- Denali National Park is one of the largest national parks in the Unites States at more than 6 million acres, and it is home to North America's tallest peak, 20,320-foot Mount McKinley. Most people associate the park predominantly with this peak, but the park was not created because of the mountain. The protection of large mammals in the area, such as Dall sheep, is why it was originally formed. A conservationist, hunter and naturalist named Charles Sheldon wanted to create a game refuge and proposed the boundaries for the park after visiting the land in 1906. Sheldon and the Game Committee of the Boone and Crockett Club launched the campaign to establish the park, and in 1917 those efforts paid off.
- The park was originally called Mount McKinley National Park, but it was not until 1980 that it was named Denali National Park. At this time, the park was also increased in size, with 4 million more acres added to the park's boundaries. Then-President Jimmy Carter, signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which made it Denali National Park and Preserve.
- The park was Alaska's first national park and, according to the book "Crown Jewel of the North: An Administrative History of Denali National Park and Preserve" by Frank Norris, Congress first decided to start funding the park in the spring of 1921. This is when the National Park Service hired Harry Karstens as its first employee for the park. Karstens was also the first to summit Mount McKinley. During this time, prospecting and mining were not outlawed in the park, and several claims had been staked within only a few years, though mining, logging and hunting have always been regulated within all national parks. The visitors and tourism in Denali National Park have seemed to increase as the years go by. According to the 31st edition of "Alaska Almanac," Alaska's national parks, preserves and monuments attracted a record 2.47 million visitors in 2006.
