Parks, Refuges & Forests

Created in 1988 by Alaska State Legislature, beautiful 2,850 acre Point Bridget State Park, located forty miles north of Juneau, offers meadows, cliffs, spectacular views, salmon spawning streams, rocky beaches, and the open sea. In the winter, the meadows and open forest allow for excellent skiing and snowshoeing opportunities. There are also public use cabins available to rent.

Port Heiden Critical Habitat Area supports an abundant population of seabirds, sea otters, and other land mammals. No public access to the areas has been developed, and public use facilities do not exist in these critical habitat areas. Access is by small plane or boat.

Port Moller Critical Habitat Area protects critical habitat for pacific herring, five species of Pacific salmon, Arctic and Aleutian terns, glaucous-winged gulls, common eider, as well as mammals like sea otters and brown bears. No public access to the areas has been developed, and public use facilities do not exist in these critical habitat areas. Access is by small plane or boat.

The Redoubt Bay Critical Habitat Area is a 268 square mile low lying expanse of wetlands braided with riparian habitat. It is best known as the nesting ground of the Tule white-fronted goose and is located approximately 40 miles southwest of Anchorage on the west side of Cook Inlet. Redoubt Bay is one of the most popular non-road accessible waterfowl hunting areas in the state.

The Richardson Highway runs north-south, connecting the communities of Valdez and Fairbanks, Alaska. Along the road are numerous trailheads and river access points. Be advised that some of these trails are 17 (b) easements providing access to public lands or waterways, across private land, but they are for access only, no camping allowed. See each land agency for further information.

Salcha River State Recreational Site is 40 miles southeast of Fairbanks at Mile 323.3 of the Richardson Highway and next to the Salcha River. Salcha River State Recreation Site offers campsites, boat launch and a public use cabin. Winter activities include cross country skiing and snow machining up or down the river (when frozen). Its location makes it a great get away from Fairbanks. The river has an excellent grayling fishery and a good salmon run in July.

The 2.15 million acre Selawik National Wildlife Refuge is situated on the Arctic Circle to the east of Kotzebue Sound, and occupies a unique variety of landforms in northwest Alaska. Refuge lands extend eastward to the headwaters of the Selawik River and the continental divide. Only a very small percentage of Alaska is accessible by road, and refuge lands, including the 240,000 acres of designated Wilderness Area, are some of the most remote “wildlands” in the state.

Shuyak Island State Park comprises most of Shuyak Island's 47,000 acres. The park encompasses part of a coastal forest system, unique to the Kodiak Archipelago, which contains only one tree species: Sitka spruce. Besides a virgin Sitka spruce forest, the park includes miles of rugged coastline, beaches and protected waterways. Visitors should be as self sufficient as possible; assistance could be hours or days away. The Shuyak experience is one of the wilderness: those who have planned their trip carefully find the greatest rewards.

On an island amid towering spruce and hemlock, Sitka National Historical Park preserves the site of a battle between invading Russian traders and indigenous Kiks.ádi Tlingit. Park visitors are awed by Tlingit and Haida totem poles standing along the park’s scenic coastal trail, and the restored Russian Bishop’s House speaks of Russia’s little known colonial legacy in North America.

Located at the mouth of Pack Creek on the eastern shore of Admiralty Island and about 30 miles south of Juneau, Alaska, Stan Price State Wildlife Sanctuary provides protected habitat for brown bears while affording visitors an opportunity to view and photograph bears close-up. The sanctuary is cooperatively managed by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and the U.S. Forest Service to provide bear viewing opportunities with minimal impact to brown bears.

The 175-mile-long Steese Highway (Alaska Route 6) connects Fairbanks with the small town of Circle, to the east, on the bank of the mighty Yukon River. The Elliott Highway (Alaska Route 2) starts just outside of Fairbanks in the historic mining town of Fox and leads north to the beginning of the Dalton Highway near Livengood. It then turns west, ending in the village of Manley. Only the first 60 miles of each of these highways are paved, but both are maintained year-round, usually closing briefly during winter storms. Be prepared for hazardous conditions year-round.

A half day’s drive from Fairbanks, Alaska, the Steese National Conservation Area (NCA) offers stunning scenery, peaceful solitude, and outstanding opportunities for year-round recreation. The area was designated by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980 to protect the area’s special values, particularly Birch Creek Wild and Scenic River, and caribou habitat. The Steese NCA plays a major role in the annual life of cycle of the Fortymile and White Mountains caribou herds, offering migration corridors, crucial summer calving grounds in high alpine tundra, and winter ranges among black spruce boreal forests. A few areas provide year-round habitat for Dall sheep, an uncommon species in Interior Alaska.

