If You Like…
Epic Trips
Answer the call of the open road, stare out a train window at homesteaders’ cabins or watch glaciers slide by from the deck of a ferry – all are options on Alaska’s unique transportation system.
MV Tustumena The slow, 54-year-old ferry that runs from Homer to the remote settlements of the Aleutian Islands.
Denali Highway Winding through the foothills of the Alaska Range, the Denali Hwy is full of alpine tundra, braided rivers and massive glaciers.
Hurricane Turn Two-car train from Talkeetna to Hurricane that services homesteaders and adventurers in a wilderness inaccessible by road.
Denali Star Luxurious train ride through a brawny wilderness between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Taylor Highway Rough road to one of America’s last frontiers, peppered with off-the-grid settlements like Eagle and Chicken.
Dalton Highway One of only two opportunities you have to drive north of the Arctic Circle in North America.
Bear-Watching
Most visitors come to Alaska to see bears, and many are lucky enough to walk away with at least one sighting. Increase your odds by visiting one of these spots.
Katmai National Park & Preserve Best place in the world to see brown bears, preferably snapping jumping salmon midflight from Brooks Falls.
Anan Creek This sea- or air-accessible refuge near Wrangell is one of the only places in Alaska where black and brown bears coexist.
Denali National Park Brown and black bears patrol the wilderness beneath North America’s tallest mountain.
Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge It’s not hard to spot the world’s largest bears (some pushing 1500lb) from a bear-viewing floatplane.
End of the Road (Point Barrow) If you’re lucky, you might spot a polar bear close to the US’s northernmost settlement.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The hard-to-reach village of Kaktovik on the Beaufort Sea is ‘polar bear city’ in late summer.
Fish Creek Probably the best reason to visit isolated Hyder is to see the sleuths of bears around this salmon-rich river.
Glacier-Viewing
These massive rivers of ice never fail to amaze when you see them up close. Whether they’re calving into water or depositing moraines on land, their mighty presence is surprisingly powerful.
Mendenhall Glacier A snowball’s throw from Juneau, the Mendenhall Glacier is the city’s number-one attraction.
Glacier Bay The Southeast’s emblematic national park is a thundering nature show starring half a dozen massive tidewater glaciers.
Columbia Glacier The giant of Prince William Sound can be observed with care on an organized kayaking trip out of Valdez.
Exit Glacier In Kenai Fjords National Park, Exit Glacier is a mere drip from the massive Harding Ice Field.
Root Glacier Walk on it, grip it with your crampons and feel its stealthy chill in Wrangell-St Elias National Park.
Matanuska Glacier Stop to gawk from the Glenn Hwy, or take a tour and walk on the ice.
Hiking
Alaska is a hiker’s heaven, offering paved urban trails, bushwhacking wilderness routes and everything in between. You’re rarely far from a hiking trail, even in the state’s capital or largest city.
Chilkoot Trail Alaska’s most famous trail is also one of its most popular, though daily quotas ensure the tranquility is never spoiled.
Denali National Park Choose from ranger-led hikes or multiday backcountry jaunts in this massive wilderness.
Juneau Dozens of trails climb the lush and vertical mountains behind Alaska’s capital city.
Seward Surrounded by mountains and sparkling Resurrection Bay, Seward’s a hiker’s paradise, with beach walks and Mt Marathon.
Anchorage Chugach State Park serves as the dramatic backdrop to Alaska’s biggest town, and is filled with stellar hiking.
Kennicott Glacier walks and hikes to bruised old copper mines in America’s largest national park.
Paddling
Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the US combined, making kayaking a top choice for outdoor pursuits. Hidden coves, calving glaciers, waterfalls, sea-lion rookeries: the list of photographs you could take from a kayak is seemingly endless.
Valdez Base yourself here for sorties into the massive green cirque of Prince William Sound, full of fjords and coves.
Kenai Fjords National Park Accessible via Seward, Kenai Fjords National Park offers steep fjords, wildlife encounters and tidewater glaciers.
Glacier Bay National Park Everywhere you turn, a tidewater glacier seems to be calving in this grand park.
Misty Fiords National Monument Steep mountains and fjords topped by wispy fog, with waterfalls slicing down from beyond sight.
Sitka The sheltered waters of Sikta Sound scattered with tiny islands make for a safe but spectacular kayaking experience.
Tracy Arm An adventurous multiday foray out of Juneau leads into this steep-sided fjord fed by two massive calving glaciers.
Alaska Native Culture
Settled for millennia, Alaska Native groups split into several broad groups that span from the Iñupiat of the Arctic to the Tlingit and Haida of the Southeastern rainforests. All have left plenty behind to admire.
Ketchikan Totem poles and clan houses provide a metaphoric window into Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian culture in and around Alaska’s ‘first city.’
Sealaska Heritage The new HQ of this Juneau heritage institute proves decisively that native art is still alive and relevant.
Haines Two-hundred-year-old house poles and an abundance of native carvers fuse modern design features and ancient art.
Sheldon Jackson Museum In Siktka wander a historic totem park and stop by at this impressive museum of native artifacts.
University of Alaska Museum of the North Succinct and well-presented overview of Alaska Native culture in all its colorful diversity in Fairbanks.
River Running
Running Alaska’s rivers is a great way to travel and is becoming more and more popular as packrafting takes off. Match your skill (and adrenaline) levels with guided trips or, if you’re experienced, head out on an expedition.
Denali National Park The Nenana River is the most-rafted river in Alaska, with wet-suited tourists bobbing through a scenic canyon.
Sixmile Creek The creek’s three canyons with rapids up to class V are often described as a ‘death-defying’ ride.
Lowe River This glacial river cuts through impressive Keystone Canyon, a dozen miles from Valdez, with Class III rapids.
Talkeetna River A placid, scenic float for mellower folks, this one has forget-me-not views of Denali on a clear day.
Kenai River A shade of fluorescent glacial blue, the Kenai makes for a great float past bears and anglers.
Whale-Watching
Catching a whale breach never fails to make a crowd gasp, but seeing belugas bubble to the surface can be equally exciting. Check out the following places for a chance to spot these amazing marine mammals.
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve Humpback whales performing acrobatics often steal the show on boat tours of Glacier Bay.
Kenai Fjords National Park Another spot with boat tours taking you out into whale country. You might see humpbacks, orcas or gray whales.
Sitka A dozen operators will show you whales and other marine life, or you can view them from Whale Park.
Alaska Marine Highway Breaching whales at no extra cost on ferry rides through the Inside Passage and out to the Aleutian Islands.
Fishing
Hooking a big one is a major reason why people visit Alaska, and you can take your pick from salmon, halibut, trout and more.
Russian and Kenai Rivers Where ‘combat fishing’ gets its name: hundreds of fishers trying not to hook each other during the salmon run.
Ship Creek Watch massive salmon run right through downtown Anchorage with the city skyline as a backdrop.
Homer Take a halibut charter and bring home hundreds of pounds – of one fish.
Kodiak Alaska’s largest fishing fleet resides here, so why wouldn’t you charter a halibut boat to bag a big one?
Copper Center Legendary fishing on the Klutina and Copper Rivers, renowned for their salmon.