The Best Things to Do in Anchorage

View­ing brown bears in their nat­ur­al habi­tat is one of the most amaz­ing things you can do in Alas­ka. If it’s high on your listbook a flight-see­ing/ bear view­ing trip with Trail Ridge Airknow­ing that per­son­able pilots will take you to where bears splash and fishand where vis­i­tors run out of words to describe their amazement.

Go ski­ing or snow­board­ing right in Anchor­age at Hill­top Ski Area. New to snows­ports? 80% of the trails designed for begin­ners and 20% for inter­me­di­ate users. There’s also a begin­ner and pro-lev­el ter­rain park. Equip­ment rentals and lessons are available.

Out­bound Heli Adven­tures spe­cial­izes in cus­tom win­ter adven­turesso you can explore the vast wilder­ness of the Knik Riv­er Val­ley and beyond based on your inter­ests. Sim­ply enjoy the thrill of flight­see­ingfly to a glac­i­er for ice climb­ingor find mag­i­cal spots to set down to explore ice cavesgo dogsled­ding or ice climbing.

Join Alas­ka Pho­to Treks as they go hunt­ing for the best light of the daywhich dur­ing sum­mer at this lat­i­tude can last for sev­er­al glo­ri­ous hours before sun­set. You’ll be trans­port­ed to scenic loca­tions around South­cen­tral Alas­ka to shoot a vari­ety of enchant­i­ng sub­jects. The itin­er­ary is flex­i­ble and allows for spon­ta­neous stops to pho­to­graph wildlife en route. 

Explore Anchorage’s best kept secrets with a local guide. Tra­verse Alaska’s pri­vatecus­tom adven­tures are designed to take vis­i­tors off the beat­en path and away from the crowds. Adven­tures can incor­po­rate a full day of hik­ing or a com­bi­na­tion of scenic dri­ving and out­door activ­i­ties. Each trip is cus­tom designed to meet your inter­ests and desired activ­i­ty level.

Embark on a full-day adven­ture to Alaska’s leg­endary Matanus­ka Glac­i­erguid­ed by a 100% Native Alaskan-owned team. Your jour­ney begins with a breath­tak­ing dri­ve north from Anchor­age or Gird­woodwind­ing through the Chugach Moun­tains and past the Matanus­ka Riv­er. Arriv­ing at the glac­i­eryou’ll gear up with a hel­met and cram­pons before step­ping onto the ice for a guid­ed trek through daz­zling blue ice caves and crevasses. 

Pho­to­graph alpen­glow on snow capped moun­tainsfrosty scenes glow­ing in rich win­ter lightwildlife wan­der­ing snowy pathscity lights reflect­ing on the water at twi­lightand pos­si­bly even the north­ern lights!

Set in down­town Anchor­ageWild Starr is not only a place to dis­cov­er gor­geous cre­ations from Alaskan artists — it’s also a com­mu­ni­ty gath­er­ing space that hosts fun events focused on cre­at­ing your own works of art.

This mine played a sig­nif­i­cant role in the ear­ly set­tling of the Tur­na­gain Arm. The build­ing here are on the Nation­al Reg­is­ter of his­toric places and the mine is unique because of its asso­ci­a­tion with load min­ing. Indi­an Val­ley Mine was found­ed in 1910 by a vagabond who ran away from home at the age of 12joined the cir­cus and then final­ly trav­eled to Alas­ka dur­ing the gold rush. The Cowles fam­i­ly will tell you all about the his­to­ry of this…  ...more

Join Hatch­er Pass ATV Tours in Wil­low for an unfor­get­table Alaskan win­ter adven­ture. Climb into a heat­ed UTV with snow tracks for a 2.5‑hour scenic tour through the Tal­keet­na Moun­tainsoffered at sun­rise and sun­set. With options for begin­ners and sea­soned rid­ersthese guid­ed tours promise warmthsafe­tyand the stun­ning beau­ty of Alaska’s win­ter landscape. 

Step aboard Anchor­age’s first trol­ley. Relax and enjoy the ride while your guide shows you the sites and attrac­tions of Anchor­age. You’ll see the Alas­ka Rail­roadLake Hood (the world’s largest and busiest float-plane base)mys­te­ri­ous Earth­quake ParkCook InletAnchor­age Muse­umshop­ping areasand restau­rants. Your ride is ful­ly nar­rat­edand the trol­ley is heat­ed and enclosed.

Pad­dle­board­ing becomes a tru­ly unique sport in Alas­kaespe­cial­ly when you have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to glide across bright blue pools on a glac­i­er! And that’s exact­ly what you can do when you go glac­i­er pad­dle­board­ing with Alas­ka Heli­copter Tours. Enjoy a 15-minute scenic flight then set off on a serene pad­dle across crys­tal-clear water. No expe­ri­ence necessary!

Hop on a full-sus­pen­sion moun­tain bike and ped­al your way around the gor­geous Eklut­na Lake with expe­ri­enced tour com­pa­ny Life­time Adven­tures. Rent a bike and set off your ownor take the guid­ed bike tour and gain insights along the way! Com­bi­na­tion tours that include kayak­ing or hik­ing are also available.

The Coastal Clas­sic train runs between Anchor­age and the town of Seward — a four-hour trip that’s the most beau­ti­ful along the entire Alas­ka Rail­road. You’ll see Tur­na­gain Arm as the train departs Anchor­agethen a panora­ma of moun­tainsglac­i­erslakesand streams. You may even see wildlife like Dall sheepBel­u­ga whalesmoosebearand more! Day Trip from Anchor­age: SewardGird­wood Mul­ti-Day Trip from Anchor­age: Overnight Sewardor  ...more

Since 1963Rust’s has been safe­ly car­ry­ing anglers far away from the crowds. Expe­ri­enced guides lead you to world-class fish­ing for kingssil­versgraylingand trout in some of Alaska’s most beau­ti­ful and remote wilder­ness — and they’ll clean and pack­age your catch for the trip back to Anchor­age. On the wayenjoy a win­dow-seat view and pilot narration.

