MacLaren Summit
& Osar Lake Trail

There are a handful of spots on the Denali Highway that genuinely stop you in your tracks. MacLaren Summit is one of them. At roughly Mile 42, you crest the ridge and the whole Susitna watershed opens up below you — a rolling, glacier-carved panorama that stretches as far as you can see in every direction. The Alaska Range sits to the north, and on a clear day, the peak of Denali is visible on the horizon.

Oscar Lake sits just below the summit, tucked into the tundra. It is a primitive, undeveloped camping area — no fees, no hookups, no ranger station. Just you, the wind, and one of the finest views in the state. Bring everything you need because there is nothing out here.

The lake itself is calm and clear, and arctic grayling fin up in the shallows if you want to wet a line. In the early morning, the stillness up here is something else entirely. The kind of quiet that makes you realize how loud your regular life actually is.

This stretch of the Denali Highway sees a fraction of the traffic of the Parks Highway or the Dalton. Most people don't know it's here, and the ones who do tend to want to keep it that way. If you are the type of traveler who would rather sleep under the stars above the Alaska Range than check into a chain hotel in Anchorage, this place is for you.

I have camped at MacLaren Summit and Osar Lake Trail on multiple occasions, both while passing through and while using it as a base for fishing and hunting trips further off the highway. Every single time, I have left with the same thought — this is what Alaska is supposed to feel like.