Alaska.com: Alaska's Travel Website

Alaska's history goes back thousands of years.

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Bill Roth /Anchorage Daily News
David Thomas hangs a cut salmon to dry during Fish Camp Day at the Alaska Native Heritage.

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Erik Hill / Anchorage Daily News
Steve Staples of Keene, New Hampshire tries out a set of snow goggles while touring the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

Editor's Picks

• History, art and science: I'm a member of the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, and I never get tired of visiting. I could look at Sydney Laurence's painting of Mount McKinley on display in the Art of the North galleries 100 times and keep coming back. I have no idea what the new museum will look like, but I'm certain it will be impressive.

• Visit a village: Most visitors will never travel to Bush Alaska. But the Alaska Native Heritage Center takes visitors on a virtual tour via six life-size replicas of traditional Native dwellings.

• It's free and it's fun: The Alaska Heritage Museum at Wells Fargo is a free museum with plenty of Native artifacts. My favorite things to look at are the huge woolly mammoth tusk and the artwork by Laurence, Fred Machetanz and others.Editor's picks

Editor's Picks

• Enjoy the river: The Kenai River is beautiful. Find a quiet spot -- they do exist -- and watch the flow. Even if you never lift a fishing pole, the Kenai will leave its impression on you.

• Hit the trails: One of the trail heads for the Resurrection Pass Trail is just outside Cooper Landing. You may not have the time or desire to cover the entire 38-mile trail, but put on your boots and head out for some hiking.

• Jumping salmon: It's a 21/2-mile hike to the Russian River falls, where you can see salmon trying to navigate the falls to continue on to their spawning area.

The timeline for the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center isn't quite that long. The museum opened in 1968 with 60 borrowed paintings and a collection of 2,500 historic objects.

Times have changed for the museum.

With a grand re-opening on May 30, the museum is nearly doubling its space, changing its address and reinventing itself. In addition to history and art, the museum is adding a third prong to its focus -- science. Most of the science aspects of the museum, including a unique arrangement with the Smithsonian Institution, aren't scheduled to open until 2010.

"Visitors to the new museum will discover an art, history and science museum that's double the size, with an emphasis on hands-on learning," said Sarah Henning, public relations coordinator for the museum. "An architectural marvel lending a cosmopolitan presence on the east side of downtown. A hip cafe with a lounge vibe, featuring inspired cuisine by the Marx Bros.

"Expect more blockbuster traveling shows and more offerings for all age groups."

The first blockbuster show is this summer's main exhibit, "Gold," which presents more than 300 gold objects, including a gold-plated room, doubloons from sunken Spanish galleons, jewelry from Hellenistic Greece, Susan Sarandon's Oscar award and a variety of other objects.

There also will be a gold exhibit specific to Alaska: "Pay Dirt." The exhibit explains why there is gold in Alaska, how gold has affected the state's economy and what life was like in Alaska during the Gold Rush.

"This exhibit is absolutely eye-popping," Henning said. "The more than 300 geological specimens and cultural objects in this exhibit showcase gold in its most dramatic forms, from sunken treasure to hulking gold nuggets to ancient Aztec jewelry.

"The exhibition tells the story of gold from the molten depths of Earth to glittering examples of jewelry and artifacts that captivated ancient civilizations, from gold rushes that shaped the world to contemporary pop culture treasures such as Emmys and Oscars."

The museum, 625 C St., offers insights into Alaska's rich history with some of its permanent displays.

Visitors should head to the museum's Alaska Gallery for a historical trip. The gallery's timeline begins in 1648 and travels through the European discovery of Alaska, the history of the Russians, the history of whaling, the Gold Rush era, World War II, the 1964 Good Friday earthquake and the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Even a piece of the oil pipeline is on display.

The gallery includes full-scale and miniature dioramas. Life-size dioramas depict living arrangements for Aleuts, Tlingits, Athabascans, Yup'ik Eskimos, a gold miners' cabin, a Quonset hut from World War II and a 1920s-era Anchorage home.

