Alaska National Parks: A comprehensive guide
Alaska is epic and magical! But it’s so huge it can be hard to figure out how to get around, what to do, and how to have a meaningful and unique trip. In this guide we’ll try to give you a sense of Alaska’s eight National Parks, some special off-the-beaten-path things to experience in each, and all the logistics details you could need to efficiently get around the entire state. This guide is oriented towards people who want wilderness adventures and aren’t afraid to get their hands a bit dirty, but will definitely have helpful tips for other crowds too. We’re aiming to provide a variety of ideas across budgets and abilities. Use the table of contents to check out the specific parks you’re interested in, or read the whole way through.
Table of Contents
Alaska National Parks Overview
Alaska's National Parks are some of the largest and most stunning in the world, encompassing a ridiculous 65 million acres of straight up wilderness. Real wilderness. Places where you could stroll in solitude without seeing another human for months.
You might be tempted to try and tick them all off at once, but that would mostly be a fools errand. Alaska is huge. Each park is like seeing a new country. If you have the time, the finances, and an able body, we can’t more strongly recommend taking at least a few days in the remoteness of each park (over the course of many years) to really let the places settle into your nervous system. There’s something primal and deep about these wilds that are so like how the earth was for millennia before humans arrived. For me, that ineffable something doesn’t hit me until I’ve been in one of Alaska’s Parks for at least eight days. They’re like the Grand Canyon that way — seeing it from the trim for a day is 1/100th of the experience of the place. But of course, we also know that that’s not possible for many folks… so do what you can and what you’re excited about.
Alaska National Parks: A Planning Guide
DENALI NATIONAL PARK
Denali is what most people think of when they think of Alaskan Parks. And it’s true: it’s fricken amazing here. Just being able to take the bus out to Wonder Lake is a special treat and one of the things that reminds me of how cool it is that we’ve set up public wild spaces in America. The downside to Denali is that it’s by far the most popular and crowded park. Everything here will be expensive and book out super far in advance. The Park Service does a great job of managing it, but it can feel a bit Disneyfied. That being said, as with most crowded wild places in America, step one foot off the beaten path and you’re back in the middle of nowhere. The moment you’re out of sight of the park road it’s like you’re on another planet.
DENALI NATIONAL PARK LOGISTICS:
WRANGELL-ST. ELIAS NATIONAL PARK
The largest national park in the U.S., Wrangell-St. Elias is a wilderness the size of Switzerland. There are few places in the world that have captured my heart like the Wrangells. They’re massive, provide a bit of everything, feel absolutely pre-historic, and have enough terrain for several lifetimes of exploration. In truth, unless you’re planning on doing a wilderness trip, have lots of time, are a total mining history buff, or are already heading through Glen Allen or Chitna on your way to Prince William Sound or elsewhere, I wouldn’t personally recommend driving to McCarthy. Don’t get me wrong, McCarthy and Kennicott (two towns a few miles apart) are cool… but it’s a long way to go in the opposite direction from the two main international airports if you’re just going to see the towns and walk on the Root Glacier. Plenty of people would disagree with me though so your mileage may vary.
WRANGELL-ST. ELIAS NATIONAL PARK LOGISTICS
GATES OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK
Gates of the Arctic National Park is a wildly special place. There’s something about the far north that is magical and ineffable… something you just have to experience to understand. The land up here somehow feels wilder and more inaccessible than Denali or the Wrangells… there’s fewer planes flying overhead, way fewer visitors overall, and not much to do other than be in the wildness of it all. If you get the chance, I can’t recommend a wilderness trip up here strongly enough. My time in these mountains, more than any other in Alaska, has changed me to the core.
GATES OF THE ARCTIC NATIONAL PARK LOGISTICS
LAKE CLARK NATIONAL PARK
Lake Clark National Park, located a few hours west of Anchorage by plane, features some of Alaska's most rugged and least-visited areas, including the Neacola and Revelation Mountains. The place was made famous by a PBS special on Dick Proenneke, who lived on Twin Lake (pictured above) for over 30 years living off the land. Lake Clark takes the cake for the most geographically diverse park — from coastal rainforests to alpine tundra, freshwater lakes, and glacial valleys.
LAKE CLARK NATIONAL PARK LOGISTICS
KATMAI NATIONAL PARK
Katmai National Park is probably known around the world even more than Denali. Anyone who’s ever seen an HBO doc about bears has most likely seen footage from Brooks Falls of dozens of gloriously fat bears fishing for salmon as they swim up stream from the sea to spawn. But there’s so much more the the park than just Brooks Falls. For one thing you can see beautiful grizzlies throughout the park (not just at the falls), but more importantly, there’s a whole universe of exploration — beautiful hiking, fishing, and wilderness encampments where you can experience the transition from mountains to sea with a bit of creature comfort. I’m going to go out on an opinionated limb here and say don’t go to Brooks Falls during peak season (June-August). Would you rather fight for a spot at the boardwalk railing to see bears in the river like at a crowded zoo, or have an actual wilderness experience away from all the people and float-plane noise? Ok, soap box complete.
KATMAI NATIONAL PARK LOGISTICS
KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK
Kenai Fjords National Park is Alaska's wild coastline at its best—a place where jagged peaks, deep blue glaciers, and churling ocean meet in a landscape that feels too absurd to be real. Whether you’re hopping between glaciers on a small boat or hiking to the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords is the kind of place that keeps drawing you back. It’s raw, it’s rugged, it’s a bit like a fairytale.
KENAI FJORDS NATIONAL PARK LOGISTICS
GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK
Known for its stunning tidewater glaciers, Glacier Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage Site chock full of ice and wild creatures. It’s a bit far from all the other parks on the list, so maybe deserves a trip unto itself. Unlike the rest of the parks, the closest city to fly into is Juneau. If Glacier Bay has a downside it’s that it’s regularly visited by cruise ships, so you might not exactly have the tidewater glaciers (at least the biggest ones) to yourself.
GLACIER BAY NATIONAL PARK LOGISTICS
KOBUK SAND DUNES NATIONAL PARK
Kobuk Sand Dunes is the weirdest National Park in Alaska. Here hundred foot tall sand dunes meet the forest as they blow from the shores of the tranquil Kobuk River. It’s a wild meeting of worlds. Listen for the yips of wolf pups, catch sight of migrating caribou, and witness the sand dunes consume the forest as they advance.
KOBUK SAND DUNES LOGISTICS
FINAL THOUGHTS
Alaska is a remote and magical place. You could spend lifetimes exploring here.
Take your time. Don’t try to cram too much into a single trip.
Consider going with a professional guide. They can help get you into the deepest wilderness.
Respect the indigenous people who’ve called Alaska home for thousands of years.
Try to travel efficiently and minimize your carbon footprint.
Leave places better than you found them and practice the principle of Leave No Trace.
Don’t be afraid to get off the beaten path. That includes going to all the wild and unfathomably awesome places in AK that aren’t national parks and maybe have nothing written about them online.
Try to avoid the most popular places during peak summer season.
I hope you have an incredible experience in Alaska. If you want to join a guided backpacking trip in Alaska, or want us to put together a custom trip for you, reach out!