Wonder Lake Ranger Station: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Denali National Park and Preserve

Region 11 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: Wonder Lake Ranger Station is located at the northeast end of Wonder Lake at Milepost 86 of the Denali park road, near the 1932 park boundary. The site for the ranger station, on a small rise overlooking Wonder Lake with a commanding view of Denali and the Alaska Range, was selected by Superintendent Been, NPS Landscape Architect Davis and Supervisor Fox of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1939. The Wonder Lake Ranger Station is a significant representation of the U.S. Governmental administration of conservation lands within a designated National Park. The Ranger Station served not only as a residence and administrative office, but its location some 80 miles into the park on the only transportation route through the park provided a point of contact and communication between the mining community of Kantishna, the NPS Headquarters and the railroad. As tourism increased and the Kantishna area was brought into the park, the Wonder Lake Ranger Station played an increasing role at the west end of the road. Today the Wonder Lake Ranger Station continues to be an important contact station for the lodges and visitors in the western region of Denali National Park and Preserve. Construction of the station building began in 1939 by the CCC, with most of the interior finish work completed by NPS Rangers that Fall. Since the 1960s several waves of development have altered the composition of the site considerably. Disturbance around the site altered the vegetation patterns, numerous outbuildings were constructed, and the function of the site was expanded to support maintenance, trail crew and other park functions. The five historic components of the Wonder Lake Ranger Station landscape include the ranger station, the six-seater outhouse, their connecting path, the parking lot around the building and a portion of the Denali park road. Other contributing landscape features include the viewshed to Wonder Lake and Denali, as well as the views into the site from the park road. Vegetation is also considered a contributing landscape characteristic effecting historic setting and feeling. In addition, the site currently contains a number of non-historic buildings, structures and objects: six outbuildings, an outhouse, a footpath, and a communications satellite dish. In 2020, a physical history was added to the CLI, as well as the addition of landscape characteristics and up-to-date images.

Wonder Lake Ranger Station: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Denali National Park and Preserve

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