Perhaps the most spectacular feature of the Susitna Flats State Game Refuge is the spring and fall concentration of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds. Usually by mid-April, mallards, pintails, and Canada geese are present in large numbers. Peak densities are reached in early May when as many as 100,000 waterfowl are using the refuge to feed, rest, and conduct their final courtship prior to nesting. This is a popular area for sport fishermen in summer and hunters in the fall.

The Tanana Valley State Forest's (TVSF) 1.81 million acres lie almost entirely within the Tanana River Basin, located in the east-central part of Alaska. The Forest extends 265 miles, from near the Canadian border to Manley Hot Springs. The Forest is open to mining, gravel extraction, oil and gas leasing, and grazing, although very little is done. Timber production is the major commercial activity. The TVSF offers many recreational opportunities including hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, hiking, dog mushing, cross-country skiing, wildlife viewing, snow machining, gold panning, boating, and berry-picking.

The Tangle Lakes Archaeological District (TLAD) is a 226,660 acre Archaeological District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This national list contains one of the most culturally and historically important places in the United States. The TLAD was nominated to this list in 1971 because of its present and future contributions to the understanding of the prehistory of central Alaska and North America. This Archaeological District is the largest in subarctic North American and contains the densest grouping (over 600 documented sites) of early prehistoric archaeology in Alaska. The archaeology of the area is managed by two agencies: the BLM manages about 185,321 acres south of the Denali Highway and north of the highway in the Delta Wild and Scenic River Corridor. The State of Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources manages about 41,339 acres north of the highway.

From its start near the Tanana River to its end at the Yukon River, the Taylor is a highway built around, next to, over, and because of rivers. It provides travelers with unparalleled access not only to the mighty Yukon, but also the Fortymile Wild and Scenic River, a watercourse that has shaped this region in ways as deep as the valleys it has carved through the Yukon-Tanana Uplands. Travel the Taylor Highway's twisty path, and you'll pass through some of the state's most interesting history while enjoying gorgeous scenery along the way. Some travelers follow the Taylor Highway to its end in the historic village of Eagle, home of historic Fort Egbert and field headquarters & visitors center location of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. Others turn off at the junction with the Top of the World Highway, which continues into Yukon Territory and, a short ferry ride across the Yukon River later, the Klondike Gold Rush town of Dawson City . Either way, be prepared for an unforgettable trip through the Fortymile country. Only the first 64 miles of the Taylor Highway are paved - be prepared for hazardous, remote driving conditions with little to no services.

The boundaries of Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge encompass 932,000 acres; however, some of these acres are owned by the state of Alaska or private citizens. The Refuge's remaining 682,604 incredibly diverse acres include everything from rugged snow-capped mountains and glacier-fed rivers to expansive forests, treeless tundra, and massive wetlands.

Dominated by the Ahklun Mountains in the north and the cold waters of Bristol Bay to the south, Togiak National Wildlife Refuge confronts the traveler with a kaleidoscope of landscapes. The natural forces that have shaped this land range from the violent and powerful, to the quiet and geologically patient. Earthquakes and volcanoes filled the former role, but it was the gradual advance and retreat of glacial ice that carved many of the physical features of this refuge. These carved and crumpled lands support a wealth of biological diversity.

The Tongass National Forest is the nation's largest national forest. The Tongass covers most of Southeast Alaska surrounding the famous Inside Passage and offers unique chances to view eagles, bears, spawning salmon, and the breath-taking vistas of "wild" Alaska. Take a sled-dog ride on a glacier, hike boardwalk trails, fish in streams or the ocean, or just relax at a remote cabin.

With the growth of non-Native settlements in Southeast Alaska in the early 1900's, and the decline of a barter economy, Natives moved to communities where work was available. The villages and totem poles they left behind were soon overgrown by forests and eroded by weather. In 1938 the U.S. Forest Service began a program aimed at salvaging and reconstructing these large cedar monuments. By using Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) funds to hire skilled carvers from among the older Natives, two things took place: young artisans learned the art of carving totem poles, and totems which had been left to rot in the woods were either repaired or duplicated. Today there is a Clan House and totem poles that visitors can walk around and learn about.

The lowlands of Trading Bay provide important wintering habitat for approximately 500 moose. Trading Bay wetlands provide critical spring feeding, summer nesting, and fall staging habitat for thousands of ducks, geese, swans, and cranes. The first habitat to be used in spring is a narrow band of ice-free coast where large concentrations of waterfowl rest and feed. Access to the refuge is by small plane or boat, or by road access from the nearby communities of Tyonek and Shirleyville. There are no developed public use facilities on the refuge. Fly-in sport fishermen enjoy the refuge lakes and streams in summer months, while waterfowl and moose hunting frequent the area in the fall.

Wild, remote, and remarkably productive, Tugidak Island, located south of Kodiak Island in the Trinity Island Group, features a large shallow lagoon and barrier spit complex, low lying tundra relief, and abundant fish and wildlife. Tugidak Island is perhaps most renowned as historically one of the largest harbor seal pupping and haul out areas in the world with an estimated peak population of 20,500 seals and estimated peak annual pup production of 4,500.