Dis­cov­er Alaska’s scenic gemPortage Val­ley — just an hour from Anchor­age with Glac­i­er City Raft­ing & Hik­ing. Offer­ing small-group tours guid­ed by knowl­edge­able localsand explore glacial lakessnow-capped peaksand wildlife.

Enjoy a mag­i­cal morn­ing or evening kayak­ing the calm waters of Spencer Lakein the awe-inspir­ing pres­ence of a jagged ter­mi­nus glac­i­er. Your time on the water is sand­wiched between two train rides that offer up some of Alaska’s most scenic rail miles. It’s a full day of unfor­get­table expe­ri­ences in our country’s sec­ond largest nation­al for­est – the Chugach.

The 7- to 9‑hour tour out of Anchor­age’s Lake Hood is led by a pho­tog­ra­ph­er-pilot whom has pub­lished pho­tos in such mag­a­zines as Air and SpaceStearns and Nation­al Geo­graph­ic. Set up for the best shotsevery pas­sen­ger gets a win­dow seat and a two-way head­set for pilot nar­ra­tion — you’ll have a stun­ning ride filled with pho­to ops of rugged moun­tainsglacial pools and ice blue glac­i­ers. Thenyou’ll land on a remote water­way to take pho­tos on the  ...more

The orig­i­nal hall­mark trip that got the Alas­ka Rail­road to bring the Glac­i­er Dis­cov­ery to Spencer Glac­i­er in 2002. This is one of the most scenic glac­i­er riv­er trips in Alas­ka and a per­fect float for all ages. Your trip begins with a scenic ride on Alas­ka Railroad’s Glac­i­er Dis­cov­ery trainwhich runs from Anchor­ageGird­woodand oth­er pick-up points along the rail­belt. Enjoy a beau­ti­ful ride down Tur­na­gain Arm and the Plac­er Riv­er Val­ley and  ...more

There are few things more spec­tac­u­lar than lift­ing off in a heli­copter and soar­ing over Alaska’s glac­i­er-filled ter­rain or out across its shim­mer­ing waters. Get a taste for heli­copter flight­see­ing on a 30-minute trip or choose a longer tour with a glac­i­er land­ing. Shut­tle avail­able from Anchorage.

Don’t just expe­ri­ence the beau­ty of Alas­ka — learn how best to cap­ture it on your cam­era. Trav­el with award-win­ning pho­tog­ra­ph­er Jeff Schultz and you’ll get per­son­al­izedhands-on instruc­tion as you take in the state’s mag­nif­i­cent sights. Choose from cus­tom tours or small group tours with a max­i­mum of 6 par­tic­i­pants that depart through­out the year and include accom­mo­da­tionstrans­porta­tionand meals.

Just a 1‑hour dri­ve from Anchor­ageWhit­ti­er is the clos­est town to expe­ri­ence the thrill of fish­ing for hal­ibut. Go with the pro­fes­sion­al guides at Crazy Ray’s Adven­tures and you can also angle for salmon and rock­fish on com­fort­able boatssur­round­ed by the jaw-drop­ping scenery of Prince William Sound. No expe­ri­ence necessary!

Step into the heart of Anchor­age with a 100% Native Alaskan-owned tour that blends urban his­to­rybreath­tak­ing land­scapesand authen­tic local fla­vors. Vis­it icon­ic land­marks like Ship CreekEarth­quake Parkand Bel­u­ga Point. Cap­ture sky­line views from Point Woron­zofsee Denali on a clear dayand indulge in smoked salmonrein­deer sausageand home­made choco­lates. Wrap up your jour­ney at Lake Hoodthe world’s busiest float­plane basewatching  ...more

Stop into this charm­ing Anchor­age stu­dio and gallery — just a short walk from down­town — to shop the unique selec­tion of local­ly made ceram­ics or take a class. The Alas­ka Sum­mer Series is a dai­ly 1‑hour class where you get to make your own Alas­ka sou­venir like a hal­ibut-shaped spoon rest or a cute fig­urine like an otter or whale. Two hour class­es offer the oppor­tu­ni­ty to cre­ate some­thing more com­plexor try your hand at throw­ing clay on the wheel.  ...more

They say miss­ing Tur­na­gain Arm is miss­ing Alas­ka itself. Join a 100% Native Alaskan-owned team to explore this breath­tak­ing coastal region. From quick get­aways to immer­sive adven­turesexpe­ri­ence Portage Glac­i­erspot wildlife at the Con­ser­va­tion Cen­terwalk through lush rain­forestsand trav­el along the stun­ning Seward Highway. 

See Alaska’s unique and authen­tic side by hir­ing a guide for a day and cre­at­ing a cus­tompri­vate adven­ture for your­self and up to 7 oth­ers. Tours depart from Anchor­age or Gird­wood. Excur­sions include Matanus­ka glac­i­er hikesATV toursgold pan­ningnorth­ern lights view­ingsnow­mo­bil­ingand more.

Pilot a util­i­ty task vehi­cle (UTV) — an ATV that’s ful­ly enclosed — with fam­i­ly and friends as you splash through riverstake in stun­ning viewsand even pan for gold on this unique3‑hour excur­sion with Hatch­er Pass ATV Tours out of Willow.

