Alaska

Where does your mind go when you think about a trip to Alaska? Perhaps you dream about our highest mountains or the Arctic tundra. The deep green of the old growth rainforest or the varying blues of our rushing rivers, tranquil lakes, deep oceans, and ancient glaciers. Alaska is all you imagine and more. It’s where you’ve always belonged.

The spectacular Misty Fjords National Monument, lying just 22 miles east of Ketchikan, is known for its steep-walled fjords, coastal cliffs, and 3,000-foot rock walls that rise dramatically from the sea. Taking its name from the almost constant precipitation characteristic of the area, the monument is covered with thick rainforest that grows on nearly vertical slopes from sea level to mountaintops. Dramatic waterfalls plunge into the saltwater through narrow clefts or course over great rounded granite shoulders, fed by lakes, streams, and more than 150 inches of annual rainfall

Alaska's largest city lies between the Chugach Mountains and Cook Inlet. Anchorage is a place with big-city amenities: fine restaurants, museums, shops, theaters, and an excellent music scene. Within a short drive from downtown are dozens of wilderness adventures, and a quick plane ride opens up the possibility of almost any type of outdoor activity, including hiking, backpacking, camping, glacier trekking, and wildlife viewing. 

Anchorage enjoys a relatively mild climate by Alaska standards, with summer temperatures in the mid-60s to low-70s, and winter temperatures in the 10s and 20s. Like the rest of Alaska, summer days are long in Anchorage, with 22 hours of sunlight on Summer Solstice on June 21. The shortest day of the year is Winter Solstice on December 21, with 5.5 hours of daylight. It’s best to bring plenty of layers as weather conditions can change in Anchorage very quickly. 

Alaska’s state capital is also one of its most beautiful cities and one of the most visited communities in the state. With so much to see and do, there’s certain to be something for you in Juneau.

Downtown Juneau sits snugly between Mount Juneau, Mount Roberts, and Gastineau Channel, and is a maze of narrow streets running past a mix of new structures, old storefronts, and quaint houses featuring early 19th-century architecture from the town’s gold-mining days. The waterfront bustles with cruise ships, fishing boats, and floatplanes zipping in and out. With no road access to Juneau, it is the only state capital in the United States that can only be reached by airplane or boat.

Sitka is the only Inside Passage community that fronts the Pacific Ocean, hugging Baranof Island's west shore in the shadow of the impressive Mount Edgecumbe. Located on Sitka Sound, the city of about 8,500 residents is known for its Tlingit culture and picturesque remnants of its Russian heritage, including the onion-shaped domes and gold-colored crosses of the beloved Saint Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral. The city and borough limits include most of Baranof Island, where the city of Sitka is located, along with south Chichagof Island and many other small, forested islands along the coast.

Hubbard Glacier is a popular destination for those traveling by cruise line, with most cruise itineraries stopping near the glacier. The glacier flows 75 miles and is the longest tidewater glacier in North America. It begins at Mt. Logan in the Yukon Territory of Canada, ending in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska. It can only be reached by water, usually by cruise ship, or by air from the nearby town of Yakutat.

The granite peaks and snowy summits of Denali National Park and Preserve cover 160 miles of the Alaska Range and are so tall they are often lost in the clouds. Dominating this stunning landscape is Denali - the highest peak in North America. Denali majestically ascends 20,310 feet and is one of the most awe-inspiring sights in Alaska. The Denali area is the traditional homeland of the Koyukon Athabascan people, who named the mountain Denali, meaning "the Great One," and revered it as a sacred place.