Alaska attractions

Located 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Anchorage, the Whittier cruise port is the beginning and end point of many Alaskan cruises. The road from Anchorage to Whittier follows the Turnagain Arm of the Gulf of Alaska and is one of the most scenic drives in Alaska. Book extra time in Anchorage before or after your cruise to explore this magnificent coastline.

Resting atop White Pass at the border of Alaska and the Yukon Territory, Summit Lake is a tranquil high-mountain lake surrounded by forests, mountains, and wildlife. Lined by the Klondike Highway, the lake is easily accessible and provides a great place to take a break from the road and enjoy a picnic or photo opportunity.

Retrace the rugged and scenic 33-mile (53-kilometer) route that led prospectors from the coast to the Yukon goldfields during the Klondike Gold Rush in the 1890s. Following old trails used by the Tlingit people for centuries, the prospectors found an arduous path from Dyea to Bennett through the Coastal Mountains. Today, the Chilkoot Trail is a popular backpacking destination.

While there is more than one visitor center in Denali National Park, when folks say the “Denali Visitor Center,” they mean the one at mile marker 1.5 on Denali Park Road. Open only in summer, this is the park’s main information hub, where you can get a passport stamp, pay the park entrance fee, and chat with rangers.

On the most popular trails in Alaska, the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail offers a glimpse of wilderness close to the city. Beginning in downtown Anchorage, the trail gently winds along the coast past marshes and forested hills, and is ideal for biking, walking, and wildlife viewing—you may come across a moose, spot a bald eagle overhead, or glimpse a breaching whale.

Visitors to Alaska’s Mendenhall Glacier are in for a second, less-icy surprise: Nugget Falls. About a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the glacier’s visitor center on an easy, gravel path, Nugget Falls cascades 377 feet (115 meters) down a cliffside and into the meltwater below. It’s wide and thunderous, and visitors can stand right below it to catch the action.

A century ago, Skagway was the gateway to the gold fields of the Klondike; now, the Skagway Cruise Port is one of Alaska’s most popular ports of call and a departure point for exploring the vast Yukon. The scenic cruise port still has the feel of its Gold Rush past though, complete with an historic downtown filled with false front buildings and wooden sidewalks.

Located in northeast Anchorage, the Alaska Native Heritage Center celebrates the rich history and culture of Alaska's first people. More than just a museum, the cultural center takes visitors on a journey through Alaskan Native history by way of art, dance performances, films, authentic Indigenous dwellings, and more. Its programming opens up interaction that honors Native people and their traditions first-hand.

If you’re sailing north from Seattle or Vancouver, the Port of Ketchikan on Revillagigedo Island will likely be your first port of call. The former salmon fishery and so-called "Salmon Capital of the World" offers visitors a real taste of Alaska’s frontier personality and cultural heritage, and serves as the gateway to Alaska's Inside Passage.

Juneau’s Glacier Gardens makes the journey through Alaska’s temperate rainforest fun, easy, and accessible. Aboard one of their rainforest vehicles, you’ll ride through the property’s verdant botanical gardens and the lush greenery of Tongass National Forest, climbing Thunder Mountain for views of Alaska’s capital city. Always guided, it’s an immersive look at the wildest flora of the Last Frontier.

Run by four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King, Husky Homestead is a peek into the lives of professional dog-sledders, rural Alaskans, and the state’s favorite fluffy, 4-legged mushers. Here, you can cuddle puppies, watch the dogs in action on their home trail, learn about surviving the Arctic, and hear real-life stories from Alaska’s best sledders.

Admiralty Island, known by the native Tlingit people as the Fortress of the Bears, is home to an estimated 1,500 brown bears. Pack Creek flats, where the creek emerges to the sea, ranks among the best places on the island to see them. Visiting wildlife watchers can also spot bald eagles, Sitka black-tailed deer, mink, and otters.

Passing under Maynard Mountain, on the way from Anchorage to Whittier, the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel (Whittier Tunnel) is one of the longest highway tunnels for vehicles and trains in North America. Running a full 2.5 miles (4 kilometers), this roadway has a WWII history dating back to the 1940s, and it’s just as impressive to see the inside of the tunnel as it is to see the views on either side of it.

Nestled at the feet of White Pass north of Skagway, this restaurant and Klondike Gold Rush-themed mining camp offers visitors the chance to try an Alaskan “feast in the forest,” enjoy a local history lesson, and pan for gold in a waterfall nearby. A bordello, laundry tents, and a hippodrome hosting tongue-in-cheek melodramas and poetry readings round out the camp.