Brooks Lodge offers their own bear view­ing tours which are less expen­sive than mostand give you more time at Kat­mai Nation­al Park to watch bears feast­ing on sock­eye salmon from sev­er­al view­ing plat­forms. A com­mer­cial flight from Anchor­age takes you to King Salmon where you’ll switch to a small float plane for a quick 20-minute flight to Brooks Camp. After a brief safe­ty ori­en­ta­tionyou can watch bears from sev­er­al view­ing plat­formsjoin the  ...more

Expe­ri­ence Alas­ka ATV and Side by Side tours at his­toric Hatch­er Pass. These half-day and full-day tours take place high in the Tal­keet­na moun­tains where you will ven­ture through creekstwist­ing trailsand climb to amaz­ing views. This tour is suit­able for begin­ners and more advanced rid­ers! Locat­ed just an hour from Anchorage.

Get an insider’s look at the icon­ic Alaskan sport of dog mush­ing when you vis­it Hap­py Trails Ken­nel in Big Lakeoper­at­ed by four-time Idi­tar­od cham­pi­on (and mem­ber of the Alas­ka Sports Hall of Fame) Mar­tin Buser. You can vis­it year-round; come in win­ter and you can expe­ri­ence the thrill of dog mush­ing your­self on a dog sled ride!

Fly from Anchor­age to either Lake Clark Nation­al Park or Brooks Fallsin Kat­mai Nation­al Park. At Lake Clarkyou’ll land to watch the bears before trav­el­ing to oth­er hot spots in the park. For Kat­maiyou’ll fly from Anchor­age to King Salmonthen take a float­plane to Brooks Fallswhere you’ll always have a pro­fes­sion­al guide to help you max­i­mize your time with the bears. This sets them apartas many expe­di­tions to Brooks are unguided.

Phillips 26 Glac­i­er Cruiseout of Whit­ti­erwill take you to 26 dif­fer­ent glac­i­ers in just 5.5 hours. Enjoy cozy com­forts on the high-speed cata­ma­ran and wan­der its out­door decks as you come with­in 300 feet of mas­sive tide­wa­ter glac­i­ers. In addi­tion to glac­i­ersthe cap­tain will be on the look­out for wildlife like otterswhaleshar­bor sealsand marine birds. The trip takes place in the after­noonand a hot lunch is includ­ed in your tour.   ...more

Expe­ri­ence Alaska’s win­ter beau­ty with your thumb on the throt­tle as you pilot a snow­mo­bile over the snowy land­scapeled by an expert guide. While cruis­ing along the trails and play­ing in the pow­deryou’ll dri­ve to dreamy spots like the Susit­na Riv­er Basinwhich offers amaz­ing views of Denali on a clear day. 

Embark on an unfor­get­table pad­dling adven­ture in Alas­ka with AK Pad­dle­sports! Nes­tled just out­side Anchor­agethis fam­i­ly-found­ed com­pa­ny offers a vast selec­tion of top-qual­i­ty water­craftinclud­ing pad­dle­boardskayaksand canoesavail­able for rent by the day. Expe­ri­ence the con­ve­nience of equip­ment deliv­ery and pick-upallow­ing you to spend more time explor­ing Alaska’s scenic lakes.

Hop aboard one of Regal Air’s planes depart­ing from Anchor­age and after a shortscenic flight you can be watch­ing enor­mous brown bears swat salmon from Alaska’s rush­ing waters. Tours vis­it one of two des­ti­na­tions: Lake Clark Nation­al Park or Brooks Falls in Kat­mai Nation­al Park.

Lift off in a heli­copter for an incred­i­bly scenic 15-minute flight over the Knik Riv­er on your way to the Knik Glac­i­er. Once you’ve land­edyour guide will help you get equipped with all the gear you need to make your ascent up the glac­i­er wall or down into a glacial moulininclud­ing ropehar­nesshel­metbootscram­ponsand ice tools. Nev­er ice climbed before? No problem

Stun­ning scenerya thrilling ride and hap­py pup­pies: this tour out of the Anchor­age area offers an unbeat­able com­bi­na­tion of clas­sic Alas­ka expe­ri­ences that will delight fam­i­lies or — real­lyany­body. Tak­ing a total of about 90 min­utesand run­ning from mid-May to ear­ly Sep­tem­berthis tour includes a Flight­see­ing round tripa small friend­ly group envi­ron­mentand plen­ty of one-on-one time with the dogs and their mushers.

Glac­i­er trekkingkayak­ingice climb­ingand oth­er activ­i­ties are even more spe­cial when com­bined with a spec­tac­u­lar heli­copter ride through Alaska’s dra­mat­ic scenery. Thanks to key part­ner­ships with oth­er expe­ri­enced Alaskan tour oper­a­torsPalmer based Out­bound Heli Adven­tures is able to coor­di­nate seam­less out­ings of a life­time! Andthey pride them­selves on offer­ing the most amount of flight time with their excursions.

Embark on a thrilling dog sled­ding adven­ture with Snowhook’s team of Alaskan Huskies and expe­ri­ence the excite­ment of run­ning sled dogs on the scenic Idi­tar­od trail. Owned by sea­soned rac­ersSnowhook offers per­son­al­ized tours for all ages and activ­i­ty lev­elswith the option to com­bine dog sled­ding and snow­mo­bil­ing for a full-day Alaskan adventure. 

The sport of pack­raft­ing is a great way to enjoy raft­ing and explore the gor­geous Alaskan wilder­ness. Do it with Alas­ka Heli­copter Tours out of Palmer and you’ll also expe­ri­ence a scenic heli­copter ride!

