Henry Peter Karstens (September 2, 1878 – November 28, 1955) was the first superintendent of Denali National Park, from 1921 to 1928. He was the guide and climbing leader of the first complete ascent of Denali in 1913, with expedition members Hudson Stuck, Walter Harper and Robert Tatum. John Fredson and Esaias George were two young Gwich'in Alaska Natives who supported the party.

Harry Karstens was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 2, 1878. His parents were Emma Terveen and John Jacob Karstens, an immigrant from the Duchy of Holstein. His father owned a feed store and livery. Harry was the fifth born of seven children in his family.

Like many young men, Karstens went North for adventure to Dawson City, Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897; he was nineteen. There, he mined on Seventymile Creek and helped lay out the town of Eagle, Alaska. He also carried freight and mail with Charles McGonagall via dog teams among the frontier towns of Fairbanks, Valdez and Kantishna, being paid $75 per month. He gained his nickname as the "Seventymile Kid" after working for the post office.

He also worked as a packer, hauling miners' supplies over the Chilkoot Pass on his back, usually in 50-pound packs. In winter, the ice leading to the summit was cut into 1500 steps, which travelers climbed in single file. Authorities required each "stampeder" (the persons intending to stay and mine) to bring in two tons of supplies to provide for himself for a year in the camps.

Karstens ran dog teams on the frontier, as well as riverboats when the rivers were navigable.

Drawing on his skills developed on the frontier, from 1906 to 1908, Karstens accompanied Charles Sheldon, a hunter, conservationist, and naturalist, on hunting trips into the Toklat River region. Sheldon, the chairman of the influential Boone and Crockett Club, successfully campaigned with Congress to have the area set aside as a national park. In 1917, Denali National Park was established as Mount McKinley National Park.

On March 27, 1912, Hudson Stuck, Episcopal Archdeacon of the Yukon, sent Karstens a letter inviting him to join an expedition to climb Denali. Stuck emphasized the financial value of the trip, saying, "if we succeed in the ascent, the expedition will not be without the likelihood of financial value, and that there will be return to you for the time and labour." Karstens accepted.

While Stuck had been traveling in Alaska for several years for his work and had experience mountain climbing, Karstens had the greater experience, which he applied as guide to the small expedition. Its other members were Walter Harper and Robert Tatum, both 21 at the time. In addition, two Gwich'in youths from Stuck's mission school, Johnny Fredson and Esias George, supported the party by managing its dog teams, and in base camp by hunting for meat and organizing supplies. (Fredson later became the first Alaska Native to graduate from college and was a lifelong leader of the Gwich'in people, founding their Venetie Indian Reserve in 1941).