Commemorate your visit to the northernmost reaches of the planet with a stop at one of Alaska's coolest roadside attractions: the Arctic Circle Sign. The fixture, from the Bureau of Land Management, is located at approximately 66° 33' N, demarcating where the circle begins.

Take a journey through Alaska’s gold rush history aboard a replica Tanana Valley Railroad narrow-gauge train to the historic Gold Dredge 8. This ladder-style dredge extracted millions of ounces of gold while in operation from 1928 to 1959, and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You’ll learn how to pan for gold and get to keep what you find.

Located on the western coast of Baranof Island, Sitka is a popular stop on cruises of Alaska’s Inside Passage. The region boasts a rich Tlingit native culture combined with Russian settlement history. Sitka is also home to one of Alaska’s most impressive raptor rehabilitation centers and a refuge for orphaned bears.

Located 126 miles (203 kilometers) south of Anchorage at the head of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park and Harding Icefield. Alaska cruises often embark or disembark in Seward. Schedule extra time in Seward to explore the port city's surrounding glaciers and fjords.

Founded in 1979 on an old homestead ranch gifted to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Large Animal Research Station (LARS) gives visitors the chance to see muskox, reindeer, and caribou. The muskox completely disappeared in Alaska in the mid-1800s due to overhunting and climate fluctuations, and the center is dedicated to both the study and protection of these large Arctic mammals.

The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center provides visitors with an introduction to the history and culture of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Rangers offer interpretation, while a theater screens films on cultural history. Facilities also include a recreated native fishing village and a trail through the temperate rainforest.

Known to the Tlingit people as Kootznoowoo, meaning Fortress of the Bear, Alaska’s Admiralty Island is home to the largest concentration of brown bears in North America. Wildlife enthusiasts flock to the Pack Creek Bear Viewing Area during the summer months to see brown bears feast on the abundant salmon found here.

Juneau’s waterfront is a hub of activity, and Franklin Street is its most famous thoroughfare. This historic heart of the Alaskan capital comprises a collection of Gold Rush–themed restaurants, old-time saloons, clapboard balconies, and Victorian architecture, making you feel like you’re stepping into another era.

Mining cars, railroad lines, train repair sheds, and other artifacts tell the story of Juneau’s Gold Rush history at the Last Chance Mining Museum and Historic Park. The collection is housed in the former compressor building of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company, which operated here from 1916 to 1944. Old mining shafts surround the site.

Alaskan Brewing Company has been brewing craft beers since 1986, and winning plenty of awards along the way. The brewery still operates out of its original Juneau location, though the facilities have since expanded to include a spacious tasting area, where visitors can sample among 20 Alaskan beers on tap.

For a bird's-eye view of downtown Skagway, the historic harbor, and the surrounding snow-capped peaks, take the scenic drive along the road to Dyea and stop off at the Skagway Overlook to admire the views. From the viewing platform, you can capture panoramic shots of this historic Gold Rush–era town and the narrow Taiya Inlet, which connects Skagway to the rest of Alaska’s Inside Passage.

Discover the sights, sounds, and excitement of the Klondike Gold Rush by visiting Alaska 360 Dredge Town. The historic site—home to an authentic gold dredge—invites visitors to experience a day in the 1890s. Period-clad staff educate and entertain while you try out gold panning, meet sled dogs, and enter a chamber where you can experience the chill of Alaskan winters.

Commonly known as Castle Hill, the Baranof Castle State Historical Site commemorates the location of the formal transfer of Russian Alaska to the United States in 1867. Once a Tlingit Native fortification site and a Russian military outpost, this small hill overlooking Sitka Harbor also marks the spot where the United States flag was first raised after Alaska became a state in 1959.

Set 2,000 feet (610 meters) above Downtown Juneau, the 1,500-square-mile (3,885-square-kilometer) Juneau Icefield is the fifth largest in North America and feeds 38 major glaciers, including Mendenhall Glacier. Visitors come from around the world to trek on the 3,000-year-old icefield itself or tour one of its many glaciers.

Just outside downtown Anchorage, the Alaska Zoo provides a safe haven for orphaned, injured, and endangered animals. The zoo features a wide variety of animals native to Alaska including gray wolves, polar bears, Dall sheep, moose, and caribou, as well as more exotic species like alpacas, Amur tigers, Tibetan yaks, and Bactrian camels.

Home to the largest Tlingit community in Alaska, Chicagof Island is an exercise in contrasts: It’s both nature at its rawest—it has the highest population of brown bears per square mile in the world—and it’s somehow also a popular port of call for cruise ships. Just south of Juneau, this massive island is all about accessible outdoor adventure.