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The Stony Hill Scenic Overlook, in Denali National Park and Preserve, is at mile 62 on the main Park Road. It is the first point entering the park, providing an unobstructed view of Mt. Denali. It is an especially nice location for photo composition because Park Road forms an interesting leading line towards the right side of the scene. Many iconic photos have been shot at this location.

At this writing on 9-19-24, there is no way to travel Park Road in Denali National Park and Preserve due to the Pretty Rocks Landslide at Mile 45.4, which has blocked vehicle traffic for the last 50 miles of the 92-mile-long Park Road. The road is closed at Mile 43 and is not expected to reopen until 2027.

Between the phenomenal landscapes and the wildlife, Denali National Park and Preserve provides some of the most amazing photography opportunities I have ever experienced. The first time we crested the hill at the Stony Hill Scenic Overlook, we pulled to the side of the road and just sat there in stunned silence. I had seen photos of that location, but most fail to convey the sheer beauty of this location.

This shot was made on Aug. 8, 2017, at 7:20 AM. This time of day is long before the tour buses arrive at Stony Hill. I was only able to be there at that time because I had a professional photographer's pass for that week, which allowed me to drive my private car into the park. We had left the Teklanika River Campground, where we were camped in our motorhome, around 4:00 am to make the 1+ hour drive to this location.

We arrived about half an hour before sunrise, and I had shot several previous sunrise photos. After sunrise, long shadows of the peaks to the east crossed the valley below Stony Pass. A Lenticular cloud hovered over Mt. Denali like an alien UFO. Wind-swept snow is visible in plumes off of the higher peaks.

I especially liked how the warm morning sunlight illuminated the tundra growth, which was just starting to show some fall coloring. Typically, Denali is only visible 2-3 days out of the month in August. We were blessed that 5 out of the 7 days that our professional photographer passes were valid, and we had nearly clear skies.

The original uncropped stitched panorama consists of 50 individual 42-megapixel images shot using a 400mm focal length with a Canon 70-200 zoom lens and 2x converter. The final cropped image is 1.122 Gigapixels and measures 5 ft x 16 ft.