is known as Nebraska’s blue dot, is a swing region that voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and Mr. Biden in 2020.

More helicopter fallout: Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco, threatened to sue Mr. Trump if the former president continued to say falsely that they once nearly died together in a helicopter ride. Mr. Trump has not spoken about the helicopter incident since Nate Holden, a former Los Angeles city councilman who, like Mr. Brown, is Black, said he took a rocky helicopter ride with Mr. Trump in 1990 and speculated that the former president might have confused the two men. Mr. Brown said he wanted to make sure that Mr. Trump stayed quiet.

Swing states back in play: Four diverse swing states that seemed to be drifting toward Mr. Trump when Mr. Biden was in the race are now in play for Democrats, according to polling from The New York Times and Siena College . In Arizona, Ms. Harris has established a four-percentage-point lead on Mr. Trump, the surveys found, while she leads by two points in North Carolina; Mr. Trump has a one-point lead in Nevada and a four-point lead in Georgia.

Nicholas Nehamas

Reporting from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago

Democrats unveil their convention platform, with familiar themes.

Democrats released their party platform on Sunday, unveiling a document that offers plenty of political comfort food for a newly energized party ahead of its convention in Chicago.

As a sign of what Democrats believe will mobilize their forces — and the head-spinning transformation that has remade their presidential ticket — the document mentions former President Donald J. Trump’s name 150 times.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the new nominee who has brought her party back together after a bruising internal fight over President Biden’s candidacy, is mentioned by name just 32 times.

The platform seems intended to avoid stirring any controversy that could derail that fresh feeling of unity.

At the top of the list of issues that could threaten the party’s cohesiveness is the war in Gaza. Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are descending on Chicago, and roughly 30 delegates representing the Democratic primary voters who opposed Mr. Biden, mostly in protest over Gaza, will attend the convention, which begins on Monday.

The platform repeats a traditional Democratic message supporting Israel, condemning the brutal Oct. 7 assault by Hamas and backing “an immediate and lasting cease-fire deal” that will return hostages still being held by the terrorist group and address “the displacement and death of so many innocent people in Gaza.”

Democrats will vote to approve the platform on Monday evening. It was passed by the party’s platform committee, a group of party insiders, with wider input from “community leaders from coalitions across the Democratic Party,” according to the Democratic National Committee.

On other issues, the platform represents a predictable collection of Democratic policy priorities, including calls to make investments in infrastructure and manufacturing; to cut taxes on working families while making big corporations and the wealthy “finally pay their fair share”; and to fight climate change.

Another section addresses efforts to lower costs on everyday items like food, housing and health care, in similar terms to the economic agenda that Ms. Harris rolled out last week . And there are also calls to protect abortion rights, restore democratic norms and combat gun violence.

On the other side, Mr. Trump took a direct hand this summer in reshaping — and shrinking the size — of the Republican platform, which focuses more on his own priorities than on a traditional laundry list of policies.

The Democratic platform says that Mr. Trump’s vision for the country is one of “revenge and retribution,” a reflection of the party’s attempt to make the 2024 election a referendum on the former president.

And demonstrating the dramatically changed circumstances of the race since Ms. Harris took over the ticket, the party’s former presumptive nominee, Mr. Biden, is mentioned by name 287 times.

The platform also contains 19 references to his “second term.”

Lisa Lerer , Reid J. Epstein , Shane Goldmacher and Chris Cameron contributed reporting.

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Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Nicholas Nehamas

Rebecca Davis O’Brien reported from Pittsburgh, and Nicholas Nehamas reported from Washington.

Harris and Walz venture into less-friendly terrain to court Pennsylvania voters.

Before their convention this week that will signal the final sprint to November, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, headed out on a brief bus tour on Sunday to fire up voters in perhaps the most crucial battleground state in the 2024 election.

As they toured western Pennsylvania, their play for support beyond the state’s more liberal cities was apparent at the team’s first stop, a field office in Rochester, Pa., in the largely conservative Beaver County: Ms. Harris picked up a volunteer’s cellphone to speak with a resident from Erie, a northwestern city in one of the state’s swingiest counties, which Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 but Joseph R. Biden Jr. won four years later.

“I love Erie,” Ms. Harris said. “At some point we’ll get to Erie.”

Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz were joined on the outing by their spouses, Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, traveling in two new campaign buses from the Pittsburgh airport, where they arrived on Air Force Two to greet a small group of supporters.

The Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas are the two main drivers of Democratic support in Pennsylvania, a state whose 19 electoral votes could decide the presidency. Recent polling shows a neck-and-neck race there between Ms. Harris and former President Donald J. Trump, with some surveys showing Ms. Harris gaining a narrow edge recently.

Mr. Trump is also increasing his presence in Pennsylvania: On Saturday he held a rally in Wilkes-Barre and another is set in York on Monday, while Senator JD Vance of Ohio, his running mate, campaigns in Philadelphia.

