alaska

The Alaska Region

The Alaska region is home to 8 of our 54 national parks. The Parks in Alaska are the largest in the system and are home to North America's highest peaks. Due to Alaska's vast size and relative remoteness Alaska is its own region.

Alaska leads the U.S. in public lands, national parks and preserves; 95% of all the United States' public lands are in the western states and the state of Alaska.

Alaska
The Nation's Last Frontier

Photos taken and scanned by L.M.Little

Alaska Facts

Alaska is home to 8 national parks, including the largest national park in the U.S., Wrangell-St.Elias.

Alaska is home to 17 of America's 20 highest peaks, including the highest peak in North America; Mount McKinley, rising 20,320 feet above sea level.

Mount McKinley National Park was established in 1917, the Park's name was changed to Denali National Park in 1980. Denali is the Indian name for North America's highest peak and it means the "Great One"

There are over 100,000 glaciers in Alaska. The largest glacier is Malaspina, it measures 850 square miles.
More than 29,000 square miles of Alaska is covered by ice.

Alaska has 6,640 miles of coastline.

Including islands, Alaska has a total of 33,904 miles of oceanic shoreline.

Alaska has 70 potentially active volcanoes. The most recent volcanic activity was the violent eruption of Novarupta in 1912 which created the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, part of Katmai National Park.

Alaska has frequent earthquakes, about 5,000 a year. The strongest earthquake ever recorded in North America, a 9.2, rocked Central and Southeast Alaska on March 27, 1964.

Map of Alaska Parks and Preserves

Alaska Parks

Denali
Gates of the Arctic

Glacier Bay
Katmai
Kenai Fjords
Kobuk Valley
Lake Clark
Wrangell-St. Elias

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Alaska Quiz

Denali National Park was established as Mount McKinley National Park in 1917 and re-named Denali National National Park in 1980. Mount McKinley, or Denali, (Indian name meaning "The Great One") is North America's highest peak at 20,320 feet above sea level. Denali has one 90 mile dead end road through the Park's interior but travel beyond milepost 15 is restricted. Most visitors have to make reservations for a seat on the bus in order to see the Park's interior.

Gates of the Arctic was established as a national park in 1978. Gates of the Arctic National Park covers 8.5 million square miles and elevation ranges from 300 to 8,510 feet above sea level. The Park is not accessible by road and there are no developed facilities within the Park. Most visitors access the Park via small aircraft.

Glacier Bay was established as a national monument on February 25, 1925 and redesignated as a national park on December 2, 1980. The Park includes snow capped peaks towering over 15,000 feet, rain forests, coastal beaches, fjords and tidewater glaciers. The Glacier Bay area was covered by ice just 200 years ago and the Bay is home to abundant wildlife including several hundred species of birds. Most visitors access Glacier Bay via cruise ship as there are no roads or developed facilities within the Park.

Photos courtesy of NPS

Katmai was established as a National Monument on September 24, 1918 and redesignated as a National Park on December 2, 1980. The Park includes 4 million acres set aside to protect features associated with volcanic activity. The most recent eruption was in 1912 when Mount Novarupta erupted and covered 40 square miles with deposits of ash ranging from 100-700 feet deep. This eruption created the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, named for the thousands of cracks in the ash deposits that emitted gas and smoke from heated ground water.

Kenai Fjords was established as a national park in 1978 to protect coastal mountains and fjords, ice fields, tidewater glaciers and marine wildlife habitat. The Park is accessed by water craft with the exception of Exit Glacier, which is accessible by car via the Seward Highway

Kobuk Valley was established as a national park on December 2, 1980 to preserve the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. Located 25 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Kobuk Valley is a 25 square mile area of sand dunes carved by glaciers. The Park has no roads or developed facilities and is only accessible by small plane or strenuous hike.

Lake Clark was established as a national monument on December 1, 1978 and designated as a national park on December 2, 1980. Lake Clark National Park includes 4 million acres of wilderness and the 40 mile long Lake Clark. There are no roads or developed facilities within the Park and is accessible by small plane or float plane.

Wrangell-St.Elias is the largest national park in the United States covering 13.2 million acres of wilderness. Wrangell-St.Elias was established as a national monument on December 1, 1978 and designated as a national park on December 2, 1980. Wrangell-St.Elias National Park is home to over 100 major glaciers, the largest non polar ice field, and the largest concentration of peaks over 16,000 feet. There is a single road going into the Park but is mainly accessible by small plane and water craft. There are no developed facilities or maintained roads within the Park. Kluane National Park, home of Mount Logan, Canada's highest peak at 19,551 feet above sea level borders the east side of Wrangell-St.Elias . The two parks together make up the largest preserve on the continent.

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