ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A wildfire that closed Denali National Park and Preserve on Sunday afternoon and Monday dashed the dreams of thousands of travelers who had the park high on their travel itinerary in Alaska.

Many had to shift their travel and lodging plans amid a lack of electricity and running water in nearby Glitter Gulch, a jumping off point to the park with hotels, shops and restaurants, after the Riley Fire near the park entrance triggered a power outage, tourism representatives said.

With no flush toilets, lodge operators provided portable toilets or motorcoach bathrooms, they said.

The fire also canceled the trains that ferry cruise travelers to the park from Anchorage and Fairbanks, but the Alaska Railroad worked with a large motorcoach company to get many of the displaced travelers off to their next destination.

Hopefully the closure will be short-lived and the park can reopen Tuesday after firefighters were getting closer to bringing the fire under control, said Chris Noel, mayor of the Denali Borough.

“It’s a big disruption to our area and it will have rippling impacts,” after shops and restaurants had to close and travelers had to find new plans, Noel said. “But everyone is doing what they can to help and get us through this.”

New Jersey residents Ken and Kathy McKenna found themselves unexpectedly spending two extra nights in Anchorage after their plans to visit the park were dashed by the fire.

Seeing Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, was the reason they’d come to Alaska, he said. So it was a let down when they arrived at the railroad station early Monday and learned their train to the park had been canceled.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” Ken McKenna said. “But obviously, you can’t do much about a fire and from what we’re hearing, everybody’s doing well up there.”

The good news is they were able to extend their stay at their Anchorage hotel in Midtown for two nights, he said.

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