Both candidates have used their trips in the state to make attacks.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the Rochester campaign office on Sunday, Ms. Harris appeared to suggest that Mr. Trump was a “coward” — just a day after he had called her a “radical” and a “lunatic” in Wilkes-Barre.

“Over the last several years there’s been this kind of perversion that has taken place, I think, which is to suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down,” Ms. Harris said — though she did not name Mr. Trump. “Anybody who’s about beating down other people is a coward.”

President Biden often preferred to campaign in Philadelphia, by far the state’s largest metro area. The city is easily reached from Washington and close to his home state of Delaware, nestled in friendly territory surrounded by counties he carried in 2020 .

Outside Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh sits, western Pennsylvania is less hospitable to Democrats, and Ms. Harris’s visit there suggests she may branch out more than Mr. Biden did.

“God bless them, they need to,” Nancy Cannon, a retired teacher who showed up at the Pittsburgh airport, said of the campaign’s planned visits. She described a landscape of Trump supporters, where she knew of Democrats who were afraid to put out their own lawn signs. “Maybe they would feel more supported,” she said, if Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz showed up.

Ms. Cannon said Ms. Harris’s swift ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket had given a jolt of energy to her family and friends. “I love Joe. But I am happier to see a younger person. I feel like this is an Obama moment.”

The trip points to the Democratic hopes that Mr. Walz can help the party reach working-class voters outside the big cities. The suburbs and small towns surrounding Pittsburgh resemble areas in Minnesota where Mr. Walz has performed well in his previous races.

One campaign stop on Sunday was also a clear effort to tap into Mr. Walz’s personal history: a football practice at Aliquippa High School in a former steel town with many Black residents that has struggled economically for decades. Mr. Walz’s own experience as a high school football coach has been a touchstone of the campaign so far, with Ms. Harris occasionally referring to him as “Coach Walz.”

Mr. Walz told the team he “remembered every single call” from his team’s state football championship. He and Ms. Harris were joined at the event by Jerome Bettis, the Hall of Fame running back who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mr. Bettis, nicknamed The Bus, was a surprise, if appropriately named, addition to the Harris-Walz motor coach tour, which also made short stops at a nearby firehouse, a Sheetz gas station and Primanti Bros., a beloved chain of sandwich shops founded in Pittsburgh.

“The way you win elections in Pennsylvania is literally going everywhere,” said Lt. Gov. Austin Davis of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who is from the Pittsburgh area. “Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, but all the small communities in between.”

Mr. Davis also said that Ms. Harris would find a welcome audience in the working-class region for the economic agenda she rolled out last week that focused on lowering the costs of everyday life and cutting taxes for working families.

Conor Lamb, a Democrat who once represented a congressional district outside Pittsburgh, said Mr. Biden had become well known to many Pennsylvania voters, thanks to his decades of service as a senator in neighboring Delaware, an advantage Ms. Harris does not possess.

Mr. Lamb said that the bus tour reflected the fact that Democrats had learned their lesson from Mrs. Clinton losing the state after focusing most of her campaign on the major cities.

“You can’t just do Philly and Pittsburgh and rely on social media,” Mr. Lamb said.

And he agreed that Ms. Harris’s economic plans would be popular in places like Rochester, a small town once known for its glassmaking factories that sits in his old district.

“Some of the things that she laid out in that speech — the child tax credit, extending health care subsidies — all that kind of stuff is just universal,” Mr. Lamb said. “That should do as well in Rochester as it does in the heart of the city of Pittsburgh. And I’ve felt in the past that Democrats were a little bit afraid to go on the offense in those areas.”

Vice President Kamala suggested that former President Donald J. Trump was a “coward” during a stop on her campaign bus tour through western Pennsylvania on Sunday. Without naming Trump, Harris said that some people believe “the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down,” a point of view she labeled a “perversion.” And she countered that “the real and true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up. Anybody who’s about beating down other people is a coward.”

Ken Bensinger

Social media influencers will have guest spots, and choice seats, at the Democrats’ convention.

A speaking slot at a national party’s nominating convention is among the most coveted prizes in American politics, offering veteran officeholders and up-and-comers alike the chance to speak to — and be seen by — an entire nation.

At the Democratic National Convention this week in Chicago, five of those rare slots will go to a group that most likely would be unfamiliar to previous convention planners: social media influencers.

Convention officials said each night would include at least one influencer. The speakers are Deja Foxx, Nabela Noor, Carlos Eduardo Espina, Olivia Julianna and John Russell, a group of millennial and Gen Z influencers who, collectively, have well over 24 million social media followers.

They will speak on the same podium as President Biden; the Democratic nominees, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota; and party luminaries, including two former presidents, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, among others.

