Alaska National Parks

Highlights from your Alaska vacation will certainly include a visit to one or more of Alaska's national parks. We are happy to provide this overview of some of Alaska's largest and most visited national parks, courtesy of the National Park Service. Click on a Park link for more information on transportation, lodging and activities.

Denali National Park
It's more than a mountain. Denali National Park & Preserve features North America's highest mountain, 20,320-foot tall Mount McKinley. The Alaska Range also includes countless other spectacular mountains and many large glaciers. Denali's more than 6 million acres also encompass a complete sub-arctic eco-system with large mammals such as grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, and moose. The park was  established as Mt. McKinley National Park on Feb. 26, 1917. The original park was designated a wilderness area and incorporated into Denali National Park and Preserve in 1980. The Park was designated an international biosphere reserve in 1976.

Katmai National Park and Preserve
Best known for its Brown bears and large populations of Salmon and other sport fish, Katmai National Park and Preserve is located about 290 air miles southwest of Anchorage. The park is bounded by Shelikof Strait to the east, the Lake Iliamna watershed to the north, the Bristol Bay coastal plain to the west, and the Becharof Lake watershed to the south. Originally established as a National Monument in 1918 to preserve geological features related to the 1912 eruptions of Mt. Katmai and Novarupta volcano, the park was  redesignated a national park and preserve as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980.

Kenai Fjords National Park
Sweeping from rocky coastline to glacier-crowned peaks, Kenai Fjords National Park encompasses 607,805 acres of unspoiled wilderness on the southeast coast of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. The park is capped by the Harding Icefield, a relic from past ice-ages and the largest icefield entirely within U.S. borders.
Visitors witness a landscape continuously shaped by glaciers, earthquakes, and storms. Orcas, otters, puffins, bear, moose and mountain goats are just a few of the numerous animals  that make their home in this ever-changing place where mountains, ice and ocean meet.

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve includes almost all of the rugged Chigmit Mountains, which are located at the convergence of the Alaska and Aleutian mountain ranges in Southwest Alaska.  The Park and Preserve was created in 1980 under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This act states that it is to be managed, "to protect the watershed necessary for the perpetuation of the red salmon fishery in Bristol Bay; to maintain unimpaired the scenic beauty and quality of portions of the Alaska Range and the  Aleutian Range, including volcanoes, glaciers, wild rivers, lakes, waterfalls, and alpine meadows in their natural state; and to protect habitats for and populations of fish and wildlife, including, but not limited to caribou, Dall sheep, brown/grizzly bears, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons."

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
The Chugach, Wrangell, and St. Elias mountain ranges converge here in what is often referred to as the "mountain kingdom of North America." The largest unit of the National Park System and a day's drive east of Anchorage, the park-preserve includes the continent's largest assemblage of glaciers and the greatest collection of peaks above 16,000 feet. Mount St. Elias, at 18,008 feet, is the second highest peak in the United States. Adjacent to Canada's Kluane National Park, the site is characterized by remote mountains,  valleys, wild rivers, and a variety of wildlife. Proclaimed as Wrangell-St. Elias National Monument Dec. 1,1978; established as a national park and preserve Dec. 2, 1980. Wilderness designated Dec. 2, 1980. Designated a World Heritage Site Oct. 24,1979.

More Information

For more information on Alaska's National Parks, visit the National Park Service website at www.nps.gov.

Alaska National Parks

Denali National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Lake Clark National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Alaska State Parks by Region

Anchorage, Interior Alaska, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak, Mat-Su Valley, Prince William Sound, Southeast Alaska, Southwest Alaska

Alaska State Parks by Name

Anchor River State Recreation Area and Stariski SRS, Birch Lake State Recreation Site, Caines Head State Recreation Area and Resurrection Bay State Marine Parks, Captain Cook State Recreation Area, Chena River State Recreation Area, Chena River State Recreation Site, Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, Chugach State Park, Clam Gulch State Recreation Area, Deep Creek State Recreation Area, Delta Junction Area State Parks, Denali State Park, Haines Area State Parks, Harding Lake State Recreation Area, Independence Mine State Historical Park, Kachemak Bay State Park and State Wilderness Park, Kasilof Area State Parks, Kenai River Special Management Area, Kodiak Area State Parks, Nancy Lake State Recreation Area, Ninilchik State Recreation Area, Point Bridget State Park, Salcha River State Recreation Site, Sitka Area State Parks, State Marine Parks in Prince William Sound and Resurrection Bay, Summit Lake State Recreation Site, Tok Area Parks, Totem Bight State Historical Park, Upper Chatanika State Recreation Site, Wickersham State Historic Site, Wood-Tikchik State Park

For information on Alaska State Parks, visit the Alaska State Parks web site.