Must-see attractions in Alaska

  • Four people walking on Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska, USA

    Mendenhall Glacier

    Juneau

    Going to Juneau and not seeing the Mendenhall is like visiting Rome and skipping the Colosseum. The most famous of Juneau’s ice floes, and the city’s most…

  • An Alaskan tundra wolf leaps through the blowing snow near the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as the Brooks Range looms in the background; Shutterstock ID 378979717; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
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    Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

    Alaska

    The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a 30,625-sq-mile wilderness in Alaska’s northeast corner, straddling the eastern Brooks Range from the treeless…

  • Part of Tongass National Forest, Mendenhall Glacier and Lake are approximately 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Alaska.

    Tongass National Forest

    Southeast Alaska

    Welcome to the largest national forest in the US, a tract of land almost the size of Ireland and significantly larger than adjacent Wrangell-St Elias…

  • Sunrise at Hubbard Glacier with mountain in Alaska.

    Hubbard Glacier

    Southeast Alaska

    Just 30 miles north of Yakutat is Hubbard Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in North America. The 8-mile-wide frozen behemoth is easily Alaska’s most…

  • Anchorage Museum

    Anchorage Museum

    Anchorage

    This world-class facility is Anchorage’s cultural jewel. The West Wing, a four-story, shimmering, mirrored facade, adds 80,000 sq ft to what was already…

  • Tlingit People & Whale Bones

    Alaska Native Heritage Center

    Anchorage

    If you can't travel to the Bush region to experience Native Alaska culture firsthand, visit this 26-acre center and see how humans survived – and thrived …

  • Alaska Sealife Center in Seward.

    Alaska Sealife Center

    Seward

    A fitting legacy of the Exxon Valdez oil-spill settlement, this $56-million marine research center is more than just one of Alaska’s finest attractions…

  • USA, Alaska, Fairbanks, University of Alaska, Museum of the North

    University of Alaska Museum of the North

    Fairbanks

    In an architecturally abstract, igloo- and aurora-inspired edifice sits one of Alaska’s finest museums, with artifact-rich exhibits on the geology,…

  • Saxman Native Village & Totem Park

    Ketchikan

    On South Tongass Hwy, 2.5 miles south of Ketchikan, is this incorporated Tlingit village of 475 residents. It's best known for Saxman Totem Park, which…

  • Wrangell Museum

    Southeast Alaska

    This impressive museum is what the colorful history and characters of Wrangell deserve. As you stroll through the many rooms, an audio narration…

  • Totem Heritage Center

    Ketchikan

    For a crash course in Southeast Alaska's impressive totem art look no further than the Totem Heritage Center, where old poles brought from deserted…

  • Museum of the Aleutians

    Aleutian Islands

    This small but impressive museum is one of the best native cultural centers in Alaska. It relives the Aleutian story from prehistory through the Russian…

  • Aleutian WWII National Historic Area

    Aleutian Islands

    In 1996 Congress created this 134-acre national historic area to commemorate the bloody events of WWII that took place on the Aleutian Islands. Most of…

  • DENALI NATIONAL PARK, ALASKA, USA - JUNE 9 2013: Mt McKinley on a clear day on June 9 2013 in Alaska.  Mt McKinley is the highest mountain in North America and on August 28 2015 was renamed to Denali.
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    Denali

    Denali National Park & Preserve

    What makes 20,310ft Denali (formerly Mt McKinley) one of the world’s great scenic mountains is the sheer independent rise of its bulk. Denali begins at a…

  • Atigun Pass

    Alaska

    At 4739ft, the Atigun Pass is the only road pass through the Brooks Range. We'd call it 'dramatic,' but that's sort of like calling the Sahara sandy; the…

  • Old pump station at the beach in the Treadwell mine historic park in Juneau, Alaska.

    Treadwell Mine Historical Trail

    Juneau

    It's hard to envisage today, but the Treadwell mine on Douglas Island was once the largest gold mine in the world, set up like a minitown with its own…

  • Juneau Alaska from Mt. Roberts with tramway.; Shutterstock ID 37133203; Your name (First / Last): Alexander Howard; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: Destination Next Pages

    Mt Roberts Tramway

    Juneau

    As far as cable cars go, this tramway is rather expensive for a five-minute ride. But from a marketing point of view its location couldn’t be better. It…

  • Salmon Glacier.

