Denali Highway
| Alaska State Route 8 in the USA | |
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| map | |
| Basic data | |
| Operator: | Alaska DOT & PF |
| Start of the street: |
 George Parks Highway near Cantwell
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| End of street: |
 Richardson Highway near Paxson
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| Overall length: | 218 km (135.5 mi ) |
| Development condition: | 1 × 1 lane, unpaved from km 34 |
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| Denali Highway on the Maclaren River and the Alaska Range | |
The Denali Highway is a road in Alaska ( Alaska Route 8 ), which connects the places Paxson on the Richardson Highway and Cantwell on the George Parks Highway over a length of 218 km .
At the time of construction in 1957, the Denali Highway was the only road to Denali National Park . Only in 1971, with the construction of the George Parks Highway, into which the section of the Denali Highway from Cantwell to the park entrance was integrated, a second access route was created.
The road runs along the southern slope of the Alaska Range and leads through largely untouched, deserted mountainous landscape formed by glaciers . Moraine , kamen , dead ice and ose can be seen from the road. In its course it crosses the catchment areas of the rivers Copper , Tanana and Susitna .
The first 34 km from Paxson are paved, the rest of the highway is gravel. Coming for the first 72 km from the east, the road winds through the Amphitheater Mountains , crossing the Delta River and the Maclaren Summit , the second highest point on a public road in Alaska after the Atigun Pass at 1,245 m . Then the road crosses the Maclaren River and runs to the Susitna River along the southern flank of the Clearwater Mountains . Then it crosses a sand plain to the Nenana River , which it follows to Cantwell.
course
- 0 km: The highway begins in Paxson
- 33 km: Bridge over the Tangle River
- 34 km: watershed (water to the south flows to Prince William Sound , water to the north into the Yukon River and with it into the Bering Sea )
- 40 km: Bridge over Rock Creek
- 57 km: Maclaren Summit
- 68 km: Bridge over the Maclaren River
- 90 km: Bridge over Clearwater Creek
- 128 km: Bridge over the Susitna River
- 153 km: Bridge over Canyon Creek
- 168 km: Bridge over the Brushkana River
- 179 km: Bridge over Seattle Creek
- 180 km: border with Matanuska-Susitna Borough
- 197 km: Denali becomes visible in the west
- 206 km: Bridge over Fish Creek
- 214 km: junction with George Parks Highway
- 218 km: Cantwell , end of the highway
