Things to do in Alaska
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Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park
This military fort and its pair of 8in guns were built by the US Army during WWII for a Japanese invasion that never came. In the end, Kodiak's lousy weather, not the army's superior firepower, kept the Japanese bombers away from the island. The fort is now a 186-acre state historical park, sitting majestically on the cliffs above scenic Monashka Bay. Between the guns is Ready Ammunition Bunker, which stored 400 rounds of ammunition during the war. Today it contains the small Kodiak Military History Museum.
Just as interesting as the gun emplacements are the tidal pools found along the park's rocky shorelines, where an afternoon of searching for sea creatures can be spent…
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Pillar Mountain
From the top of this 1270ft mountain behind the city you'll have excellent views of the surrounding mountains, ocean, beaches and islands. One side seems to plunge straight down to the harbor below, and the other overlooks the green interior of Kodiak Island. Pick up the bumpy dirt road to the top by walking or driving north up Thorsheim Ave and turning left on Maple Ave, which runs into Pillar Mountain Rd.
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Old Powerhouse
This Japanese seafood restaurant, located in a historic power plant, offers Kodiak's best waterfront dining. An outdoor deck and solarium overlook the channel where fishing boats and the state ferry glide right past you. Along with a sushi bar, the restaurant serves excellent udon and soba noodles as well as yakisoba (broiled Japanese noodles).
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Orso
This restaurant is like a stepping into a Tuscan country inn only there's modern art all around and soft jazz floating into both dining levels and the bar. Its entrees are Mediterranean grill with an Alaskan twist, its pasta is made fresh daily and everything is served by a waitstaff that knows how the chef prepares it.
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Snow City Café
Snow City Café This busy café serves healthy grub to a mix of clientele that ranges from the tattooed to the up-and-coming. For breakfast skip the usual eggs and toast and try a bowl of Snow City granola with dried fruit, honey and nuts instead.
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Bear Creek Winery
Wineries are scarcer than vineyards in Alaska, but this impressive family-run operation bottles some fine berry-based wines, plus fireweed mead and rhubarb vino. It conducts tours and tastings daily in the summer and sells its product on-site.
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Title Wave Books
Northern Lights Center (1360 W Northern Lights Blvd); W 5th Ave (415 W 5th Ave) The best bookstore in Anchorage with two branches, both equipped with internet cafés.
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Kodiak Fisheries Research Center
Opened in 1998 to house the fisheries research being conducted by various agencies, it has an interesting lobby that includes displays, touch tanks and a large aquarium.
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Henry's Great Alaskan
On the mall in front of the small-boat harbor; burgers, lots of deep-fried seafood, beer on tap and sports on TVs large and small scattered throughout the restaurant.
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Momma O's Seafood
Momma O's Seafood is the place for a halibut fix - have it fried or, better, Cajun style - but don't discount the excellent onion rings or udon noodles.
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Arctic Roadrunner
Since 1964 this place has been turning out beefy burgers that can be enjoyed outdoors while watching salmon spawn up Campbell Creek.
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Moose's Tooth Pub & Pizzeria
An Anchorage institution serving 18 custom-brewed beers including monthly specials, and 50 gourmet pizzas.
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Harborside Coffee & Goods
- Kodiak, USA
- Restaurants › Café
Has a bulletin board listing deckhand jobs and makes the incredibly delicious 'Harborside Mocha.'
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Paddling the Noatak National Wild River
The Noatak National Wild River is a 16-day, 350-mile float from Lake Matcharak to the village of Noatak, where Bering Air (www.beringair.com) has scheduled flights to Kotzebue. However, the numerous access lakes on the river allow it to be broken down into shorter paddles. The entire river is rated from Class I to II. The upper portion, in the Brooks Range, offers much more dramatic scenery and is usually accessed from Bettles.
The lower half, accessed through Kotzebue, flows through a broad, gently sloping valley where hills replace the sharp peaks of the Brooks Range. The most common trip here is to put in at Nimiuktuk River where, within an hour of paddling, you enter …
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Camper Buses
The alternative to the shuttle buses are the less crowded, more informal camper buses, aimed at ferrying overnight campers, backpackers and cyclists, and offering ample space to stow gear. To take these buses you must have a campsite or backcountry unit reserved along Park Rd, or be toting a bicycle. If you don't have a campground reservation, you can't ride out on the camper bus, but you can probably hitch a ride back on one - a recommended course of action.
As with shuttles, it's good to reserve as far in advance as possible.
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Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository
Preserving the 7500-year heritage of Kodiak's indigenous Alutiiq people is the Alutiiq Museum & Archaeological Repository. The exhibits display one of the largest collections of Alutiiq artifacts in the state, ranging from a kayaker in his waterproof parka of seal gut to a 19th-century spruce-root hat. Take time to explore 'Sharing Words,' an intriguing interactive computer program that uses village elders to teach Alutiiq words and songs in an attempt to save the indigenous language.
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Denver Glacier Trail
This trail begins at Mile 6 of the White Pass & Yukon Route, where the USFS has renovated a White Pass & Yukon Route caboose into the Denver Caboose, a rental cabin of sorts. The trailheads up the east fork of Skagway River for 2 miles, then swings south and continues another 1½ miles up the glacial outwash to Denver Glacier. Most of the trail is overgrown with brush, and the second half is particularly tough hiking.
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Sunny Cove Sea Kayaking
Though the best and most impressive paddling in the region is within Kenai Fjords National Park, getting there requires a costly water-taxi. If you're looking to save money and don't mind foregoing the park's tidewater glaciers and more ample wildlife, kayaking right outside Seward in Resurrection Bay can still make for a stunning day on the water. Sunny Cove Sea Kayaking conducts guided trips.
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Museum of the North
Museum of the North at the University of Alaska rivals the Anchorage Museum of History & Art as the state's most impressive cultural center. A $42 million expansion added a Alaska Native art gallery and a sound-and-light theatre that features the northern lights. But the most popular exhibit is still Blue Babe, a 36,000-year-old bison found preserved in the permafrost.
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Alaska Fjordlines
Offers a day cruise to Juneau aboard the fast Fjordland, a 65ft catamaran. Continental breakfast is served on the way down, and on arrival in Juneau, passengers transfer to a bus for a tour of Mendenhall Glacier and the city. You're on your own there for lunch, then a light dinner is served onboard during the return trip.
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Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith
Skagway has Southeast Alaska's best and longest-running melodrama. The entertaining and lively Days of '98 Show with Soapy Smith covers the town's gold-rush days and the full story of Soapy and his gang. Four shows are offered daily in summer; the evening show is preceded by an hour of 'mock gambling.'
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Hangar on the Wharf
A waterfront restaurant in Merchant's Wharf with tables perched right over a seaplane dock. The view of the channel and all the activity buzzing and floating around greatly improves whatever you ordered. Better than the food is the restaurant's large selection of imported beers and microbrews.
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Bullwinkle's
Okay, they have this strange fascination with a moose and his friend, Rocky the flying squirrel. But they're doing something right at Bullwinkle's - it's Juneau's oldest pizza parlor. No doubt it's the cheap pitchers of beer (around US$8 to $13.75).
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Chair 5 Restaurant
The kind of bar and restaurant skiers love after a long day on the slopes. It features more than 60 beers, including a dozen on tap, gourmet pizzas, big burgers and a lot of blackened dishes like blackened halibut tacos.
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Buskin River State Recreation Site
Four miles southwest of town on Chiniak Rd, the Buskin River State Recreation Site is a 168-acre park; anglers flock here for salmon fishing at the Buskin River, the best in this part of Kodiak Island.
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