Helicopters, RV & Cabin Campground for Denali State Park?

Denali State Park is one of Alaska’s premier state parks with excellent road access from the Parks Highway. With spectacular views of Mount McKinley and the Alaska Range and great options for hiking and paddling, the park has long been the subject of collaborative efforts between the state and the National Park Service for a south Denali visitor node. Unfortunately, when the state park was established in 1970, there were many parcels of private property within the new park boundaries, creating inholdings that have always had the potential to create management challenges.

The owner of one such inholding and a development company have proposed an RV campground with a convenience store, gift shop, RV and tent camping sites, cabins, and a boat ramp on a parcel with west-side highway frontage at mile 135.7 of the Parks Highway, just north of the road to K’esugi Ken campground. Most concerning is the proposal for a helipad hosting up to 8 helicopter tours per day (although it is easy to speculate that if the enterprise is successful, the developers would ask for more in the future). Noise from these tours would seriously impact the campground, boaters on the Chulitna, and hikers on nearby trails depending on the flight path. In addition, they would add to the already problematic aircraft noise from flightseeing in the south Denali area generally.

The development falls within the Denali State Park Special Land Use district of Matanuska-Susitna Borough, which has special land use rules for the area. New development requires a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), which the developers are seeking. The Borough Planning Commission is considering the CUP request at its January 20, 2025 meeting (re-scheduled from Jan. 6). DCC and others have opposed the inclusion of the helipad in the permit because it would adversely affect other park users and is inconsistent with the intent of the Special Land Use district.

You can read the application and find information about the Commission meeting at the following website. It is possible to testify at the Commission meeting for those who are interested and able to attend.

https://matsugov.us/publicnotice/msb-17-17-denali-state-park-special-land-use-district

You can read DCC’s written comment to the Commission by clicking here.