Trail Ridge Air offers an on-demand per­spec­tive of Alaska’s wilder­nesswith per­son­able and knowl­edge­able pilots. Watch for wildlifecheck out mas­sive glac­i­ersalpine lakesDenalior even Lake Clark Nation­al Park. Trail Ridge accom­mo­dates for the busiest of sched­uleswith flights rang­ing from one hour to a full day.

Dri­ve through Alas­ka with an audio tour guid­ing you along icon­ic routes. Audio Tour Alas­ka gives you an insider’s take on every­thing from points of inter­est to his­to­rywildlifeand cul­turealong with cap­ti­vat­ing sto­ries. Guides to pop­u­lar routes include Anchor­age to Tal­keet­na; Tal­keet­na to Denali Nation­al Park; Denali to Fair­banks; Anchor­age to Seward; Tern Lake to Homer; and the Denali Park Entrance area and the Denali Park road.

Walkhikewatch for birds or paint a pic­ture at this liv­ing field guide of Alas­ka flo­ra and fau­na. The 110 acres are set in a birch and spruce for­estwhere you might even see a bear or moose. Walk the Wild­flower Trailrelax in the Herb Gar­dendelight in the peren­ni­al gar­densor explore the 1.1 mile Lowen­fels Fam­i­ly Nature Trail.

Find out what this icon­ic Alaskan sport is all about when you meet the dogs and learn about rac­ing them with Susit­na Sled Dog Adven­tures out of Tal­keet­na. Come in win­ter and you can also hop on a sled to real­ly feel what dog mush­ing is like!

Explore Alas­ka from above with this fam­i­ly-owned com­pa­ny that oper­ates out of Anchor­age. Options include fly­ing above DenaliKnik and Colony Glac­i­erthe Chugach Moun­tainsand more!

Hop aboard an eco-friend­ly snow­mo­bile in Gird­wood and ride on groomed trails beneath mas­sive7,000-foot glaciat­ed peaks or vis­it the daz­zling blue ice of Spencer Glac­i­er. Orhead north of Anchor­age for a trail ride through mid-alpine black spruce forests. No expe­ri­ence nec­es­saryall gear pro­vid­edand warm bev­er­ages and snacks included. 

Alyeska Resort is famous for its down­hill ski­ing and snow­board­ing for a rea­son — it’s tru­ly world-classfea­tur­ing tons of snowsteep moun­tainsand views that stretch on for­ev­er. But there are a ton of oth­er win­ter activ­i­ties that make Alyeska an epi­cen­ter for win­ter adven­ture. Go cross-coun­try ski­ing or snow­shoe­ing on one of the area trails; or head off into the back­coun­try with a guide for some heli- or cat-ski­ing; try a snow­mo­bile excursion;  ...more

This vet­er­an tour oper­a­tor runs a a fleet of fastmod­ern boats in Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Kenai Fjords Nation­al Park. You’ll vis­it tide­wa­ter glac­i­ers as you watch for puffinssea ottersDall’s por­pois­essea lionsand more. Some tours are designed to please bird­ers or shut­ter­bugswhile oth­ers are per­fect for families. 

Whether you have some time before a flight or want an hour of fun between activ­i­tiesthe rooms at Escape! Alas­ka are a great oppor­tu­ni­ty for group bond­ing. Search for the tomb of a great Egypt­ian High Priest or walk into a 1930s movie where your goal is to solve the mur­der of a beloved local philanthropist.

Per­fect for the adven­tur­ous trav­el­erthe Adven­ture Cruise sees all the same sites as on our Clas­sic voy­agebut with more excur­sions. Kayak among ice­bergshike through moun­tain mead­owsand take in the scenery on this unique trip. Activ­i­ties can be cus­tomized to suit the inter­ests and activ­i­ty lev­el of those on board.

Just an hour’s dri­ve from Anchor­agethe MV Ptarmi­gan let you get with­in 300 feet of the tow­er­ing ice wall called Portage Glac­i­er. You can also book a nar­rat­ed motor­coach tour to take you to Portage Glacier. 

Go fish­ing right in Anchor­age – whether you have only have a few hours or a full day. Rent a gear pack­age and fish on your own. Orhire one of our local guides to take you on a guid­ed tour to land your dream catch. You can also buy bait and fish­ing licenses.

Get out there on one or more of these super-acces­si­ble tripswhich range from easy nature walks to stren­u­ous alpine mul­ti-day treks. You’ll not only get a healthy dose of sceneryyou’ll also exer­cise your bodymindand soul. In win­termar­vel at frozen water­fallssnow­shoe treks and even heli-snowshoeing!

Grab a pad­dle and set off in a kayak across the glac­i­er-fed turquoise waters of Eklut­na Lake with expe­ri­enced tour com­pa­ny Life­time Adven­tures. You’ll have the option of rent­ing a kayak or enjoy­ing a guid­ed tour around the lake in a sin­gle or dou­ble kayak — no expe­ri­ence nec­es­sary! Com­bi­na­tion tours that include bik­ing or hik­ing are also available.

Anchor­age may be Alaska’s big citybut this bicy­cle tour oper­a­tor offers quick proof that the city has a lot of wilder­ness. Choose your ride based on half-day or full-day optionsas well as dif­fi­cul­ty. You’ll go from down­town to Moth­er Nature — with moun­tainscoastal viewsand the occa­sion­al moose sight­ing — in no time at all. Bet­ter yetthe tours often include beer tast­ings or lunch.

Six Mile Creek is one of the most famous — and most chal­leng­ing — white­wa­ter runs in the entire state of Alas­ka. Your heart will be pound­ing and your mus­cles burn­ing as you pad­dle through rapids called ​“Big Rock Drop,” ​“Suck­hole,” and ​“Let’s Make a Deal.”