The clear, smooth waters of the Unalakleet National Wild River meander gently for 80 miles among the rolling Nulato Hills and across broad expanses of arctic tundra, continuing to the seaside village of Unalakleet, Alaska at the rocky shores of the Norton Sound. Located 400 miles from Anchorage, the village of Unalakleet has approximately 800 people and is accessible only by plane.

The Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary (WISGS), protects a group of seven small craggy islands and their adjacent waters in northern Bristol Bay, approximately 65 miles southwest of Dillingham. The WISGS includes Round Island, Summit Island, Crooked Island, High Island, Black Rock and The Twins. The WISGS was established in 1960 to protect one of the largest terrestrial haulout sites in North America for Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). The sanctuary also protects important habitats for several species of seabirds, Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) and other marine and terrestrial birds and mammals.

Remarkably remote, and surprisingly close, located just an hour's drive from Fairbanks, Alaska, the one-million-acre White Mountains National Recreation Area offers stunning scenery, peaceful solitude, and outstanding opportunities for year-round recreation. The 'backyard' recreation destination for Fairbanks residents has something for everyone.

In the Talkeetna Mountain Range east of the Parks Highway between Willow Creek and the Kashwitna River, the Willow Mountain Critical Habitat Area supports some of the largest concentrations of moose found anywhere in the state. Located along the western slopes of Willow Mountain, the area encompasses both the upper extent of mixed forest and the lower alpine zone. The remote character of the area combined with little use by other competing interests have served to limit use of the area to hunters, trappers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.

At nearly 1.6 million acres, Wood-Tikchik State Park is the largest and most remote state park in the nation. This one park encompasses nearly half of the state park land in Alaska and 15 percent of all state park land in the United States. The primary purposes of creating Wood-Tikchik State Park are to protect the area's fish and wildlife habitat and to preserve the continued use of the area for subsistence and recreational activities. The land and water in this region are traditional grounds for subsistence fishing, hunting, and gathering. These activities are an integral part of the culture in this region and provide not only food, but a cultural tie to the land and between generations.

Wrangell St. Elias is the largest national park in the United States, where the land rises from the ocean all the way up to the 18,008 ft. peak of Mount St. Elias. At 13.2 million acres, it’s the same size as Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks and Switzerland combined! Within this wild landscape, people continue to live off the land as they have done for centuries. This is a rugged, beautiful area filled with infinite opportunities for truly epic adventure.

At World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, home of the USS Arizona Memorial, learn about one of the most pivotal moments in US history: the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent entry of the United States into World War II. The monument preserves and interprets the stories of the Pacific War, from the internment of Japanese Americans to the battles in the Aleutians.

Yakataga State Game Refuge is located along the main Pacific migration route of birds flying north to breed, where the high coastal mountain range funnels millions of birds along this narrow coastal corridor. A majority of waterfowl migrating north along the coast stops to rest and feed in these coastal lowlands on their way to summer nesting grounds. There are no developed public access or public use facilities in the refuge. Accessible primarily by plane but also by boat, the area has long been important for hunting and fishing by residents of Yakutat and Cordova. Commercial set net sites, concentrated at the mouths of every major river, target coho salmon. Sport fishing opportunities are also abundant, with the Tsiu River a popular coho fishing stream. Waterfowl, moose, black and brown bear, and mountain goat are hunted by residents and guided non-residents.

Most of Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge is a vast, flat wetland/tundra complex interspersed by countless ponds, lakes, and meandering rivers, where there is more water than land. Refuge vegetation is primarily subarctic tundra, underlain by permafrost, and includes a variety of scrub, peatland, heath meadow, marsh, and bog habitats. Tall scrub and forest habitats are found in the eastern interior areas, while alpine tundra occurs in the mountainous areas at higher elevations. These habitats are home to a wide diversity of wildlife and remain essentially untouched by man.

The Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge is sure to stir your imagination. Generations have felt a great sense of wonder when confronted by this landscape that does not appear to reflect the passage of time. The usual distractions of our modern world: the drone of automobiles; nighttime skies illuminated by city lights; and even other people, are absent. Home to an expansive wetland of lakes and rivers feeding into the mighty Yukon River, Yukon Flats NWR is one of the most critical habitats for breeding waterfowl in Alaska.

Located in Interior Alaska, Yukon-Charley Rivers offers opportunities for exploration in a largely untouched landscape. Whether you float the mighty Yukon River or paddle the Charley River's whitewater, your memories will last a lifetime. Geology, cultural history, gold rush remnants, wildlife, and vast scenery will be a part of your experience, but the strongest element will be solitude. Adventure awaits.