Art enthusiasts will love the museum's collection. The museum has an extensive collection of art, from traditional painters like Sydney Laurence and Fred Machetanz to contemporary Native artists. Many visitors spend plenty of time in the Art of the North gallery, which features many Alaska landscapes.

The museum (anchorage museum.org, 343-4326) is open daily, and admission is $8 for adults and free for children 17 and younger, although a $2 donation is suggested. There will be an additional $12 charge for the "Gold" exhibit.

The Alaska Native Heritage Center, 8800 Heritage Center Drive, brings village life into Alaska's biggest and busiest city. Many activities are scheduled during the day, sharing insight into the state's 11 cultural groups, which are divided into five main areas: Athabascan (Southcentral and Interior); Aleut and Alutiiq (Aleutians and Southcentral maritime); Inupiaq and St. Lawrence Island Yupik (north and northwest); Eyak, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian (Southeast); and Yup'ik and Cup'ik (southwest).

The Gathering Place is a hub of activity at the center. Drumming, Native dancing, Native games demonstrations and storytelling all are based at the Gathering Place. Other inside activities include the Hall of Cultures, which features exhibits and Alaska Native artists creating and selling art. The theater hosts a variety of movies throughout the day, including "Stories Given, Stories Shared," a film about Alaska's Native cultures, the state's landscape and its unique climates.

Outside at the 26-acre complex are six authentic life-size Native dwellings. Each village site has a traditional structure and artifacts that each culture used in its daily life. Guided tours are available but guests are welcome to walk through the villages at their leisure.

The Heritage Center ((alaskanative.net, 330-8000) is open daily, and admission is $24.95 for adults and $16.95 for children ages 7 to 16.

There is a Culture Pass ticket that allows admission to both the museum and the Heritage Center. The pass is $26; there is a free shuttle between the two facilities.

The Alaska Heritage Museum at Wells Fargo, 301 W. Northern Lights Blvd., has one of the largest collections of Native Alaska artifacts on display in the city. The displays cover all the state's indigenous peoples and include clothing, hunting weapons and household utensils. There is a large basket collection, and it's interesting to compare weaving techniques and materials.

"We exhibit over 900 artifacts from all the major Alaska cultures," curator Artemis BonaDea said. "What people see is a wonderful overview of how the people lived, responded to the environment, how they used tools, processed food and made clothing."

The 2,000-square-foot museum (265-2834) also displays artwork from some of Alaska's masters -- Laurence, Machetanz, Eustace Ziegler and Rusty Heurlin -- a huge woolly mammoth tusk, a 46-troy-ounce gold nugget, carved ivory and a large collection of guns. The museum is inside a Wells Fargo bank building in Midtown. It is located on the first floor, but more items are displayed in the elevator lobbies throughout the bank. There also is a noncirculating and extensive reference library. Admission is free; it is open weekdays.

The Alaska Museum of Natural History, 201 N. Bragaw St., is a place for kids and adults who are interested in dinosaurs and other natural history.

The permanent collection includes a paleontology/archaeology pit, dinosaur and ice-age fossils and many touchable mounts of Alaska animals. Explore Alaska's birds, dinosaurs, geology and more.

The museum((alaskamuseum.org , 274-2400) is open Tuesday through Saturday; admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

The Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, 4721 Aircraft Drive, tracks the key role aircraft and bush pilots played in the state's history. More than 20 airplanes are on display at the museum, including a 1944 Grumman Widgeon amphibian and a Stinson L-1. There are photo displays, information on the early bush pilots and the Alaska Aviation Hall of Fame.

The museum is at Lake Hood, so it's a great place to watch floatplanes coming and going.

The museum (alaskaairmuseum.org 248-5325) is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day during the summer. Admission is $10 for adults (with discounts for military), $8 for seniors and $6 for children 5 to 12.