Get to know Alas­ka in a tru­ly authen­tic way — through its unique cui­sine. On this walk­ing food touryou’ll sam­ple fla­vors as you explore Anchor­age and hear sto­ries of the 49^th state.

Rent a moun­tain bike (and all the body armor you need) for a thrillingtwo-wheel ride down Mt. Alyeska. Lessons and tours of the route are offered. Orgo for a hike on one of the many area trailseither with a guide or on your own. You can even strap on some cram­pons and go trekking on a glacier. 

Explore Alaska’s back­coun­try astride a speedy and fun snow­ma­chine. Alas­ka Wild Guides will take you out for one thrilling dayor for sev­er­al days of exhil­a­rat­ing adven­ture. Find hid­den ice caves and remote glac­i­ers while nav­i­gat­ing along frozen rivers and through deep powder.

The North­woods Lodge is a remote lodge where vis­i­tors can find them­selves in a 45 minute flight from Anchor­age. The lodge spe­cial­izes in guid­ed fish­ingand guests can enjoy 8 to 10 hours of fish­ing a day if they choose. Guides help you spin or fly fish for tro­phy king salmonsil­ver and sock­eye salmonor res­i­dent rain­bow troutarc­tic grayling and north­ern pike

This Anchor­age Cul­tur­al Cen­ter offers an in-depth look at Alaskan Native life — with a big focus on Alas­ka Natives. Watch danc­inglis­ten to sto­riesmeet carversand hear from artists. The set­ting is so small and inti­mate that vis­i­tors are some­times even invit­ed to join the dancers on stage.

Enjoy a bird’s eye view of Alaska’s scenic high­lights on a flight­see­ing tour with Rust’s Fly­ing Ser­vicewhere every pas­sen­ger gets a win­dow seat. Tour options include a short 30-minute Anchor­age Flight­see­ing Safaria flight to DenaliDenali plus a glac­i­er land­ingand more. Tours begin at Anchorage’s Lake Hoodthe world’s busiest sea­plane airport.

Moose Pass Adven­tures offers pri­vate trans­fers between Anchor­age and Seward. Trav­el in spa­cious vans with a pro­fes­sion­al dri­ver-guide who pro­vides expert nar­ra­tion along the way. Choose from four jour­ney s: a scenic trans­fer along the Seward High­waya wildlife-focused tour with a stop at the Alas­ka Wildlife Con­ser­va­tion Cen­tera kayak trans­fer with a guid­ed pad­dle on Trail Lakeor a hike-focused jour­ney that includes trails at Byron  ...more

Sum­mer or win­tervis­it a fam­i­ly-run cham­pi­on ken­nelmeet friend­ly dogs and an expe­ri­enced mush­er for a ride along pri­vate trails with views of Denali. Opt to ride in the sled or mush your own. Orfor a tru­ly authen­tic adven­turego on a train­ing run for the Idi­tar­od! Large groups and spe­cial events wel­come when orga­nized in advance.

This fall pho­tog­ra­phy trip offers some of the best pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties in Alas­ka as the sea­sons change. Head to Lake Clark Nation­al Park for griz­zly bearsturquoise-col­ored lakessnow­capped moun­tains and the bright gold col­ors of fall. You’ll also spend a half day pho­tograph­ing mooseand a heli­copter flight to an ice­berg-filled glacial lake only acces­si­ble by air. Fall can also be a won­der­ful time to pho­to­graph the auro­ra bore­alisweather  ...more

There’s great Alaskan back­coun­try ATV rid­ing just a few miles south of Anchor­age. Engage in the sightssoundsand smells of the north­ern­most tem­per­ate rain­for­est while expe­ri­enc­ing the thrill of the throt­tle through the wind­ing wood­ed trails of the Chugach Moun­tain Range. In the alpine mead­ows of this wilder­ness areathere are fre­quent sight­ings of both brown and black bearsmoun­tain goatsand Dall sheep.

You don’t need to be an expert or a Hol­ly­wood star to enjoy fly-out fish­ing in the wilds of Alas­ka. Trail Ridge Air offers guid­ednon-guid­ed and cus­tom tripsget­ting you into creeks and lakes where you can catch not only fishbut also a great Alaskan fish tale of your very own.

For out­stand­ing view­ing and incred­i­ble access to remote placesthere’s noth­ing like flight­see­ing by heli­copter. Join Alas­ka Heli­copter Tours – a local­ly-ownedhigh­ly-respect­ed heli­copter tour and char­ter com­pa­ny – for excur­sions that reveal hid­den sites just min­utes from Anchor­age. Spot wildlife from the airstand on a glac­i­er or land on a remote airstrip.

Take a fly-in salmon or trout-fish­ing trip out of Anchor­age with Regal Air to enjoy world-class fish­ing in pris­tineremote rivers. Regal Air teams up with wilder­ness lodges and guid­ing ser­vices and can set you up with any­thing from lunch to gear. They’ll even teach you how to cast. You’ll get the ulti­mate Alas­ka fly­ing expe­ri­encetak­ing off and land­ing in a float planeand soar­ing over bigbraid­ed glac­i­er riv­er val­leys and end­less forests.  ...more

Head out into the Alaskan wilder­ness on this excit­ing ATV adven­turedri­ving through woods and splash­ing through rivers on your way to a gor­geous glacial moraine sur­round­ed by tow­er­ing snow-capped peaks. Trans­porta­tion from Anchor­age included.

Faster than a kayak and more inti­mate than a day cruisethe Jet Ski is a great way to get up close and per­son­al with Alaska’s gor­geous scenery. Go with Whit­ti­er-based Glac­i­er Jet Ski Adven­tures and you’ll be tak­ing your machine out on the water to explore the stun­ning glac­i­ers and wildlife of Black­stone Bay. All equip­ment is pro­vid­ed and no expe­ri­ence is nec­es­sary on this unique 4.5‑hour journey.

