Just beyond the edge of Alaska’s largest city and stretching 200 coastal miles (322 kilometers) from Anchorage to Canada, Chugach State Park encompasses nine distinct ecosystems including spruce forests, alpine tundra, and coastal wetlands. Nowhere on Earth is there so much biodiversity so close to a major city.
Just three miles southwest of Anchorage, Lake Hood serves as the runway for one of the largest and busiest seaplane bases in the world. Nearly 200 flights take off daily from the waters of Lake Hood ferrying supplies and passengers to remote Alaskan communities and secluded mountain landscapes. This steady stream of float planes delights visitors and aviation buffs.
In 1964, an entire neighborhood of Anchorage slid into the ocean during what remains the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history. Measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale, this tragic event is commemorated in Earthquake Park, where you can still see evidence of the devastating earthquake that permanently altered the Anchorage landscape.
About an hour’s drive from Fairbanks, Chena Hot Springs Resort is renowned for its natural hot-springs lake, year-round ice museum, lodge and cabins, and northern lights viewing opportunities. Discovered more than a hundred years ago by gold miners who saw steam rising from the Chena River Valley, the curative waters have been soothing weary travelers ever since. It’s become a serious Alaskan destination.
Located in the remote southwestern corner of Alaska, Katmai National Park is one of the world’s best places to view brown bears in their natural habitat. In summer, they gather in the streams to feast on the abundant salmon. The bears are accustomed to humans so you can view them safely up-close for an unforgettable viewing experience.
Extending from the Southcentral Alaska city of Seward to Fairbanks in Alaska’s mountainous Interior Region, the century-old Alaska Railroad provides travelers access to some of the state’s most sought-after sights. Stops along the scenic 470-mile (750-kilometer) route include Anchorage, Whittier, and Denali National Park, offering train enthusiasts and outdoor adventurers alike a convenient way to explore Alaska’s historic cities and natural wonders by rail.
During Alaska’s pioneering days, every gold rush town had a red-light district; in Ketchikan, it was Creek Street. Prostitution wasn’t outlawed here until 1954, and it was legal as long as business wasn’t transacted on dry land. This explains why Creek Street isn’t a street at all, but an elevated boardwalk built on wooden pilings above Ketchikan Creek.
For many visitors, a trip to Alaska just isn’t complete without catching a glimpse of the massive, snow-capped centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve. Topping out at 20,310 feet (6,190 meters), the Alaska Range mountain federally known as Mount McKinley (aka Denali) is the highest in North America. The peak is often shrouded in clouds, so there’s only a 30 percent chance of seeing it on a given day.
Totem Bight State Historical Park protects and displays 14 intricate totem poles, sourced from abandoned native villages and restored to their original splendor. Each tells a unique story of Tlingit and Haida carvers, offering insight into Ketchikan’s rich Native Alaskan heritage. There is also an onsite replica Native village with a Clan House.
Made of gravel and dirt, and not for the faint of heart, the 414-mile (666-kilometer) Dalton Highway is one of the wildest roads in the world. It runs from Livengood—north of Fairbanks—to Deadhorse, just a few miles from the Arctic Ocean and the Prudhoe Bay Oil Fields. Originally for ice truckers, this mountain-traversing, wildlife-rich, ultra-remote highway is technically open to the public year-round. However, it’s best left to those looking for off-grid adventure in Alaska’s interior.
Comprising more than 2,500 islands, islets, rocks, spires, and reefs stretching from Cape Lisburne on the Arctic Ocean to the westernmost tip of the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is America’s largest protected marine habitat. The refuge protects breeding habitat for millions of seabirds and offers incredible bird-watching and wildlife viewing opportunities for visitors—once they manage to get there.
Created in 1910 to commemorate the 1804 Battle of Sitka between the native Tlingit people and the Russian colonists, the Sitka National Historical Park is Alaska’s oldest cultural and historic park. Highlights include the traditional totem poles that line the trails throughout the grounds, and the Russian Bishop’s House, one of the few remaining examples of Russian colonial architecture.
No visit to Juneau is complete without a close-up look at the Mendenhall Glacier, one of Alaska’s most popular attractions. The 13-mile-long (19-kilometer-long) glacier ends at Mendenhall Lake and is easily viewed from the historic Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. The glacier is beautiful on sunny days, but arguably even more impressive on cloudy, drizzly afternoons when the ice takes on a deeper shade of blue.
Exit Glacier, the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park that can be reached by road, is one of the most accessible glaciers in Alaska. Visitors can hike right up to the wall of blue ice to listen as it crackles and learn about how this and other glaciers from the Harding Icefield have reshaped the landscape over time. Don’t wait too long, though—signposts will show you just how fast and far this glacier is receding.
