Alaska Excursions

Alaska Excursions

Wide range of glorious day trips throughout Southcentral Alaska.

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Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

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More on Other national parks

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.

Alaska's national monuments

Alaska has four national monuments. All of them are off the road system.

Kobuk Valley National Park

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes are Kobuk Valley National Park's surprise feature. Inland between Ambler and Noorvik along the Kobuk River, the crescent-shaped dunes of sand move back and forth across the ancient land.

Gates of the Arctic National Park

When explorer Robert Marshall came to this part of the Brooks Range, the northernmost mountains in the country, he saw the Koyukuk River pouring out between Boreal Mountain and Frigid Crags and called them the "Gates of the Arctic." When the park was created in 1980, the name was made permanent.

Lake Clark National Park

The Tlikakila River, a National Wild And Scenic River, takes a sharp horse shoe bend just before it empties into Little Lake Clark on the North East end of Lake Clark in Lake Clark National Park.

Glacier-topped volcanoes, broad lakes, cliffs and coastline make up the wild country that is Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

Sitka National Historical Park

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

Katmai National Park and Preserve

Skagway was launching point for stampeders

By Leon Unruh / Alaska.com

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park commemorates the rush in 1898 of more than 20,000 prospectors and others from Seattle to Skagway and into the Klondike region of Yukon Territory.

Skagway went from a one-cabin settlement to a lawless boomtown practically overnight after word reached Seattle and the rest of the economically depressed United States in 1898 that prospectors working for years in the Klondike had discovered gold.

After the boom, Skagway's leaders recognized quickly that the town had tourism potential and so moved the gold-rush buildings into one district in 1903. The National Park Service began buying those buildings more than 70 years later, and now the 862-resident town itself is pretty much a museum catering to cruise passengers and Chilkoot Trail adventurers.

By all accounts, Skagway was a horrid place. There was no law enforcement, and the town was run by "Soapy" Smith, a swindler, pimp and underworld kingpin. Smith was shot dead by surveyor Frank Reid, who was mortally wounded in the shootout. Reid is buried in the town cemetery, Smith nearby.

Many people want to relive the prospectors' challenge by taking the 33-mile Chilkoot Trail from Skagway to Bennett Lake in British Columbia. The gold-rush prospectors had built boats at the lake and sailed on to the gold fields around Dawson. From Skagway, the trip was about 600 miles.

(And an adventure it is, too. On June 22, 2001, the Park Service reported that the trail had fresh snow at the top and that bears were reported all along the route.)

The border is reached at Chilkoot Pass, 17 miles from Skagway at 3,550 feet. The Chilkoot Trail was the shortest of three used by the stampeders, but it was the most difficult.

A trail permit is free on the U.S. side, but there's a charge on the Canadian side. Parks Canada also limits the number of hikers to 50 a day to reduce wear on the trail and to enhance visitor experience, the National Park Service says. The fee, in Canadian dollars, is $35 per adult and $17.50 for each child age 6 to 15.