This train trav­els through the forest­ed areas north of Anchor­age into the bore­al for­estand even­tu­al­ly into the tun­dra regions fur­ther north. On a clear day the train will slow down to allow you to see beau­ti­ful vis­tas of Denali. You may also spot wildlife along the way. Day Trip from Anchor­age: Tal­keet­na Day Trip from Fair­banks: Denali Mul­ti-Day Trip from Anchor­age: Tal­keet­naDenali Nation­al Parkand / or Fair­banks Mul­ti-Day Trip  ...more

Every now and then in Alas­ka — where the weath­er can change quick­ly — a great indoor activ­i­ty comes in handy. But this unique year-round attrac­tionwhere a fam­i­ly or a group of friends solves a mys­tery while ​“locked” indoorsmakes a fun diver­sion even when the skies are clear outside.

Join the expe­ri­enced guides at Alas­ka Back­coun­try Adven­tures on an excit­ing adven­ture into Alaska’s remotewin­tery play­ground. When con­di­tions allow; you’ll ride right up the Knik Riv­er Val­ley and onto the frozen lake at the ter­mi­nus of the Knik Glac­i­er. Enjoy rid­ing amongst blue ice and in between giant ice­bergs frozen in place. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife 

There’s noth­ing quite like the thrill of catch­ing an icon­ic Alaskan fish like salmon or hal­ibut. And when you take an inti­mate half- or full-day trip with the pas­sion­ate anglers at Alas­ka Out­doors Addic­tion out of Anchor­ageyou’ll cast your line amid incred­i­ble scenery on an expe­di­tion that’s care­ful­ly catered to your inter­ests. Rent the entire boat or come as a shared guest; either wayit will be a mag­i­cal expe­ri­ence that’s per­fect for both  ...more

Set right in Anchor­agethis ski moun­tain trans­forms into a sum­mer­time won­der­land for bik­ers and hik­ers. Take a bicy­cle up the lift to the scenic peak and expe­ri­ence one of the many sin­gle-track trails as you descend across var­ied ter­rain at the base of the Chugach Moun­tains or ride the lift up and walk down. It’s the north­ern­most bike park in North Amer­i­ca and a LOAM pass destination.

Explor­ing Alaska’s back­coun­try lakesforests and rivers is a phe­nom­e­nal expe­ri­ence. Wilder­ness Place Lodge — tucked away on a remote riv­er north­west of Anchor­age — offers excel­lent access to near­ly any fresh­wa­ter fish you came to Alas­ka foralong with a unique eco-trav­el expe­ri­ence that comes with a high lev­el of ser­vicea vari­ety of non-fish­ing activ­i­ties and the mel­low free­dom to cre­ate an Alaskan expe­ri­ence that suits your own taste.

This expe­ri­encedlocal­ly run com­pa­ny offers a superb guide-to-vis­i­tor ratiocre­at­ing a real feel­ing of inti­ma­cywhile their expert guides will help deep­en your under­stand­ing of the area. From city overviews to for­ays just out­side townSalmon Berry Tours offers expe­ri­ences from 2.5 hours up to a full 8‑hour tour.

Expe­ri­ence the wilder­ness of the Chugach Nation­al For­est from sev­er­al dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives. Com­bine a heli­copter ridealpine hikeglacial lake tourand train ride all in 9 – 10 hours! It’s one big and bold Alas­ka tour de force with Chugach Adventures.

With Alas­ka Back­coun­try Adven­ture Toursyou can expe­ri­ence glac­i­ers inac­ces­si­ble by road. Nev­er fear if you’ve nev­er dri­ven an before; this com­pa­ny teach­es you to maneu­ver your ATV through the Alaskan wilder­ness with your guide at the lead. Your des­ti­na­tion is the mag­nif­i­cent Knik Glac­i­erwhere you’ll enjoy lunch and gor­geous scenery.

Walk­ing out across the ice of Alaska’s largest road-acces­si­ble glac­i­er is an unfor­get­table expe­ri­ence that you can take advan­tage of year-round — and it’s just a two-hour dri­ve from Anchorage.

Won­der­ing how folks up here deal with Alaska’s long win­ter days? It’s easy when the inky night sky comes alive with an amaz­ing light show like the auro­ra bore­alis. Brav­ing the cold is noth­ing if you get a chance to see the lights danc­ing and wav­ing over­head. Com­bine your auro­ra view­ing trip with a few oth­er high­lights planned out by Salmon Berry Toursand you’ll expe­ri­ence the best of win­ter in Alaska.

The train can be used as a mode of trans­porta­tionhow­ev­er it can also be a round-trip sight­see­ing excur­sion. This pri­ma­ry des­ti­na­tion is the town of Whit­ti­era major cruise ship and after­noon day cruise hub. Day Trips from Anchor­age: Whit­ti­erGird­woodSpencer Glac­i­erGrandview

Every­body loves sled dogsand Salmon Berry Tours offers you the chance to get behind the sled year-round. In sum­mer and win­teryou’ll head to the ken­nel of Idi­tar­od Cham­pi­on Dal­las Seaveywhere you’ll see a gear demon­stra­tionmeet the dogsand ride on the sled behind them. They also have a mul­ti-day adven­ture for Idi­tar­od enthusiasts. 