“This feels very affirming,” said Ms. Foxx, 24, a reproductive rights activist from Arizona who worked on Ms. Harris’s first presidential campaign. She’ll speak about abortion rights on Monday night in a program that will also feature Mr. Biden. “I don’t take it lightly that I’m speaking on the same night as the president of the United States,” she said.

These speakers represent a significant shift for the convention and underscore the Democratic Party’s efforts to speak to voters whose news diet exists outside traditional media. Last month, a conservative influencer, the actress and model Amber Rose, spoke on the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The speaker roster at conventions tends to mix elected officials with entertainment figures and regular citizens who can speak to particular policy issues. The Republicans’ convention last month featured a number of people the party called “Everyday Americans,” who discussed topics including immigration, inflation and crime.

A study by the Pew Research Center last year found that almost half of Americans get some of their news from social media and that a third of adults under 30 get their news from TikTok.

To help chase those potential voters, the D.N.C. has, for the first time, granted credentials to more than 200 influencers, offering them the kind of wide-ranging access to events and people traditionally provided only to the press. It’s also giving them a special “creator platform” within the convention venue in Chicago, the United Center: a special V.I.P. box directly above the arena floor.

Providing influencers time onstage gives them the chance to repost clips of their speeches to their own social media accounts as well as the feeds of other influencers watching the show, all in pursuit of the modern media era’s most valuable prize of all: virality.

“ Content creators are a vehicle to reach new audiences, not just through their content, but through their unique ability to speak authentically to their own communities,” said Emily Soong, a spokeswoman for the convention.

Ms. Foxx said she was first approached by organizers a few weeks ago and has since worked with a campaign speechwriter to hone her presentation. “I was pretty nervous but now I’m feeling really ready,” she said. “I’ve been running through my speech every day.”

The lineup on Tuesday night will include Ms. Noor, a Muslim American known for her makeup tutorials, cooking videos and frank talk about her challenging journey to motherhood. With more than 11 million followers spread across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, she will speak on a night whose theme, “A Bold Vision for America’s Future,” is meant to draw contrasts between the Harris-Walz ticket and their Republican rivals, Donald J. Trump and Senator JD Vance of Ohio.

For Wednesday’s program, Mr. Espina, the son of Latin American immigrants who has amassed a huge following on TikTok with his videos about news, politics, food and soccer, will talk about immigration. Although he normally posts in Spanish, he is expected to deliver his remarks in English.

That night will also include Ms. Julianna, who has called herself “a plus-size queer Latina from rural Southeast Texas” and gained a following from her involvement in Gen-Z for Change , a youth-oriented political activism group. Her top issues include climate change and, like Ms. Foxx, abortion access.

“Peer to peer organizing is one of the most powerful tools we have in our democracy,” said Ms. Julianna, whose speech topic will be “freedom.” For years I’ve spoken directly to my fellow young Americans through my social media pages, knocking doors for Democratic candidates, and rallying for fundamental freedoms across the country.”

During the convention’s final night, which organizers are describing, thematically, as a narrative about how the 2024 election is a fight “for our future,” Mr. Russell, a self-described “dirtbag journalist” will have a chance to speak.

Based in West Virginia, he worked on rural policy and engagement for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign in 2020, ran unsuccessfully for Congress, and has built a following on his progressive coverage of the industrial Midwest and his strong support of labor unions. In his social media bios, he describes himself as “biased for the working class.”

Maggie Astor

Spotted on the streets of downtown Chicago as Democrats gather for their convention: huge circular decals on the sidewalk, of the sort that marked six-foot distances early in the pandemic, with a QR code and big lettering that reads “Are You a Disappointed Dem?” The fine print says they’re paid for by American Values 2024, a super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign.

Jazmine Ulloa and Chris Cameron

Jazmine Ulloa reported from Washington, and Chris Cameron reported from Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky.

Vance defends his unsubstantiated claims about immigration and crime.

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, on Friday defended his past unsubstantiated claims about immigration in which he suggested that early waves of Italian, Irish and German immigration led to higher crime and interethnic conflict, by citing the movie “Gangs of New York.”

At a campaign event before the Milwaukee Police Association, Mr. Vance was asked about the comments — which have resurfaced in recent days — from a 2021 interview with the far-right podcaster Jack Murphy, and whether he would have prescribed the kind of mass deportations then that he and former President Donald J. Trump have made central to their platform now.

Mr. Vance mostly skirted the question on removals, but he stood by his comments on crime and ethnic and interethnic conflict, pointing to the Martin Scorsese film that depicts gang violence between Irish migrants and nativist Protestant Americans.

“Well, first of all, I also said there were a lot of benefits to that wave of immigration, but has anybody ever seen the movie ‘Gangs of New York’? That’s what I’m talking about,” he said. “We know that when you have these massive ethnic enclaves forming in our country, it can sometimes lead to higher crime rates.”

Later, he added: “What happens when you have massive amounts of illegal immigration? It actually starts to create ethnic conflict. It creates higher crime rates.”

