Alaska Excursions

Alaska Excursions

Wide range of glorious day trips throughout Southcentral Alaska.

Anchorage: 3°/10°/Partly sunny

Fairbanks: -23°/-14°/Sunny

Juneau: 27°/32°/Mostly cloudy

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Parks & forests

Denali

A grizzly bear grazes in Grassy Pass. Mount McKinley -- the 20,320-foot peak locally known as Denali -- rises behind it.

Denali National Park is home to the tallest mountain in North America and an impressive array of wildlife.

Bears in the wild

Bears of the Interior

3 kinds of bears

Glacier Bay

A cruise ship delivers a close-up view of the ice in Glacier Bay National Park.

At Glacier Bay you can see tidewater glaciers and kayak through valleys and fjords carved by retreating glaciers.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Erik Hill/Anchorage Daily NewsThe National Park Service licenses local guides to offer tours of the mill building at Kennecott Mill Town in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve.

Mountains, mines and glaciers are key to the largest national park, a world unto itself.

Kenai Fjords

Exit Glacier, in Kenai Fjords National Park, provides a stunning backdrop for a group of picnickers. The glacier, just outside of Seward, is accessible by car and then by foot to the face of the glacier and a short overlook trail or a longer trail to the Harding Icefield from which the glacier flows.

This national park is perfect for wildlife-viewing, kayaking or picnicking near a glacier.

Alaska's state parks

The end of summer brings red patches to the tundra vegetation in the valley along Chugach State Park's Rabbit Creek. Ptarmigan Peak is the in the background.

The state has over 100 state parks and recreation areas perfect for camping, fishing or a picnic.

National forests

Bicyclists Melissa DeVaughn and Mark Wedeking roll down the trail between Resurrection Pass and Devil's Pass on the Kenai Peninsula trail. In late August vegetation was just beginning to take a turn toward fall colors in this part of the Chugach National Forest.

Alaska's two national forests are great for fishing, hunting, or mountain biking.

Alaska's other national parks

In addition to the four major national parks, Alaska boasts four other national parks, two national historical parks and four national monuments.

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Photo Galleries

Wildlife

Bull moose joust as part of their fall mating ritual in Anchorage. More than a dozen moose were seen at one time on an October day on a softball field in South Anchorage.

Hiking and Biking

Snow began to gather on Flattop Mountain in Chugach State Park, but that didn't deter hikers from climbing it to take in the sunset.

Mt. McKinley

Scattered clouds can't hide Mount McKinley in this view from an Alaska Airlines flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage recently.

Sandhill cranes

Sandhill Cranes take flight from a field at the Matanuska Experiment Station on Saturday August 22, 2009. The cranes have up to a 7 foot wing span and are among the tallest birds in the world. They gather into flocks for the migration south.

Fall colors

Fall colors and no snow in Turnagain Pass on Friday, September 18, 2009.

Potter Marsh through the seasons

The boardwalk at Potter Marsh on August 21, 2007.

Potter Marsh, located just south of Anchorage, teems with wildlife and shows many moods through the four seasons.

Northern Lights

The northern lights dance across the sky and are reflected in Potter Marsh.

Public gardens

Weeding between the rows of head lettuce is done by hand in a field in Palmer, Alaska. A succession planting of lettuce is done once a week for eleven weeks through the summer for continuous harvests that find their way to grocery stores and Farmer's Markets.

Alaska produces spectacular gardens with many plants that will grow successfully in our cool climate. Public gardens, garden tours, festivals, the Alaska State Fair and Farmer's Markets throughout the summer are all places to view the many and varied horticultural wonders of our state.

Bears in Alaska

A brown bear with two cubs wondered down from the cliffs along the Cook Inlet coast in the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary on the Alaska Peninsula. The bears fed on sea life scraped from the tidal rocks, fed on the plant life on the beach and mom nursed the cubs. The Alaska Department of fish and Game holds a lottery for permits to view the bears with the deadline for online application March 1, or they need to arrive in the Anchorage Office by March 1 for mailed applications.Photos and video: McNeil River bears »

Multimedia: The Bears of McNeil River

Kiteboarders

Kiteboarders enjoy a sunny windy day on Turnagain Arm across from Potter Marsh along the Seward Highway on Wednesday September 16, 2009.