Lazy Otter offers clas­sic toursbut this is a water taxiso they’ll also take you any­where you want to go with­in Price William Sound — or just cus­tomize a tour to what­ev­er you want to see. Maybe that’s glac­i­ersor whales, — or maybe it’s qui­et time on a seclud­ed beach. Lazy Otter can also help facil­i­tate tak­ing you and your fam­i­ly on a camp­ing trip. You’re not held to any strict sched­uleeither: ifon a day touryou can spend more time in one  ...more

You’ll take off from Anchor­ageand Alas­ka will open up for you as you appre­ci­ate its vast­ness from the air. Where will you go? That’s up to you! Choose from a vari­ety of tours. Take one of the clas­sicslike flight­see­ing to Denalior opt to explore one of the state’s hid­den gems. You can also fly to see glac­i­ersgo bear view­ing in Lake Clark Nation­al Parkor work with the pros at Alas­ka Air Ser­vice to cre­ate your own cus­tom itinerary.

Tour­ing the spec­tac­u­lar tide­wa­ter glac­i­ers of Prince William Sound is even more excit­ing when you do it on a Jet Ski. Go with Alas­ka Wild Guides out of Whit­ti­er to expe­ri­ence the area’s unique sights and sounds while skim­ming across the top of the water on your own per­son­al watercraft.

Feel the thrill of rac­ing cham­pi­on sled dogs at the Alas­ka Mush­ing School — choose their Wil­low loca­tionjust 75 min­utes north of Anchor­ageor their Chugiak out­postonly 15 min­utes from town. Get a professional’s insight into the mush­ing life as you ride behind a team of ener­getic sled dogs on trails con­nect­ed to the famous Idi­tar­od route. Bun­dle up and ride in com­fortor brave the cold and dri­ve the team yourself!

Every­one from begin­ners to experts can book a cus­tommul­ti-day pho­tog­ra­phy trip in Alas­ka. As a long­time AlaskanMichael knows the best spots to go. And he can care­ful­ly craft cus­tom trips to take you to the most mag­i­cal areas. His spe­cial­ty is land­scapewildlife and adven­ture-trav­el based trips around South­cen­tral Alas­ka — places like Chugach and Denali State parksand the region’s acces­si­ble glaciers.

Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Kenai Fjords are great places to see wildlife and glac­i­ers. And Major Marine’s ves­selswhich have cozy heat­ed cab­ins and an out­door view­ing areacan take you out to see both. This fam­i­ly-owned tour oper­a­tor has gone above and beyond to give guests an amaz­ing day on the water since 1990. 

In the best way pos­si­ble. you’re out­num­bered by bears dur­ing your stay at this pri­vate fly-in wilder­ness camp. Fly by char­tered plane from Homer to Alas­ka Bear Camp on a 5‑night6‑day all-inclu­sive pack­age. This deluxe back­coun­try camp accom­mo­dates just 14 guests in some of the best bear habi­tat in the world. In con­trast to day trips cater­ing to dozens of vis­i­tors at a timeBear Camp offers a rare and exclu­sive wilder­ness immersion.

Take off by sea­plane for an all-day bear-view­ing expe­di­tion. Fly past glac­i­ers and vol­ca­noes to the brown-bear coun­try of south­west Alas­ka. Your Sea­plane Bear Safari will take you to Brooks Riv­er Falls in Kat­mai Nation­al Parkhome of the world ’ s largest salmon run. You can also fly 70 miles south­west of Anchor­age to Lake Clark Wilder­ness Pre­serve for amaz­ing bear view­ing and lux­u­ri­ous accom­mo­da­tions at the Redoubt Bay Lodge. Rust’swhich has  ...more

Ratch­et up the adven­ture fac­tor and try your hand at dogsled­ding. Alpine Air Alas­ka flies to a dog camp run by the old­est estab­lished dog-sled tour busi­ness in Alas­ka. With a shut­tle option avail­able from Anchor­ageyou’ll trav­el by heli­copter from Girdwood’s green forests up over a small sad­dle to land on a glac­i­er and be intro­duced to the dog team. ​“Dri­ve” the dogs your­selfor sit in the sled and enjoy hang­ing glac­i­ers that sur­round you.  ...more

Award-win­ning Alas­ka-based pho­tog­ra­ph­er Jeff Schultz can take you to stun­ning Alas­ka loca­tions to cre­ate your dream images of Alaskan land­scapes & wildlife. Whether you want to make pho­tos in clas­sic Alas­ka loca­tions or in places that the aver­age trav­el­er will nev­er seebased on decades of liv­ingtrav­el­ing and pho­tograph­ing all over Alas­kaJeff can cre­ate a cus­tom pho­to trip that will meet all your wants and desires.

Short on time and want to see anoth­er side of Anchor­age and the gor­geous sur­round­ing area? Take a small-group tour with Escap­ing Anchor­agewhose own­erBrit­tneycre­ates per­son­al­ized adven­tures fea­tur­ing beau­ti­ful scenery and real insights.

Who can say no to a cool water­fall only a half-hour’s dri­ve from town? One of the most pop­u­lar ​“first hikes” for fam­i­lies with small chil­drenthe one-mile trail to Thun­der­bird Falls tra­vers­es a hand­some birch for­est along the Eklut­na Riv­er canyon to reach a deck with views of a 200-foot water­fall. Dur­ing win­terthe falls can freezeform­ing fab­u­lous columns of blue ice.

This 7‑mile hikewhich begins in the moun­tains just above Anchor­agetakes you to the numer­ous Willi­waw Lakesall of which are clus­tered below the sheer north face of Mount Willi­waw — the high­est peak in the Front Range.

You’ll have a hard time los­ing your way on this 2.5‑mile climb of 4,301-foot-high McHugh Peak. You’ll also have a hard time for­get­ting the view from the sum­mitwhich extends up the length of Tur­na­gain Arm and across Knik Arm to the Alas­ka Range. It’s even more sat­is­fy­ing know­ing that you found your way to the sum­mit with only min­i­mal help from the trail.