Asked to provide evidence for the claims, a campaign spokeswoman pointed to a report from an anti-immigration think tank that argues crimes committed by immigrants are underestimated because many crimes go unreported, and to a rise in violence in Minnesota that the authorities have attributed to a rivalry between East African gangs in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Since the nation’s founding, nativist politicians and anti-immigrant activists have sought to conflate immigration with crime. But historians and criminologists say there are no empirical studies to support claims like those made by Mr. Vance. The studies that do exist have repeatedly concluded that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States. A 2023 study by researchers at Stanford, Princeton and other major institutions found that, since 1880, immigrants have not been more likely to be imprisoned than people born in the United States. And as immigration into the United States has increased, crime has decreased in recent years.

Tyler Anbinder, a historian who wrote the book “City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York,” and served as a historical adviser for the movie “Gangs of New York,” said immigrants in New York during the film’s time period and since have not committed crime disproportionate to their population numbers and have almost always been arrested at lower rates than natives.

“Immigrants are so happy to be in America,” Mr. Anbinder said, adding that one of the main reasons immigrants commit less crimes than natives is “because they don’t want to be deported.”

Alex R. Piquero, a criminology professor at University of Miami and a former director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, said Mr. Vance was also wrong to raise concerns about “ethnic enclaves.” Immigrants — regardless of the time period or ethnic background — tend to cluster in neighborhoods where they have relatives, know others who can speak their native language and can feel secure in their new environment.

“What’s very peculiar about these statements is that those ethnic enclaves do not breed crime,” he said of Mr. Vance’s stance, adding that “they actually serve as a protective buffer from crime.”

In his remarks, Mr. Vance also argued for a return to early 20th-century thinking when he said the United States was “welcoming country to immigrants” but Americans realized that the nation “could only take so many people,” arguing that deportations would benefit the country.

“I think that will promote assimilation and a common American culture that’s in the best interest of everybody,” he said.

But in arguing that more immigrants lead to higher crime and ethnic conflict, historians said, Mr. Vance was echoing arguments that American nativists have used since at least the 19th century to classify and marginalize some demographic groups as racially inferior, genetically predisposed to crime and unable to be assimilated.

Those negative stereotypes and misconceptions — once centered on certain Europeans but more recently focused on Mexicans and Latino migrants — have fueled prejudice and led to more extreme treatment of immigrants by government officials, police, the courts and the press.

In “Gangs of New York,” the most ruthless killer is the nativist who disdains immigrants, Mr. Anbinder said. But Mr. Vance appears to associate the Irish immigrants in the movie with the violence, he added.

“Throughout American history, those who fear or hate immigrants have always wanted to speak of them and scapegoat them as bringing crime to America,” Mr. Anbinder said. “What Vance is doing is not much different now.”

Anushka Patil

Harris, Walz and their spouses gave brief remarks to campaign workers and joined phone banking efforts during a stop in Rochester, in Beaver County, on their way through western Pennsylvania. “Hopefully I’ll see you in Erie at some point,” Harris told one person on the phone. Gwen Walz told volunteers that she loved the state — “I think I might want to spend a lot of time here,” she quipped.

Rebecca Davis O’Brien

Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota walked a line of supporters for several minutes here in Pittsburgh, shaking hands and taking selfies, then boarded one of the new campaign buses waiting for them without making remarks. This will be quite an unmistakable caravan through western Pennsylvania.

Air Force Two has pulled up to the hangar here in Pittsburgh, emerging from the low fog and the pouring rain that set in moments after the plane landed. The rain was brief, however, and the sun has returned.

A small crowd of supporters has gathered here at the Pittsburgh airport, where Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will land, speak, and set off in two new campaign buses for an afternoon of small campaign stops around western Pennsylvania. Outside Pittsburgh and the rest of Allegheny County, this is Republican territory. But the trip suggests that Democrats feel they can pick up support here, particularly with Walz on the ticket.

Neil Vigdor

A campaign adviser for Cornel West, the long-shot independent presidential candidate, said that West’s team would be going to court to fight his disqualification from the ballot in Michigan, where state election officials said his nominating paperwork had several omissions. The adviser, Edwin DeJesus, said the oversights, flagged by a former Michigan Democratic Party chairman, were “trivial technicalities” raised in “a desperate move by the D.N.C. and their affiliates.”

Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago told ABC News that city officials were ready for the convention and that he expected pro-Palestinian protests to remain peaceful. “This is a party that can handle protest and protecting the First Amendment right, which is fundamental to our democracy, while also strengthening our democracy and speaking to the future of our country,” he said.

Maya C. Miller

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Donald Trump’s campaign should focus far more on Kamala Harris’s policy choices — like backtracking on her opposition to fracking — rather than personal attacks about her race, gender and intelligence.

