Alaska Excursions

Alaska Excursions

Wide range of glorious day trips throughout Southcentral Alaska.

Iditarod 39

Photos and stories from the last great race.

Anchorage: 21°/31°/Mostly clear

Fairbanks: -2°/23°/Clear

Juneau: 25°/38°/Partly cloudy

More weather

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.

Travel deals

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Photo Galleries

PHOTO GALLERY

Fall Colors

The leaves turn yellow as the fall colors grace Kincaid Park on Saturday, September 24, 2011.

Fall colors in Southcentral Alaska.

Ice climbing along the Turnagain Arm

Scotty Vincik climbs on the PFM ice climb while his partner Matt Suddock belays him along the Seward Highway across from Turnagain Arm on Saturday January 12, 2008.

Recreation is key to surviving Alaska's long, dark winters. Truly ambitious outdoor enthusiasts have pounced on a vault of creative opportunities, including making use of the frozen waterfalls for ice climbing along the Seward Highway.

Sledding

People braved the icy conditions at Russian Jack Springs Park to go sledding on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 14, 2010.

People braved the icy conditions at Russian Jack Springs Park to go sledding on a brisk Sunday afternoon.

Ice storm

A car rear-ended a school bus due to icy roads  Monday morning, Nov. 22, 2010, on the Johansen Expressway in Fairbanks.

A warm front brought rainfall to Alaska stretching from Southcentral on up to the Arctic Coast. Check out how Alaskans handle extreme winter weather.

Surfing the bore tide

A group of Stand Up Paddle Surfers rode the bore tide along the Turnagain Arm near the Seward Highway on Friday September 10, 2010 with the Kenai Mountains in the background. The paddle surfers led by Scott Dickerson with SurfAlaska out of Homer, AK rode the incoming tide from Peterson Creek to as far as the Twenty Mile River at sunset. Dickerson and Mike McCune also tried to catch the bore tide near Bird Point but the bore did not develop at that point.

A rare phenomena, a bore is a long wave that forms from an incoming tide, and then travels long distances up a river or inlet. In Southcentral, the Cook Inlet bore tide along the Turnagain Arm is a sight to behold and on good days, paddle and wind surfers dot the inlet hoping to catch a ride.

Whitewater rafting

The Six-Mile-Fest  whitewater kayak and pack raft festival on Saturday August 21, 2010. The whitewater event featured Kayak and pack raft time trials, mass start races and and a rodeo at the Boston Bar with beer and food and camping at the bar.

Whitewater rafting is a passion hard to quench, but the Six Mile River near Hope on the Kenai Peninsula offers class 4 and 5 whitewater.

alaska tour & travel