Alaska Hiking
In Alaska, hiking and backpacking possibilities are endless.
Since the focus of this site is mountain hiking, this page covers
national parks and wilderness in the mountainous areas of Alaska.
These are some of the most isolated places on earth for hiking,
so caution is necessary. Be prepared for Mosquitoes, bears, and
wild weather.
Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
This is the "mountain kingdom of North America,"
where the Chugach, Wrangell, and St. Elias mountain ranges converge.
It is the largest National Park, located a day's drive east of
Anchorage, Alaska. The park has the continent's largest assemblage
of glaciers and the largest collection of peaks above 16,000
feet. At 18,008 feet, Mount St. Elias is the second highest peak
in the United States. The entire area, and the adjacent Kluane
National Park in Canada, is a wilderness of remote towering mountains,
massive glaciers, sweeping valleys, powerful rivers, and a seemingly
endless variety of flora and fauna.
Travel to and in the park, is by road, air, trail, river or,
for an added element of adventure, a back country trip. Hiking
in the park presents challenges to even the hardiest backpackers,
but those who persevere will be rewarded with a vast, pristine
wilderness and incredible solitude. For more information, us
the link here to visit the official Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Web Site.
Denali National Park & Preserve
Denali National Park & Preserve has 20,320-foot tall Mount
McKinley, of course, which is North America's highest mountain,
but the Alaska Range also includes many other spectacular mountains
and large glaciers. With more than 6 million acres, the park
also encompasses a complete sub-arctic eco-system with grizzly
bears, wolves, Dall sheep, and moose. Visitor use includes wildlife
viewing, mountaineering, and backpacking, and hiking. For more
information, use the link here to visit the official Denali National Park Web Site.
Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve
The Aniakchak Caldera resulted from of a series of eruptions,
the most recent in 1931. The caldera is nearly six miles in diameter
and covers ten square miles. Located in the volcanically active
Aleutian Mountains it is one of the finest examples of a dry
caldera in the world. The crater contains many examples of volcanic
features, including lava flows, cinder cones, and explosion pits.
Surprise Lake is located within the caldera, and is the source
of the Aniakchak River, which exits the caldera through a 1,500-foot
gash in the crater wall.
You can only access the park by plane or float plane from
King Salmon, Alaska or by power boat from one of the villages
along the Pacific Ocean coastline. There are no facilities and
no formal trails within the monument/preserve although open ash
fields provide hiking and backpacking opportunities. For more
information, use the link here to visit the official Aniachak National Monument Web Site.
Kenai Fjords National Park
From rocky coastline to glacier covered peaks, Kenai Fjords
National Park contains 607,805 acres of unspoiled wilderness
on the southeast coast of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. The
park is capped by the Harding Ice field, the largest ice field
entirely within U.S. borders. The landscape is shaped by glaciers,
earthquakes, and storms. Whales, otters, puffins, bear, moose
and mountain goats are a few of the animals that make their home
here.
The park, like much of this corner of Alaska, is mostly visited
by water, but there are hiking opportunities here if you like
isolation, and are prepared for potentially wet and cold weather.
For more information, use the link here to visit the official
Kenai
Fjords National park Web Site.
Katmai National Park & Preserve
Katmai is known for its volcanoes, more than 2,000 brown bears,
the world's largest sockeye salmon run, and rugged wilderness.
It is also the site of the Brooks River National Historic Landmark,
which has North America's highest concentration of prehistoric
human dwellings (about 900). There are more than a dozen volcanoes
in Katmai that are considered "active", but none are
currently erupting.
Visitors come for the bears, more than anything else, but
with millions of acres of pristine wilderness, wild rivers, rugged
coastlines, and broad green valleys, there are hiking opportunities
too. Access to the coast is available by boat and charter
air taxis from Kodiak, Homer, and Anchorage, and the hiking is
isolated. For more information, use the link here to visit the
official Katmai
National Park Web Site.
Noatak National Preserve
The Noatak River area, in northern Alaska, is one of North
America's largest mountain-ringed river basins with an intact
ecosystem, and has some of the finest examples of arctic plants
and animals. Weeks-long float trips down the river are possible,
and the surrounding Brooks range mountains are a hiking heaven.
For more information, use the link here to visit the official
Noatak
National Preserve Web Site.
Mountain Hiking
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