“I don’t look at Vice President Harris as a lunatic,” Graham said. “A nightmare for Harris is to defend her policy choices. Every day we’re not talking about her policy choices as vice president and what she would do as president is a good day for her and a bad day for us.”

Graham also walked back a previous criticism of the G.O.P. policy platform, which excluded a national abortion ban for the first time in 40 years. Instead of standing behind his assertion that Republicans would be “net losers” if they weakened their support for such a ban, Graham tried to downplay the role that abortion and reproductive rights — widely seen as winning issues for Democrats — would play in the election.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat, said on NBC’s "Meet the Press" that she thought people were “reading too much into” Kamala Harris’s proposal to ban price gouging . “I think it speaks to Kamala Harris’s values, that she wants consumers to keep more money in their pockets,” she said, adding: “We know we have to have business growth in this country, small-business growth, big-business growth, for good-paying jobs. But we also know that you can’t gouge and hurt the American consumer just to pad your bottom line, and I think there’s a balance there.”

Whitmer said she would not “second-guess” Kamala Harris’s curt response to pro-Palestinian protesters at a recent rally in Detroit. Harris told the demonstrators: “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.” Convention organizers are preparing for mass demonstrations this week in Chicago.

“I can tell you this: Kamala Harris cares about every person,” Whitmer said. “You can both want peace in the region and a cessation of violence, and the return of hostages. We are a country that continually falls into these false choices. You can do both, and I think that’s why we need a leader like her.”

JD Vance, who has been leaning into the claim that Harris has controlled the Biden administration from the start, told Shannon Bream on Fox News: “The most absurd thing that Kamala says at her rallies is, ‘On Day 1, I’m going to tackle the food and housing affordability crisis in this country.’ Shannon, Day 1 for Kamala Harris was three and a half years ago.”

Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat of Illinois, said on ABC’s “This Week” that she was “comfortable” with adding $1.7 trillion to the federal deficit through Vice President Harris’s new economic proposal, because Congress could close the budget gap by letting Donald Trump’s 2017 tax breaks expire. “What we need to do is get rid of Trump tax cuts for the wealthy,” Duckworth said. “We need to go after the wealthiest of Americans who don’t pay their fair share.” Harris has promised to provide up to $25,000 for first-time home buyers, cancel student debt, extend the child tax credit and cut taxes on service workers’ tips.

Michelle Obama, the former first lady, will deliver a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, according to a statement from its organizers. The statement did not specify on what night she would speak. Former President Barack Obama is also expected to give remarks.

Fox News asked Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a co-chair of the Harris campaign, whether Kamala Harris’s proposal to ban price gouging was “communist in nature.” He responded: “Presidents of both parties have tried to use the power of the F.T.C. to rein in high prices at the pump, high prices at grocery stores. I think picking this one proposal of the many she’s put out misses the broader point, which is that Vice President Harris is continuing the work of President Biden in reducing costs faced by working Americans.”

Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, suggested on Fox News that he didn’t believe the recent polls showing Kamala Harris ahead or newly competitive in swing states because polls overestimated support for Democrats in 2016 and 2020. (He didn’t mention the 2022 midterms, when the opposite was true .)

Vance said on Fox News: “Giving Kamala Harris control over inflation policy, it’s like giving Jeffrey Epstein control over human trafficking policy. The American people are much smarter than that. They don’t buy the idea that Kamala Harris represents a fresh start. She is more of the same.”

Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, a Republican who has criticized Trump but is now supporting him , expressed frustration that Trump was attacking Harris’s intelligence instead of her economic proposals. “Almost any other Republican candidate would be winning this race by 10 points,” he said on CNN. “If you stick to the issues, if you stick to what matters, this should be an easy race for Donald Trump. It really should.”

Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois said on CNN's “State of the Union” that he believed Vice President Kamala Harris had “energized the party in a way that I haven’t seen certainly since ’08.” He added: “I’ve been to every convention since I was able to vote, and I can say I’ve not felt this kind of energy and electricity at any convention other than the one for Barack Obama.”

Pritzker said he wasn’t worried about a repeat of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, where ideological divisions split the party and the police attacked protesters. He said the party had “coalesced” around its candidate in a way it hadn’t in 1968, and he said of pro-Palestinian protesters: “If there are troublemakers, they’re going to get arrested and they’re going to get convicted. But the fact is that the vast majority of people who are protesting, and we’ve seen this before, are peaceful protesters. They want to have their voices heard. They’re going to be heard, no doubt about it, and we’re going to protect them.”

Here are the themes for the Democratic convention.

Democrats will raise the curtain on their national convention on Monday in Chicago, punctuating weeks of extraordinary volatility in the presidential race that included a reset at the top of the party’s ticket.

Vice President Kamala Harris clinched the party’s nomination this month in a virtual roll call held after President Biden had withdrawn from the race. She then selected Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate.

