Denali Gift Companies
Looking for an Exciting Summer Job in Alaska??
We operate three of the largest gift shops at Denali National Park. All of the stores are located in the center of the Denali Park business district. The Park business district is located one mile North of the entrance to Denali National Park along a 3/4 mile stretch of the Parks Highway.
The business district has several lodges including the McKinley Chalets, Denali Canyon Lodge, Denali Princess Lodge, Crowsnest, Grande Denali Lodge and the Denali Bluffs Hotel. There are approximately 2000 hotel rooms and a dozen bars and restaurants in this area. There is also a liquor store, gas station, two convenience stores, flightseeing operations, river rafting companies and over a dozen gift shops along with other tourist type operations in the area.
Over 2500 seasonal employees work in the area and there are over 7000 visitors each day as well. Just inside the Park entrance is the Visitor's Access Center, the Interpretive Center, Post Office and the Alaska Railroad Depot.
Our businesses are located in the center of all the activity at Denali National Park. We are the busiest independent gift shop operation at the Park. We offer an exciting, fast-paced work environment you will enjoy and can learn a lot while doing it! We have been in business longer than almost everyone in the area - over 24 years now.
Our Jobs
We have created a fun, interesting and challenging place to work in a small rather than large-business environment. Everyone is scheduled about 40 hours within five days each week. Overtime is sometimes available at time and a half during the season. We allow for flexible scheduling in order to give you time to be with your friends and explore Alaska. Currently there are openings for customer service associates, cashiers, maintenance and bookeeeping personnel.
We are the largest independent gift retailer at Denali National Park. Our gift shops require many customer service associates and merchandising personnel. All of our employees must know or be able to learn how to operate a computerized POS cash register and be able to complete sales. All of our associates will be involved in pricing, folding and stocking large volumes of T-shirts, garments and other merchandise on a daily basis. Some will spend more time making sales while others may be warehousing and merchandising more often. We will train you in all aspects of the job.
Our Ideal Candidate
We ask only that you have a healthy work ethic and strive to do your job well. We encourage a positive attitude. People without happy and positive personalities will not like working for us and will very likely not finish the season nor collect a bonus check. People who party or do drugs will definitely not be with us for long!
Room and Board
This is an "EMPLOYEE Housing" program. We ARE NOT renting cabins, we are charging for EMPLOYEE Housing-- not cabin rent! We do not fall under the landlord/tennant laws. If you quit or are terminated you must leave the property immediately. We ONLY house our employees. We charge $3 a day ($21 a week) for use of the cabin, showers, main house cooking and internet facilities and utilities.
The employee cabins are small wood-framed cabins. The cabins have electric heat and lights and a full sized refrigerator. We supply mattresses. Some have primitive shelving and have been fixed up over the years by the employees. About half of the cabins are brand new. They are clustered together on two acres of land in Healy, Alaska.
There are usually two persons to a cabin. We will try to put compatible personalities into the same living quarters. You are free to swap roommates as you become friends with other employees.
You (and your roommate) will have a refrigerator in which to store your food in your cabin. You will cook your meals either individually or in groups in our kitchen in the log cabin or outside in the BBQ area. You will need to bring your cooking utensils, small frying (eggpan), large frying pan, sauce pan, spatulas, etc. OR you can buy them from us upon arrival at basically our cost. These items will remain in your possesion and therefore you need to wash them after cooking and return them to your cabin for safe-keeping.
We will provide certain food and food preparation items such a seasonings, salt, pepper, cooking oil, rice, beans and most paper products.
You will need to buy your own food. There are two small grocery stores and four convenience stores in the area where you shop daily. We also make trips into Fairbanks most weeks where you can go shopping at large chain stores for groceries and other items.
Perks
The starting wage is $8.00 per hour plus a $1.00 per hour bonus. Supervisors and second year personnel earn at least $1.00 per hour over that. When factoring the wage scale please note that our Housing Program is one of the least expensive of any business in the Park!! This program will put $100's of dollars more in your pocket throughout the summer and is explained further below.
Payday is every other Friday. We can direct deposit your checks or you can mail them to your bank. We will also cash your personal checks for your spending money.
The Bonus is payable at the end of the season in one lump sum less taxes. Typical Bonuses run between $400 and $800 per season per employee, depending on the number of hours worked.
You CAN SAVE some money this summer!! Other than food, personal items and laundry, you can save most all of your earnings, as you will have no other expenses.
In addition, we have a 3 bedroom log cabin on the property located very close to your sleeping cabins. It has a kitchen and living/dining room area. There is a TV and a large collection of DVD’s for employee viewing in the log cabin. The cabin is open to the employees from 6am until midnite.
In the log cabin we have computers online with wireless high speed DSL connections. These are available to you at all times free of charge.
Getting Here and Getting Around
The main form of transportation to Alaska is by air. It is cheaper to fly into Anchorage (ANC) but then it generally costs more and takes longer to get to Denali. The other option is to fly into Fairbanks (FAI).
There are hostels in either city at which you can overnight until transportation to the Park is available. The Anchorage International Hostel (1-907-276-3635) is located in downtown Anchorage. We will be making weekly trips to Anchorage each Tuesday in May. You may catch our shuttle for free or you may pay to take the daily Parks Highway Express shuttle van. or 1-888-600-6001.
If you are hired and need help finding reasonable fares feel free to call and ask me about this before making your plane reservations. Fares should be around $400-$600 from the West coast and possibly a few hundred dollars more if flying from the East. Check nearby major airports also as some larger airports have more competition and the fares can be dramatically lower.
Most employees can earn enough bonus money or overtime pay to cover the cost of the flight to and from Anchorage. Some employees may elect to drive the Alcan Highway from Seattle to Fairbanks/Denali. It is about 2400 miles from Seattle to the Park.
Once here,we shuttle all of the employees to work and back to the housing complex several times every day.
For Fun
At the Denali National Park and Preserve Visitor's Access Center you can take bus rides 90 miles into the Park, obtain camping permits, attend interpretive programs, take hiking trails and numerous other daily Park activities.
You can find more information about Denali Park on the NPS website
How to Apply
Come Join Us!
If you have further interest in this summer adventure, please submit our online Application. You will be contacted for a telephone interview within a few days and notified of your hiring status usually within one week after the telephone interview.
We try to have all positions filled and all applicants notified by early April. Most employees will be notified far earlier and shortly after the telephone interview of their hired status.
Make sure to check out our website for more employee information and pics!
Related Pages
Alaska Jobs, Other Cool Jobs, Denali National Park and Preserve, Summer Jobs

