The park is open late May to mid-September, because summer is really the only time to visit. The six-million-acre stakeout has just one road: a dirt path cleared specifically for the park’s buses. Since Denali has few hiking trails, you should grab a bus ticket and head down the road on a brief driving tour. Take in the reds and greens of the tundra and the abundant snowy peaks or ask the driver to let you off to hike for a few hours. Once you’ve exhausted yourself meandering the untouched wilderness, make your way back to the road and grab the next bus out. I’d highly recommend the detour; although you can still snag some amazing pictures of Mt. McKinley from the road, it’s not the same as heading off on your own.

Just make sure to have a back-up plan in the likely event that you come across some bears or caribou. Denali is all open wilderness — our country’s least-developed national park, positively brimming with unique flora and fauna. Alaska’s summertime sunlight starts early in the morning and lasts for 19 hours, so there’ll be plenty of time to get back out of the park, drop your stuff off at your hostel and head over to the nearest bar to compare adventures. You’ll be nothing less than a first-class badass for braving the great beyond.