On Sunday, the party revealed the themes for each of the four nights of the convention:

Monday : “For the People” — President Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, are scheduled to speak on the opening night of the convention, one that party officials said would focus on the record of the Biden-Harris administration and the president’s decades of public service. Organizers said the program would lean into a narrative that Mr. Biden has put the American people’s interest ahead of his own. On July 21, he became the first sitting president since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 not to seek a second term.

Tuesday: “A Bold Vision for America’s Future” — Democrats will seek to draw a contrast between what they said was the party’s optimism and the drumbeat from Republicans who say that the country’s best days are behind it. They will also try to make former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, take ownership of Project 2025, a right-wing playbook for reshaping the federal government that the Republican ticket has sought to distance itself from.

Wednesday: “A Fight for Our Freedoms” — Mr. Walz will formally accept the Democratic nomination for vice president on the penultimate night of the convention, when the party will argue that Mr. Trump, if elected, would continue to strip away fundamental rights.

Thursday : “For Our Future” — Ms. Harris will accept the party’s nomination, becoming the second woman, and the first woman of color, to lead the Democratic ticket, and Democrats will seek to cast Mr. Trump as a danger to the nation whose second term would be even more extreme than his first.

An earlier version of this article misstated the day that President Biden dropped out of the race. It was July 21, not July 23.

How we handle corrections

Simon J. Levien and Michael Gold

Simon J. Levien reported from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Michael Gold reported from New York.

Urged to focus on the economy, Trump leans into attacks on Harris.

Former President Donald J. Trump in a campaign speech on Saturday bounced among complaints about the economy and immigration, wide-ranging digressions and a number of personal attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, including jabs at her appearance and her laugh.

At a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Mr. Trump swung from talking points on inflation and criticisms of Democratic policy as “fascist” and “Marxist” to calling illegal immigrants “savage monsters” and saying that rising sea levels would create more beachfront property.

Mr. Trump blamed Ms. Harris for high prices, in what was effectively an inversion of her remarks at her rally in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, where she said Mr. Trump’s proposed import tariffs would amount to a “Trump tax” on groceries. The former president argued that she had placed a “Kamala Harris inflation tax” on average Americans over the course of her term as vice president and that, if elected, he would lower prices on consumer goods, just as she has said she would do.

“Yesterday, she got up, she started ranting and raving,” Mr. Trump said of Ms. Harris’s explanation of her economic agenda in North Carolina. He mocked her remarks that, he said, suggested he would tax “every single thing that was ever invented.”

Mr. Trump’s advisers have urged him to emphasize his economic policy plans, which, according to polling, many voters trust more than Ms. Harris’s , and some Republicans have hoped he would leave behind his characteristic personal attacks, including his frequent insults of Ms. Harris’s intelligence and appearance.

But at two events earlier this week — a speech in Asheville, N.C., and a news conference in Bedminster, N.J. — both billed as opportunities to discuss the economy, Mr. Trump veered into personal attacks against Ms. Harris, which he said he was “entitled” to do .

Mr. Trump opened his rally in Pennsylvania, his final one before the Democratic National Convention begins in Chicago on Monday, by addressing inflation and the economy. But he quickly said, “You don’t mind if I go off teleprompter for a second, do you?” adding of Ms. Harris, “Joe Biden hates her.”

He went on to attack Ms. Harris for having a “crazy” laugh and said that he was “much better looking than her,” a line that drew cheers from the thousands of rallygoers gathered in the Mohegan Sun Arena.

In a statement, a Harris campaign spokesman, Joseph Costello, said that Mr. Trump was trying to distract from his “dangerous” agenda by resorting “to lies, name-calling and confused rants.”

Mr. Trump also said that Democrats would be hosting a “rigged convention” next week because of Ms. Harris’s entry into the race after a primary season in which millions of voters cast their votes for President Biden. Mr. Biden dropped out of the race in July and endorsed the vice president, who moved quickly to unite delegates behind her.

Mr. Trump repeated his campaign promise to increase oil and gas production, and then attacked Ms. Harris for calling for a ban on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, during her 2020 presidential campaign.

Ms. Harris’s campaign has said that she no longer supports such a ban. Pennsylvania, a large producer of natural gas, could see an economic benefit from increased fracking even as the process risks air and water pollution. And Mr. Trump’s calls to “drill, baby, drill” were particularly salient in Wilkes-Barre, in a region of northeast Pennsylvania that was historically defined by anthracite coal mining.

Mr. Trump also continued his effort to try to peel off American Jews, a substantial majority of whom are liberal, from the Democratic Party. He claimed that Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, was not chosen as Ms. Harris’s running mate because of his religion.

“They turned him down because he’s Jewish,” Mr. Trump said, adding, “I don’t think he’s a good person.”

