They decided that the political climate at the time was unfavorable for congressional action and that the best hope of success rested on the approval and support of the Alaskans themselves.

"[citation needed] In October 1915, Sheldon took up the matter with E. W. Nelson of the Biological Survey at Washington, D.C., and with George Bird Grinnell, with the purpose to introduce a suitable bill in the coming session of Congress.

On February 26, 1917, 11 years from its conception, the bill was signed in legislation by the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, thereby creating Mount McKinley National Park.

[8] In July 1923, President Warren Harding stopped at the hotel, on a tour of the length of the Alaska Railroad, during which he drove a golden spike signaling its completion at Nenana.

[7] In 1967, the park was the site of one of the deadliest mountaineering accidents in the United States with the Mount McKinley disaster, where seven climbers died in an intense blizzard on Denali.

This situation lasted until August 30, 2015, when President Barack Obama directed Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to rename the mountain to Denali, using statutory authority to act on requests when the Board of Geographic Names does not do so in a "reasonable" period.

[12] In 1992, Christopher McCandless ventured into the Alaskan wilderness and settled in an abandoned bus in the park on the Stampede Trail at 63°52′5.96″N 149°46′8.39″W / 63.8683222°N 149.7689972°W / 63.8683222; -149.7689972 , near Lake Wentitika.

His story has been widely publicized via articles, books, and films, and the bus where his remains were found has become a shrine attracting people from around the world.

[13] On September 24, 2020, the Museum of The North[14] at the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) announced it became the permanent home of McCandless' 'Magic Bus 142' where it will be restored and an outdoor exhibit will be created.

[15] On November 5, 2012, the United States Mint released the 15th of its America the Beautiful Quarters series, which honors Denali National Park.

[17] The statute allows the United States Department of the Interior to "issue permits for microhydroelectric projects in the Kantishna Hills area of the Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska"; it authorizes the Department of the Interior and a company called Doyon Tourism, Inc. to exchange some land in the area; it authorizes the National Park Service (NPS) to "issue permits to construct a natural gas pipeline in the Denali National Park"; and it renames the existing Talkeetna Ranger Station the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station.

[18] The National Parks Conservation Association supported the bill because the legislation "takes a thoughtful approach to protecting roadless Alaska, promoting renewable energy development, and honoring native Alaskans.

[citation needed] The Denali Park Road runs north of and roughly parallel to the imposing Alaska Range.

The first 15 mi (24 km) of the road are available to private vehicles, allowing easy access to the Riley Creek and Savage River campgrounds.

[22][23] After studying potential solutions including re-routing the road, park officials decided to construct a bridge over the landslide which will cost $55 million and is expected to begin in 2022 and take two or three seasons to complete.

As a result of the danger involved, and because most of the gravel road is only one lane wide, drivers must be trained in procedures for navigating the sharp mountain curves and yielding the right-of-way to opposing buses and park vehicles.

It features restrooms, daily ranger-led programs during the summer, and on clear days, views of Denali and the Alaska Range.

The mountain is still gaining about 1 mm (0.039 in) in height each year due to the continued convergence of the North American and Pacific Plates.

The sediments that make up these rocks were deposited in a variety of marine environments, ranging from deep ocean basins to continental shelf areas.

Special features include pillow basalts, which are formed when molten lava flows into water and a hard outer crust forms, making a puffy, pillow-shaped feature; as well as an ophiolite sequence, which is a distinct sequence of rocks indicating that a section of the oceanic crust has been uplifted and thrust onto a continental area.

These earthquakes did not cause a significant loss of life or property, since the area is very sparsely populated, but they did trigger thousands of landslides.

Braided meltwater streams heavily loaded with rock debris continually shift and intertwine their channels over valley floors.

In the tundra of the park, layers of topsoil collect on rotten fragmented rock moved by thousands of years of glacial activity.

Wild blueberries and soap berries thrive in the tundra and provide the bears of Denali with the main part of their diet.

Smaller animals such as coyotes, hoary marmots, shrews, Arctic ground squirrels, beavers, pikas, and snowshoe hares are seen in abundance.

Red and Arctic fox species, martens, Canada lynx, and wolverines also inhabit the park but are more rarely seen due to their elusive natures.

Because many of the rivers and lakes of Denali are fed by glaciers, glacial silt and cold temperatures slow the metabolism of the fish, preventing them from reaching normal sizes.

There are several non-native species in the park including common dandelion, narrowleaf hawksbeard, white sweet clover, bird vetch, yellow toadflax, and scentless false mayweed.

In August 2012 the park experienced its first known fatal bear attack when a lone hiker apparently startled a large male grizzly while photographing it.

Analysis of the scene and the hiker's camera strongly suggest he violated park regulations regarding backcountry bear encounters, which all permit holders are made aware of.