Scenery Articles (Tagged)

The Northern Lights are a breathtaking magical display of light and color—truly one of nature’s wonders. The Northern Lights are the common name of the Aurora Borealis, named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. The Aurora is a natural electromagnetic phenomenon.

The Aurora is most visible in the clear night sky, so the best viewing times in Alaska are from late August to April when the nights are longer. The Aurora is usually best viewed in northern locations, but can regularly be viewed in Anchorage all across Alaska. Actually, the farther south the Aurora occurs, the brighter and more active it is.

Katmai National Park and Preserve encompasses almost 2 million hectares of pristine wilderness on the Alaska Peninsula, across from Kodiak Island in Southwestern Alaska. The park is home to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, the result of a volcanic eruption in 1912 which buried more than 40-square-miles of wilderness under as much as 700 feet of ash. Fourteen active volcanoes lie within the park today. The town of King Salmon lies to the west of the Park and is the local gateway.
Bear Viewing
The Katmai National Park is home to …

Glacier Bay National Park is unique and beautiful park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that welcomes about 350,000 visitors each year as one of the most popular destinations in Alaska. The Glacier Bay area has 16 glaciers including 12 tidewater glaciers flowing into the sea, with 4 of the tidewater glaciers actively calving icebergs. Glacier Bay is located in the northern tip of Alaska’s Inside Passage, about 77 km west of Juneau by air.

The park has snow-capped mountain ranges rising to over 15,000 feet, coastal beaches with protected coves, deep fjords, tidewater glaciers, forests and rivers. As marine waters make up nearly one-fifth of the park, Glacier Bay is rich with marine life, including the endangered humpback whale, threatened Stellar sea lion, harbor seals, sea otters and porpoises. The land areas are home to a variety of wildlife and birds.

Kenai Fjords is a majestic land of deep glacier-carved fjords bounded by forested mountains and sharp cliffs. This rugged coastline has many beautiful tidewater glaciers and abundant marine wildlife. Huge house-sized icebergs often crash from the tidewater glaciers into the sea.
Kenai Fjords National Park is comprised of 1,760 square miles (2,833 square kilometers) of protected land on the southeast coast of the Kenai Peninsula. Snow and ice cover 60 percent of the park. The Harding Icefield is at the heart of the park, and about 40 glaciers flow from this great icefield. …

The city of Valdez is located on the eastern edge of Prince William Sound less than 40 km east of the famous Columbia Glacier. The community is surrounded by the beautiful Chugach Mountains.
Visitors to Valdez can enjoy many activities such as sightseeing around town, glacier and marine wildlife viewing cruise tours, flightseeing by floatplane, as well as wildlife viewing, bird viewing, bear viewing, hiking, fishing, boating, and many other outdoor activities.
Many visitors drive to Valdez, as it is connected to the excellent road network in Southcentral Alaska.
Prince William Sound
Valdez …

 
Kodiak Island is famous for huge Kodiak brown bears, world-class sport fishing, one of the largest commercial fishing ports in the nation, and the magnificent green color of the island in the summer–which is why Kodiak is affectionately called Alaska’s Emerald Isle. Kodiak is a thriving business community, a transportation hub for southwest Alaska and the ideal Alaska vacation destination.
The Kodiak Island Borough, with a population of 13,900 persons includes the city of Kodiak, seven villages, a U.S. Coast Guard Base, plus several backcountry camps and lodges.
The city of Kodiak …

Chena Hot Springs Resort near Fairbanks features an outdoor hot springs lake, Ice Museum, Renewable Energy Center, and activity center. Summer activities include airplane tours, horseback riding, ATV 4-wheelers, hiking, biking, and rafting. Winter activities include dog sled rides, snowmachine rides, horse sleigh rides. Aurora viewing is best from September-March. The Ice Museum is open year-round and features beautiful ice sculptures of renowned ice artists, as well as an Ice Bar serving Appletini martini drinks. The Renewable Energy Center showcases research facilities where new technologies are developed with partners such as the University of Alaska Fairbanks and United Technologies Corporation (UTC). The Renewable Energy Center includes the next-generation geothermal energy powerplant and the greenhouse facility.

The beautiful Northern Lights are truly a sight to see, an active show of lights (and magic!). The Aurora Borealis is visible about 243 nights a year in Fairbanks, Alaska. This is one of the main reasons why Fairbanks should be called the Aurora Capital of the World.

The midnight sun makes the days long in the summer, so the best time to view the aurora is from late August to April. Visitors who stay 4 nights have over a 90% chance to see the aurora. Winter is a great time to visit, because of the long nights and exciting events in Fairbanks such as the World Ice Art Championships and the Yukon Quest International Dog Sled Race.

Airplane and helicopter tours are a great way to see Alaska - The Great Land.

Airplane and helicopters tours in Alaska are truly an unforgettable experience! And they are very safe - Alaska’s pilots have a very good track record of safety, and are known for their skill and experience.

Here are some of the most popular airplane tours in Alaska including Denali - Mt. McKinley, the Juneau Icefield, and the Harding Icefield.

Denali and Wonder Lake

Alaska has more protected park land and public land than any other state in the U.S.A.
National Park Service (NPS): There are 15 National Parks in Alaska making up over 2/3 of total U.S. national park lands.
National Forests: There are 2 national forests in Alaska - the first and second largest in the U.S.A.
State Parks: Alaska has the largest state park system in the U.S.A. with over 3.2 million acres–this is more than twice the size of California’s park system. Over 4 million visitors enjoy Alaska’s state parks …