As Ms. Harris was choosing her running mate, Mr. Shapiro faced a pressure campaign from activists who considered him too sympathetic to Israel. Mr. Shapiro has rejected the idea that his religious identity played into Ms. Harris’s decision.

Still, Mr. Trump, who during his presidency was accused of emboldening white supremacists, invoked the Holocaust as he warned of broad antisemitism in America and insisted, as he has before, that Jews who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined.”

Both Mr. Trump and Ms. Harris are particularly focused on Pennsylvania, a swing state with the potential to decide the election. Mr. Trump won the state by a slim margin in 2016, but he lost it to Mr. Biden in 2020.

Both campaigns are holding events in the state in the coming days. On Sunday, Ms. Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, will embark on a bus tour of western Pennsylvania. On Monday, Mr. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, will make separate campaign stops in York, Pa., and Philadelphia.

Heather Knight and Shawn Hubler

Reporting from San Francisco and Sacramento

Willie Brown to Donald Trump: Mention my name again and get sued.

Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco, had a message for former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday afternoon: Keep my name out of your mouth or get sued.

He stood with his longtime lawyer, Joe Cotchett, on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco, outside John’s Grill, the Saturday spot on Mr. Brown’s lunchtime rotation, and told reporters that he would sue Mr. Trump for slander and defamation if he repeated his concocted helicopter story one more time.

“He’s never brought a lawsuit in his life,” Mr. Cotchett said of Mr. Brown. “But you know who’s pushing him to it? A guy by the name of Trump.”

Mr. Trump and Mr. Brown have been verbally sparring since Mr. Trump falsely claimed at a news conference on Aug. 8 at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida that he had once nearly died in a helicopter ride with Mr. Brown .

Mr. Trump also said that Mr. Brown, who dated Vice President Kamala Harris in 1994 and 1995, said “terrible things” about Ms. Harris just before they almost plummeted to their deaths.

“He was not a fan of hers very much, at that point,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Brown promptly called the tale a lie — saying he had never ridden in a helicopter with Mr. Trump and had never told him disparaging things about Ms. Harris. In fact, he repeatedly told reporters that he respected her and desperately hoped that she would beat the man with whom he had never ridden in a helicopter.

Mr. Trump repeated his claims on his social media site, Truth Social, and threatened to sue The New York Times for reporting that the helicopter story was made up. “Now Willie Brown doesn’t remember?” Trump wrote.

That’s when Nate Holden, a former Los Angeles city councilman and state senator, said he had taken a rocky helicopter ride with Mr. Trump in 1990 and speculated that the former president might have confused him with Mr. Brown. Both California politicians are Black.

Mr. Trump has not spoken about the helicopter incident since Mr. Holden came forward. But Mr. Brown and Mr. Cotchett said they wanted to make sure that he stayed quiet.

Asked whether he wanted an apology from Mr. Trump, Mr. Brown said he would rather not hear from him at all.

“No, I don’t want his apology,” Mr. Brown said. “I don’t want him to mention my name.”

When asked to comment, a spokesman for Mr. Trump pointed to the former president’s threat to sue The Times but did not address what Mr. Brown said.

Mr. Holden on Saturday applauded Mr. Brown’s legal threat.

“If he’s propagating a lie, he should be held accountable,” Mr. Holden said of Mr. Trump in a telephone interview on Saturday from his home in Los Angeles. “I’m 95 years old, and Willie is 90, and he made the assumption we wouldn’t be here anymore, and nobody would challenge it. Well, we’re alive and well.”

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

Jazmine Ulloa

Reporting from La Vista, Neb.

Tim Walz plays up his Nebraska roots at a rally near Omaha.

Cinnamon rolls and chili. The Yale of the Midwest. A runza.

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, back home in Nebraska on Saturday, delivered his usual appeals to joy and freedom, along with some jabs at former President Donald J. Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio. But this time, he added a flex of his Nebraska roots and his knowledge of the state’s culture.

Mr. Walz spoke of growing up in the tiny village of Butte, graduating from Chadron State College — “the Yale of the Midwest,” he said to laughs — and serving in the state’s Army National Guard, in which he enlisted at 17. He was introduced by one of his former high school students in the state and had former Butte classmates in the audience.

“We have a slogan here — Nebraska, it is not for everyone,” he told a boisterous audience at a theater in La Vista, Neb., a suburb of Omaha. “Well, it certainly ain’t for Donald Trump, I’ll tell you that much.”

The stop in his home state offered Mr. Walz another chance to reach rural, working-class and moderate voters, as he and Vice President Kamala Harris cast themselves as fighters for the middle class.

Nebraska is one of two states (along with Maine) that award an electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district. A presidential candidate can lose the state and still earn electoral votes there.

Nebraska is solidly Republican, but its Second District, which encompasses Omaha and is known as Nebraska’s blue dot, is a swing region that voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020. Mr. Biden won it with 56.4 percent of the vote .

