Alaska outdoors has the largest area, highest mountain, the most extensive wilderness, more lakes and shoreline of any U.S. state, but the least population density. Alaska has an abundance of natural beauties. Seventeen of the twenty highest peaks in the United States are in Alaska including Mt. McKinley. Mt. McKinley, also know by it’s native name Denali, is 20,320 feet high and the tallest mountain in North America. If you measure Mt. McKinley from base to peak then it is considered the tallest mountain in the world. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/united-states/west/alaska/alaska-nature-scientific-wonders.html?c=y&page=1 Added to the beauty of the mountains are over 3,000 rivers and 47,300 miles of coastline, more then the entire continental U.S. Alaska has about 100,000 glaciers and is the habitat of 80 percent of the active volcanoes in the United States. Alaska has 365 million acres and only about one million is privately owned.

Two of the largest National forests are located in Alaska. The Tongass and the Chuhach make up over 20 million acres combined.http://www.knls.org/English/akfact.htm There are 16 National Parks in Alaska that contain over 54 million acres. Two of the most well known parks are Glacier Bay National Park and Denali National Parks in Alaska. Great places for outdoors vacation, the parks in Alaska offer wildlife viewing, bird watching, camping, fishing, hiking, photography, rafting, kayaking, mountain climbing, cross-country skiing, cruises, historic and cultural monuments.

One hundred thousand glaciers are in Alaska, many of them are easily reached by car. Warthington Glacier is on Richardson Highway, Matanuska Glacier is on Glenn Highway and Exit Glacier is on Seward Highway. You may also see glaciers with a boat tour of Glacier Bay National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park or Prince William Sound. Or take a plane trip and fly over Sargent Ice Field, Bagley Ice Field or Harding Ice Field.

Sitka National Historic Park has a collection of totems primarily from Prince of Wales Island. The Totem Heritage Center holds 33 totems from the Tlingit and Haida cultures, the largest collection in the United States. You may also see totem poles in art galleries, museums and even among the trees beginning in Ketchikan and extending north through many of the Southeast Alaska Inside Passage communities.

See some humpback whales at the Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve which has a large population of them. Private tours available for whale-watching.

Alaska hosts the largest concentration of bald eagles about 4000 and they come near Haines, Alaska to feed on Salmon in the Chilkat River. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/north-america/united-states/west/alaska/alaska-landmarks-points-of-interest.html?utm_source=relatedarticles&utm_medium=internallink&utm_campaign=SmithMag&utm_content=Alaska - Landmarks and Points of Interest

• • Alagnak Wild River - traverses the Alaska Peninsula
  • Aleutian World War II National Historic Area - For fifteen months, American forces fought the Japanese here.
  • Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve - home to a six-mile wide, 2,500 ft. deep caldera.
  • Bering Land Bridge National Preserve - used to connect Asia to North America.
  • Cape Krusenstern National Monument
  • Denali National Park & Preserve -known for it's devotion to science, learning, and preservation of its natural and cultural heritage.
  • Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve - craggy ridges, glacier carved valleys and fragile flowers.
  • Glacier Bay National Park - tidewater glaciers, snow-capped mountain ranges, ocean coastlines, deep fjords, and freshwater rivers and lakes.
  • Inupiat Heritage Center - tells the story of the Iñupiat people.
  • Katmai National Park & Preserve - the famous Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.
  • Kenai Fjords National Park -Fjords, glaciers, earthquakes, and ocean storms.
  • Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park - preserves building and stories of the 1897 gold rush.
  • Kobuk Valley National Park - Caribou, sand dunes, the Kobuk River, Onion Portage
  • Lake Clark National Park & Preserve - volcanoes, glaciers, wild rivers and waterfalls.
  • Noatak National Preserve - largest mountain-ringed river basins with an intact ecosystem.
  • Sitka National Historical Park - commemorate the 1804 Battle of Sitka.
  • Western Arctic National Parklands -
  • Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve - referred to as the "mountain kingdom of North America."
  • Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve - Geology, cultural history, remnants of the last great gold rush, wildlife and scenery.http://home.nps.gov/applications/parksearch/state.cfm?st=ak

• • Because of the short tourism season, early reservations are recommended.
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game: Regulations and Licenses
• Alaska.org: Alaska Destinations Overview

• • The Mahalo Guide to Glacier Bay National Park
• NPS: Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
• National Parks Conservation Association: Glacier Bay
• GORP: Glacier Bay National Park
• Frommer's: Glacier Bay National Park
• National-Park.com: Glacier Bay National Park

• Amazon.com: Alaska Hiking & Camping and Hunting & Fishing Books

• Tony Russ: Alaska Outdoor Books

• Alaska Outdoor Books