Skagway
If the crowds are overwhelming you, cross the Skagway River to Jewell Gardens. Located where Henry Clark started the first commercial vegetable farm in…
Must-see attractions in Alaska
Soldotna Historical Society Museum
Kenai Peninsula
This museum includes a wonderful collection of homesteaders’ cabins spread through six wooded acres in Centennial Park. Ask for a free guided tour to…
Valdez
Valdez’ harbor is a classic: raucous with gulls and eagles, reeking of fish guts, sea salt and creosote, and home to all manner of vessels. The benches…
Valdez
For a small town Valdez has several wonderful museums, including this one, the private collection of an American couple who settled in Alaska in 1947 and…
The Interior
Back in 1899, this fort was established as a means of providing some federal law enforcement in the lawless heart of gold-rush territory. The base didn't…
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
Homer
This nonprofit organization devoted to promoting appreciation of Kachemak Bay’s ecosystem, runs the Carl E Wynn Nature Center and the Peterson Bay Field…
Seward Community Library & Museum
Seward
This eclectic museum has an excellent Iditarod exhibit, a rare 49-star US flag, and relics of Seward’s Russian era, the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake and…
Haines
Alaska’s first permanent military post is reached by heading uphill (east) at the Front St–Haines Hwy junction. Built in 1903 and decommissioned after…
Kenai Peninsula
This beach is an excellent place for wildlife sightings and a little beachcombing. To reach it, follow Anderson Way out of town for a mile, then head left…
Anchorage
Inside the midtown Wells Fargo bank, this museum is home to the largest private collection of Alaska Native artifacts in the state and includes costumes,…
Anchorage
Known locally as the Delaney Park Strip, this narrow slice of well-tended grass stretches from A to P Sts between W 9th and W 10th Aves; there’s an…
Anchorage Region
Girdwood was named for James Girdwood, who staked the first claim on Crow Creek in 1896. Two years later the Crow Creek Mine was built, and today you can…
Southeast Alaska
The longest cave in Alaska is a 94-mile drive from Hollis and 11 miles west of Whale Pass. There's a free, two-hour, ranger-led cave tour in summer at 9am…
Southeast Alaska
If it's historic in Petersburg, you'll find it in Sing Lee Alley, an ensemble of geriatric wooden buildings dating from the 1910s. Much of the street is…
Anchorage
For decades after the 1964 earthquake, this park remained a barren moonscape revealing the tectonic power that destroyed nearby Turnagain Heights. Today…
Haines
Indigenous culture can be seen in Fort Seward in the former military-post hospital, home of the Alaska Indian Arts Center. During the week you can watch…
Bojet Wikan Fishermen's Memorial Park
Southeast Alaska
At the southern end of Sing Lee Alley is Bojet Wikan Fishermen’s Memorial Park. This deck-of-a-park is built on pilings over Hammer Slough and features an…
Juneau
The Sealaska Heritage Institute, founded in 1980 to promote Alaska Native culture, opened this hugely impressive facility in 2015 in the downtown Walter…
Anchorage
The garden is a colorful showcase for native species, where gentle paths lead you through groomed herb, rock and perennial gardens in a wooded setting…
Aleutian Islands
Part of the national historic area, this coastal battery was known to the military as Hill 400 or colloquially as Little South America (due to its shape)…
Skagway
The most outlandish building of the seven-block historical corridor along Broadway St, and possibly the most photographed building in Alaska, is this…
Haines
Twenty-eight miles north of Haines is Kroschel's Wildlife Center, run by an ex-Hollywood animal trainer. There are 15 species of Alaskan wildlife here,…
Haines
The Sheldon Museum is known for its collection of indigenous artifacts, including a particularly interesting display on rare Chilkat blankets. The rest of…
Big Delta State Historical Park
The Interior
This 10-acre historical park on the Tanana River preserves Rika’s Roadhouse and Landing, an important crossroads for travelers, miners and soldiers on the…
Anchorage Region
The Reindeer Farm is one of the original Colony farms and a great place to bring the kids. Here they will be able to pet and feed the reindeer, and are…
Kenai Peninsula
This small grouping of log cabins preserves relics from early miners and homesteaders with a great deal of respect. Creaky buildings give a feel for life…
Ketchikan
Ketchikan’s newest boardwalk is the Waterfront Promenade, which begins near Berth 4, passes Harbor View Park (a city park that is composed entirely of…
Ketchikan
Potlatch Park is right next door to Totem Bight State Park. It's less manicured, but still home to a dozen totems, one of which is 42ft high. There are…
Kodiak Island
The pulse of this city can be found in its two boat harbors. St Paul Boat Harbor is downtown and the larger of the two. Begin with the Harbor Walkway,…
Seward
The small-boat harbor at the northern end of 4th Ave hums during the summer with fishing boats, charter vessels, cruise ships and a number of sailboats…
American Bald Eagle Foundation
Haines
This relatively new museum is a little pricey for what's inside, but the fee does go toward a good cause (the museum is currently working on an extension)…
Anchorage
Named after the original homesteader of the site, this 300-acre park is south of Glenn Hwy on Boniface Pkwy. The park has tennis courts, hiking and…
Aleutian Islands
To learn about the ‘Forgotten War,’ begin at the Aleutian WWII Visitor Center, near the airport, in the original air-control tower built in 1942…
Matanuska Valley Agricultural Showcase
Anchorage Region
A garden next to the visitor center that features flowers and the area’s famous oversized vegetables. But you have to be passing through in August if you…
Skagway
The only saloon in Alaska that doesn’t serve booze – but it did during the gold rush, and plenty of it. Built in 1898 the Mascot was one of Skagway's 80…
Sitka
If you can’t afford a wildlife cruise, try Whale Park, 4 miles south of downtown, which has a boardwalk and free spotting scopes overlooking the ocean…
Southeast Alaska
This is one of best places to see black bears on POW Island as salmon attempt to negotiate a couple of fish ladders during the summer spawning season …
Sitka
An exposed grassy plaza close to the O'Connell Bridge and ANB Harbor, anchored by the famous Baranov totem topped by a carved image of Alexander Baranov …
Kenai Peninsula
Reached via a posted footpath behind the Village Cache Gift Shop, or from the highway on Orthodox Ave, the historic bluff-top structure was built in 1901…
Ketchikan
A 40-acre wildlife reserve at Herring Cove, 8 miles south of Ketchikan, where you can go on a naturalist-led walk (with the chance of spotting bears),…
