Overview Gates of the Arctic National Park is one of 2 national parks located above the Arctic Circle, and one of 8 national parks in Alaska. Like Kobuk Valley National Park, there are no roads leading to the park. The only way in or out is on foot, via a river, or by bush plane. …
I didn’t plan on visiting Petersburg at all on my trip, so when my ferry docked in port an hour early on its way to Wrangell I had no expectations. I just knew I was hungry and I might as well find something to eat on solid ground. Speaking of eating, it was interesting to …
Overview Denali national park is the most popular well known national park in Alaska. The showpiece of the park is eponymous Mount Denali, which is the highest mountain in North America. Originally called Mount McKinley National Park, it is a popular trip addition to people going on cruises in SE Alaska. It is a great …
Denali National Park is hard to explain in words. It is huge, gorgeous, natural, thrilling, amazing…. I hear the words “once in a lifetime” connected to Denali pretty often. But after being there, I really hope that isn’t true. It is a place I want to visit over and over. I think that’s how a …
For months I had been planning my summer trip to Kodiak, Alaska and I was excited. I told everyone I ran into that I was headed there, and without exception, they questioned me on my choice of destinations. I was somewhat at a loss – there was no particular reason I could point to. Somewhere …
In the Mat-Su valley of Alaska near Palmer and Wasilla is a beautiful mountain pass named after miner Robert Hatcher. Hatcher’s Pass is a great skiing destination for locals during the winter, but in the summer people come for the hiking and the history. For like I said, Hatcher’s Pass was named after a miner …
Glacier Bay National Park is a beautiful U.S. National Park located near Juneau, Alaska. With about 547,000 visitors per year (as of 2017), it’s the second most visited national park in Alaska, slightly behind Denali. The vast majority of visitors to the park arrive on cruise ships, which sail up the Inside Passage of the …
I’ve now made three trips to Alaska – two with the kids and one alone. I’ve seen several glaciers from afar. They are beautiful, blue and mysterious. Until the most recent trip, I had never been very close to a glacier. I’d never touched a glacier and had not even seen from closer than about …
Alaska has a lot of great National Parks – but they are ridiculously hard to get to. Most of them are accessible by bush plane and the cost can be high. Some of the parks get less a minuscule amount of visitors as a result. Not all of the parks are hard to reach. Kenai …