The Aleuts called it Alyeska - the Great Land. A place of soaring peaks, sweeping landscapes, and mighty rivers. Everything in Alaska seems larger than life. It is the Last Frontier.
Alaska isn't just a place you visit, it's a feeling you experience, and remember for a lifetime. No wonder people say once you've gone to Alaska, you never come all the way back.
DonΓÇÖt miss:
The tallest mountain in North America, Mt. McKinley, which many Alaskans simply call "the mountain." And of course, the land of the midnight sun has longer summer days than any other state.
Alaska is so big it encompasses dozens of ecosystems, from the dry arctic tundra, to the moist rain forests of the Inside Passage. In a place of such enormous variety, don't be surprised to find the unusual - like a desert of sand dunes in Kobuk Valley National Park.
As they slowly advance and recede, the massive glaciers pulverize rocks, literally grinding boulders into soil. Glacial melt, which creates cold and swift streams and rivers, carries tons of soil downstream. After millions of years, this process has given Alaska many broad valleys and plains blessed with rich, fertile earth. For many visitors, a walk on ancient glacial ice is the experience of a lifetime. Listen carefully, and you can even hear the glaciers move.
People come from around the world to view Alaska's northern lights, the aurora borealis. One of nature's most inspiring sights, the northern lights appear most often on cold, clear nights from late August through April. Created by the earth's magnetic field, these curtains of yellow, green and red light dance silently across the sky.
Cook Inlet, where a strong spring tide may come in so quickly that it becomes a wall of water several feet high, traveling at speeds up to 10 knots. Volcanoes are a sight most visitors don't expect. Located on the Pacific "ring of fire," Alaska has experienced four volcanic eruptions since 1986.
Alaska's volcanic history in the eerie landscape of Katmai National Park and Preserve. This is just one of 15 national parks, preserves, and monuments in Alaska. The state has another 117 parks. In all, Alaska contains over 322 million acres of public lands.