In the spring, Nebraska Republicans, under pressure from Mr. Trump; the state’s governor, Jim Pillen; and conservative activists, renewed an effort to move to a “winner-take-all” system in presidential elections. State legislators overwhelmingly voted against the proposal.

“It is not just symbolic,” Pete Festersen, the president of the Omaha City Council, said of Mr. Walz’s stop in the state. “It shows they can compete through the Midwest and certainly for our electoral vote and that can make a difference this election.”

Mr. Vance is expected at a fund-raiser in Omaha this month.

In a statement, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, criticized Mr. Walz’s platform and record, saying that Mr. Walz and Ms. Harris had “nothing to offer the American people other than their radical, Communist ideas.”

Mr. Walz was born in West Point , a rural town of roughly 3,500 people northwest of Omaha, and spent much of his younger days in Butte and Valentine, Neb. His mother was a community activist and his father a public school administrator, and he became a high school teacher and coach in Nebraska after a year of teaching in China. He met his wife, Gwen, also a teacher, at the Nebraska school, and the two moved to her native Minnesota in 1996.

Onstage, Mr. Walz joked that Mr. Vance would probably call a runza — a bread pocket filled with beef, cabbage or sauerkraut, and a regional specialty — “a Hot Pocket.” He said his parents and the communities he grew up in taught him to “show generosity towards your neighbor,” to “work for the common good” and that chili and cinnamon rolls — a sweet and spicy favorite in Nebraska — is a good combination.

He pledged that a Harris administration would cut taxes — and “not for the billionaires” — lower the cost for rent and prescription drugs and work to give families relief from medical debt. He argued that it was the Harris-Walz campaign that embodied small-town values.

“As we are running on these values, let’s take them to the White House,” he said.

Where is Donald Trump today? Here's what to know about his visit Arizona rally on Friday

Donald Trump will be in Arizona this afternoon for a rally in metro Phoenix.

Trump, who was in Las Vegas on Friday morning, toured the border using Cochise County as the backdrop for his counterprogramming on the day the vice president formally accepted her party’s presidential nomination .

Trump’s decision to fly to Arizona during the Democratic National Convention and visit the southern border underscores how quickly the presidential race has changed. Trump had a comfortable lead over President Joe Biden in Arizona polls at the beginning of the summer. But new surveys show Harris and Trump locked in a tight contest in the battleground — with Harris slightly ahead.

Here's what to know about Trump's visit to the Arizona-Mexico border and his rally at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.

Where is Donald Trump on Friday morning? In Las Vegas

Before his rally in Glendale on Friday afternoon, Donald Trump will speak at a restaurant in Las Vegas at about noon to discuss his campaign promise to not tax tips. Trump flew to Las Vegas after his Arizona border visit on Thursday afternoon.

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Donald Trump to rally in Glendale on Friday

Donald Trump will hit the campaign trail in Glendale on Friday, holding a rally at the same venue where Kamala Harris drew a crowd of 15,000 earlier this month.  

It’s the perfect opportunity  for a crowd-size comparison .  

The Republican former president is under pressure to upstage Harris by packing Desert Diamond Arena with a huge crowd. It’s a comparison of his own making: Trump has been disputing the size of Harris’ fired-up campaign crowds lately, even falsely claiming she used artificial intelligence because her sea of supporters was so large at a recent event.  

The event marks Trump’s first large-scale campaign event in battleground Arizona since Harris became the Democratic nominee. Trump had a comfortable lead over President Joe Biden in the state, but the race has tightened now that Harris is his opponent.  

“Until Kamala Harris took the top of the ticket, Trump was known for throwing the better party,” said Stacy Pearson, a Phoenix Democratic political consultant.  

The size of a rally is not an indicator of who will win an election, but a campaign crowd can provide a peek into how enthusiastic voters are about a particular candidate. That’s notable in Arizona, where Biden had struggled to get voters excited to turn out before he left the race.  

Where is Desert Diamond Arena?

Desert Diamond Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Ave., is located in Glendale near State Farm Stadium. The  19,000-capacity arena  is just off Loop 101 between Cardinals Way and Glendale Avenue.

Trump arrives at the Arizona-Mexico border on Thursday

Donald Trump arrived at the southern border shortly after noon Thursday. He was joined by campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, along with Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley.

Trump began his remarks at the border by knocking President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The former president addressed reporters with law enforcement officials and families of victims of crimes committed by people who crossed the border illegally.

Trump referred to Harris as a “Marxist” and claimed she wants “open borders.” He gave his speech at an unfinished portion of the border wall in Cochise County, and often gestured to pieces of the wall piled nearby.

“It could have been put up in a matter of weeks,” Trump said, calling the barrier the “Rolls-Royce” of walls.

He was joined by the family of Rachel Morin,  who was raped and murdered in 2023  in Maryland. An immigrant from El Salvador was arrested and charged in connection with the crimes.