This short day hike — with an eas­i­ly acces­si­ble trail­head a few hun­dred meters from the Begich Bog­gs Vis­i­tor Cen­ter — offers you big views of the Byron Glacier.

Rarely do two lakes lie with­in a few feet of each oth­er. For­tu­nate­lythe trail to see this geo­log­i­cal rar­i­ty begins just a 30-minute dri­ve north of Anchor­age. From the trail­head for South Fork Eagle Riv­er Trailit’s a grad­ual 4.8‑mile (one-way) climb up a wide val­leylead­ing to a nar­row isth­mus between the green waters of Eagle Lake and the blue waters of Sym­pho­ny Lake.

Flat­top is Alaska’s most vis­it­ed peak. Ascend the 1.5 — mile1,350 ver­ti­cal foot trail to the rockyfoot­ball field-sized sum­mit in about an hour and take in panoram­ic views from Denali (Mt. McKin­ley) to the Aleut­ian Islands. If you want vis­tas with­out the hikewalk the short path from the park­ing lot to the overlook.

If peo­ple sug­gest climb­ing Flat­toptell them you’d rather climb Ren­dezvous Peak. Flat­top is arguably Alaska’s most pop­u­lar (and there­foremost crowd­ed) moun­tain; Ren­dezvous is far less crowd­ed and offers bet­ter views from the sum­mit. See them by hik­ing up 1,500 feet to the 4,050-foot summit.

The Camp­bell Creek Gorge over­look is one of Anchorage’s best kept secrets. It’s just a 25-minute uphill hike — even short­er on bike— from both the Hill­side Ski Chalet park­ing area and North Bivouc Trail­heador a slight­ly longer 1‑hour hike from Camp­bell Airstrip. From the tree-cov­ered over­lookyou can gaze hun­dreds of feet down a sheer cliff to Camp­bell Creek as it crash­es through a nar­rowbrush-infest­ed canyon.

This trail quick­ly gains ele­va­tion on its way to an alpine mead­ow framed by the dra­mat­ic Twin Peaks and Goat Rockbut climbs to mag­nif­i­cent views over­look­ing the entire val­ley. Dall Sheep are often spot­ted above the tim­ber­line. From here there is a spec­tac­u­lar view of the lake below. This is also a good place for berry pick­ing in the fall. Because of the crushed rocksthe trail is hard­ly ever muddy.

Well used trail by locals as a short (1−2 hour) aer­o­bic hike with nice views. Take Eagle Riv­er Loop to Sky­lineand fol­low the road as it swich­backs going up and even­tu­al­ly ends with park­ing along­side the road.

This trail has its own sit­ting area and view­ing deck with views of Anchor­agethe Alas­ka Rangeand Cook Inlet. It is real­ly good for see­ing sun­sets in the evening but it is also windy. The whole route is wheel­chair acces­si­ble. This is a good short hike for the fam­i­ly to see the view over Anchor­agebut not a good trail for the train­ing runner.

The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is one of four green­belt trails locat­ed in Anchor­age. Even though the trail spans 11.0 miles each way (from Kin­caid Park to just north of where 2^nd Avenue ends in the Cook Inlet)it is eas­i­ly picked up from sev­er­al points in the cityso you can enjoy any seg­ment and hike as lit­tle or much of the trail as you desire. In the win­terthe trail is groomed for cross coun­try skiing.

If you want a great work­out — to stun­ning moun­tain views high above the val­ley floor below — but want to save your knees on the way downthis trail is for you. It leaves from the Alyeska Resort tram build­ing and climbs steep switch­backs 2.2 miles and 2000 feet to the mid-moun­tain restau­rant where you can catch a free aer­i­al tram ride back down to the hotel.

Forty min­utes from down­town Anchor­age lies Eagle Riv­er Nature Cen­tera gate­way to Chugach State Park and a glacial riv­er val­ley as wild and dra­mat­ic as any in Alas­ka. Enjoy an easy3‑mile nature walk on the Albert Loop or trek up-val­ley 5 miles to see plung­ing water­falls and 3,000-foot cliffs. In win­tertra­verse the trails on cross-coun­try skis or snowshoes.

Kin­caid Park offers the eas­i­est way to get deep in the woods right in town. It’s a mec­ca for out­door sports of all kinds in a wilder­ness-like set­ting on the site of a for­mer Cold War mis­sile base. This 1,500-acre park sprawls over an ancient and rugged moraine at the south­west tip of the Anchor­age Bowl at the west end of Rasp­ber­ry Road. From its panoram­ic views of Denali and the vast Cook Inlet to its inti­mate deep woods enclavesthe park is  ...more

Win­ner Creek Trail in Gird­wood (45 min­utes south of Anchor­age) is one of our favorite trails to take vis­it­ing friends and fam­i­ly. It’s an easy 3‑mile hike or bike ride on a widewell-devel­oped trail with a gen­tle ele­va­tion gain that winds through America’s north­ern­most rain­for­estcross­es a wood­en bridge over a thun­der­ing blue-water gorge. 2022: Hand tram cur­rent­ly closedmay replace with bridge. Local weigh­ing in.)

You don’t have to be a moun­taineer to reach the sum­mit of O’Malley Peak — the promi­nent spire ris­ing from the Front Range above Anchor­age — but don’t mis­take it for an easy climb. Some of the 5‑mile-long trail climbs quite steeply; oth­er parts add very loose grav­el to the incline. Stillthese con­di­tions don’t make this hike exces­sive­ly dan­ger­ousjust sat­is­fy­ing­ly laborious.