Tucked into the southern coast of Alaska, Prince William Sound is a spectacular wilderness area encompassing tidewater glaciers, fjords, secluded beaches, and more. Visitors are drawn to these remote waters to marvel at the marine life and coastal scenery and try a range of outdoor adventure activities, from sea kayaking, fishing, and whale watching to backcountry skiing and scuba diving.
Spanning 125 miles (201 kilometers) from Seward to Anchorage, the Seward Highway passes through the Kenai Peninsula and the Turnagain Arm of the Gulf of Alaska and is one of Alaska’s most scenic stretches of road. Multiple scenic viewpoints and roadside attractions including the Portage Glacier, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and Chugach State Park makes this scenic byway a destination in itself.
What started out as an effort to save one injured bald eagle in a Sitka local’s backyard, the Alaska Raptor Center is now the state's largest bird center, rehabilitating between 100 to 200 eagles, falcons, owls, and other birds of prey each year. Visitors are drawn to the center to see raptors up close, hear their stories, and watch them relearn how to fly.
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline traverses 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) through the Alaska wilderness from the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, where it’s shipped to refineries. Constructed in the 1970s, the pipeline is considered one of the world’s most amazing engineering marvels—and the viewpoint outside of Fairbanks is one of the best places to marvel at it.
The historic Guard Island Lighthouse lit up for the first time on September 15, 1924. The original 34-foot wooden structure was particularly important during the Klondike Gold Rush as it aided in shipping along the Southeast Alaska Inside Passage. Today, it’s known for its historical significance, peaceful beauty, and abundance of seals.
Named after famed European explorer, Captain James Cook, the Cook Inlet stretches from Anchorage to the Gulf of Alaska and offers stunning coastal scenery and outdoor recreation opportunities galore. At its northern end, the Cook Inlet branches into the Knik Arm and the Turnagain Arm, which together almost completely surround the city of Anchorage.
Tiny Ward Cove is found on Alaska’s pristine coastline, surrounded by the lush Tongass National Forest and tranquil waters. The cove itself provides a sheltered and idyllic harbor. Once an industrial port, fueled by a pulp mill, Ward Cove today is a small but delightful community, and a perfect place to recharge in nature.
Flowing 82 miles (132 kilometers from its source in the Kenai Mountains to the Cook Inlet of the Pacific Ocean, the Kenai River is chock-full of salmon and trout making it the most popular sport fishing destination in Alaska. Each summer, millions of salmon return to the river from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in the same streams they were born in.
Ketchikan’s Totem Heritage Center displays the largest collection of original 19th-century totem poles in Alaska, collected from abandoned Tlingit and Haida villages throughout the region. Baskets, masks, carvings, regalia, and historic photographs of old villages where the poles were found round out the excellent collection.
Of Skagway’s three old cemeteries (besides Slide Cemetery and Pioneer Cemetery), Gold Rush is the oldest and the easiest to visit. The small, undeveloped cemetery holds the remains of hapless miners and local characters—the most famous is Jefferson “Soapy” Smith, an Old West con artist known for robbing his own customers.
First-time visitors will enjoy a fascinating introduction to Alaska’s history, art, and culture at the Anchorage Museum. You can explore the history surrounding the Alaska Purchase, see how the gold rush shaped the state, and learn about the devastation caused by the 1964 earthquake. In addition, the planetarium and science center offer plenty of hands-on fun for kids.
Made from over 1,000 tons of ice and snow, the Aurora Ice Museum is the largest year-round ice museum in the world. Completed in 2005 by world ice art–carving champion Steve Brice and his wife, Heather, the cool 25°F (-7°C) museum features furniture, life-size knights on horseback, chandeliers shifting colors to mimic the northern lights, and even a bar, all made of ice. (The drinks are served in ice glasses, too, naturally.)
Home to the largest concentration of bald eagles in the world, the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve provides a safe haven for eagles along the Chilkat River near Haines, Alaska. Created in 1982, this huge preserve also serves as a protected habitat for tundra swans, mountain goats, moose, and other animals. During the winter, thousands of eagles descend on the preserve, delighting nature lovers and photographers.
Extending from Washington’s Puget Sound, along the shores of British Columbia and into the Gulf of Alaska, the spectacular Inside Passage is a highlight of any trip to Alaska. Bays, beaches, peninsulas, fjords, glaciers, rivers, coastal towns, snow-capped mountains, and over 1,000 islands make the region an adventurer’s paradise.
Built during the peak of Russian colonialism in the region in 1842, the Russian Bishop’s House was once the center of Russian North American religion, culture, and education. Now a museum and historic landmark, the Russian Bishop’s House provides an opportunity to learn about life in Sitka during the Russian-American era.
Enjoy a free air show with your picnic lunch at Lake Spenard. Connected by a canal in the 1970s, Lake Hood and Lake Spenard serve as the runway of one of the world’s busiest seaplane bases. Daily, nearly 200 planes use the base to shuttle goods and passengers to and from the Alaskan interior.