    Salmon Glacier

    Southeast Alaska

    Twenty miles north of Hyder and back inside Canada lies the fifth-largest glacier in Canada (and the largest in the world accessible by road). The old…

  • The Shrine of St Thérèse church near Juneau, Alaska.

    Shrine of St Thérèse

    Juneau

    Get ready for some spiritual enlightenment. The Shrine of St Thérèse is a natural stone chapel on a beautifully wooded island connected to the shore by a…

  • A young bull moose foraging for food in a pond near the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Kincaid Park during spring.

    Kincaid Park

    Anchorage

    At the western ‘nose’ of the peninsula and southern terminus of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is this beloved 1400-acre park populated by…

  • Alaska Zoo

    Anchorage

    The unique wildlife of the Arctic is on display at this zoo, the only one in North America that specializes in northern animals, including snow leopards,…

  • Nugget Creek falls cascade into Mendenhall Lake, close to Juneau, Alaska.

    Nugget Falls

    Juneau

    A spectacular sight at Mendenhall Glacier is this waterfall, a mini-Niagara (in season) caused by Nugget Creek diving off a hanging valley into Mendenhall…

  • View of the glacier from the inside of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.

    Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center

    Juneau

    This mini-museum holds ranger talks, shows an 11-minute film and displays exhibits relating to the glacier and its formation. There are huge panoramic…

  • Oscar Anderson House in Anchorage.

    Oscar Anderson House

    Anchorage

    Housed in the city’s oldest wooden-framed home, this little museum overlooks the delightful Elderberry Park. Anderson was the 18th American settler to set…

  • Native American Totems and Clan Houses located at Totem Bight State Historic Site.

    Totem Bight State Park

    Ketchikan

    Ten miles north of downtown Ketchikan is this seaside park that contains 14 restored totem poles, a colorful community house and a viewing deck…

  • Totem Pole at Klawock Park, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

    Klawock Totem Park

    Southeast Alaska

    Of the three totem parks on POW, the Klawock Totem Park is by far the most impressive and obviously a great source of community pride. Situated on a hill…

  • End of the Road

    Alaska

    The northernmost extremity of the US (though not, as locals sometimes claim, North America) is Point Barrow, but it's tough to get to this narrow strip of…

  • Polychrome Overlook, Denali National Park.

    Polychrome Pass Overlook

    Denali National Park & Preserve

    This scenic area, at 3500ft, has views of the Toklat River to the south. The pass, which is a regular stop on Denali tour- and shuttle-bus routes, gets…

  • Totem Historic District – Kasaan

    Southeast Alaska

    This is one of the great Haida cultural centers in Alaska. It's in Kasaan, one of only two Haida villages in the state, and, since 2002, has been listed…

  • Eielson Visitor Center

    Denali National Park & Preserve

    Eielson is the most common turning-around point for day trippers taking the shuttle or tour buses into the park. This remote outpost is built directly…

  • Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center

    Fairbanks

    There are a few contenders for 'best visitor center in Alaska' but this one, an ingenious mix of museum, info point and cultural center, has to be in the…

  • Iñupiat Heritage Center

    Alaska

    This 24,000-sq-ft facility houses a museum, gift shop and a large multipurpose room where short traditional dancing-and-drumming performances take place…

  • Far North Bicentennial Park

    Anchorage

    Comprising 4000 acres of forest and muskeg in east central Anchorage, this park features 20 miles of trails. In the center of the park is the Bureau of…

  • Last Chance Mining Museum

    Juneau

    Amble out to the end of Basin Rd, a beautiful 1-mile walk from the north end of Gastineau Ave, to the former Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining Company complex. It…

  • Southeast Alaska Discovery Center

    Ketchikan

    Three large totems greet you in the lobby of this center run by the National Park Service (NPS), while a school of silver salmon suspended from the…

  • Alaska State Museum

    Juneau

    Demolished and rebuilt in a snazzy new $140-million complex in 2016, the result is impressive. Sometimes called SLAM (State Library, Archives and Museum),…

  • Creek Street

    Ketchikan

    Departing from Stedman St is Creek St (a boardwalk built over Ketchikan Creek on pilings), a history book of misshapen wood-paneled houses painted in…

  • Toklat River Contact Station

    Denali National Park & Preserve

    This station, situated at the crossing over the eponymous river, is one of the major stops on both the Denali shuttle route and Denali bus tours. On site,…

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