Pretty Rocks bridge (Image Credit: National Park Service)
In August 2021, a massive landslide in Denali National Park and Preserve tore apart a section of the park’s only road, cutting off vehicle access to destinations deep inside the Alaska wilderness. The roughly $230 million project includes a 475-foot steel truss bridge built across the active landslide near Mile 45, according to the National Park Service (NPS). Full bus service to the western end is expected to return during the 2027 visitor season. In 2025, the completed structure was gradually launched across the slide toward the opposite side. The bridge reached the receiving tower in August 2025 and was subsequently lowered into its final position. The structure also incorporates 23 thermosiphons, underground devices designed to help keep the permafrost beneath the eastern end of the bridge frozen. Hikers and cyclists can now travel west of East Fork and cross the new bridge, while park buses remain restricted to East Fork for the rest of the 2026 season, according to the National Park Service. Full bus service along the Denali Park Road will resume in 2027. That reopening will restore access to the western reaches of Denali that have been difficult or impossible for many visitors to reach since the 2021 landslide.
As reported by Alaska Public Media, the completion of the Pretty Rocks Bridge marks a major step toward restoring full use of the Denali Park Road. Five years later, a new bridge now spans the unstable ground where the road once crossed the slope. The bridge reconnects the eastern and western portions of the road and is designed as a long-term solution rather than another attempt to keep rebuilding a roadway across moving ground. One of the most striking parts of the project was how the bridge was put into position. Rather than building the entire structure across the landslide, crews assembled the bridge on the east side of the unstable area. NPS described the successful launch as one of the major accomplishments of that year’s construction season. Maintaining stable ground around the bridge is an important part of ensuring its long-term performance. The completed bridge does not mean every type of traffic immediately returned to the entire road.