Alaska Travel Guide

Alaska borders the northwest edge of Canada and is actually closer to Russia (just 39 mi/62 km by air across the Bering Strait) than it is to the rest of the U.S. The landscape is dramatic and, because it covers such a huge territory, quite varied. In the south is temperate rain forest (Tongass), and in the north is Arctic desert. The state is traversed by nine major mountain ranges, encompassing 17 of the highest peaks in the U.S., including North America's highest mountain, Mount McKinley, as well as most of the country's active volcanoes. It has more coastline than all of the other states combined. The geography ranges from endless miles/kilometers of tundra to sheer mountain wall, from the densely forested temperate coasts of the Inside Passage to the permafrost of the treeless Arctic Circle.

The first settlers in Alaska arrived at least 20,000 years ago, when hunters from Asia followed large game over the Bering Strait land bridge into North America. By the time the first Europeans arrived, in the mid-1700s, they found several diverse cultures living in Alaska: Whalers inhabited the treeless tundra along the coast, and nomadic caribou hunters roamed the forested interior along the Yukon River. Alaska's panhandle was home to members of the Tlingit, Tsimshian and Haida groups, who lived in a lush coastal environment.

Even though Russian explorers had seen the Alaskan coast as early as 1741, Europeans didn't venture into the territory's immense interior until well into the 1800s. Even after the U.S. purchased the area in 1867 for cents an acre/hectare, the region remained largely unexplored. As was often the case elsewhere in the opening of the American frontier, it took the discovery of gold in Juneau in 1880 to get folks headed for Alaska. During the famous Klondike Gold Rush of 1898-99, thousands of rowdy, ambitious and gutsy prospectors and speculators flooded into Dawson, Skagway, Valdez and other towns.

Alaska was made a U.S. territory in 1912, but statehood wasn't granted until 1959. Then, in 1968, the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay sparked a new rush to Alaska. The construction of the Alaska Pipeline from the Beaufort Sea to the Gulf of Alaska in the 1970s brought new wealth, new jobs and new environmental concerns. Even now, the debate continues as to how much of Alaska's pristine wilderness should be developed. Most recently, the focus has been on oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, declining populations of marine mammals in the Bering Sea, and the impact from a massive increase in cruise-ship travel and other tourist activity, especially in southeastern Alaska.

Alaska's main attractions include spectacular scenery, wildlife viewing, camping, skiing, the northern lights, volcanoes, Inside Passage cruises, hiking, riverboat rides, fishing, canoeing, river and sea kayaking, friendly people, Alaska Native and Russian cultures, totem poles, glaciers and dogsled rides.

Most people will like Alaska, but the state has special appeal for nature lovers and the adventurous. Those on a strict budget may find an Alaska vacation hard to manage.

All Alaskans (who apply and qualify for it) receive an annual Permanent Fund Dividend check that averages around US$850 per person (including children). The dividend is funded by North Slope oil taxes and profits from investments.

In the unique history of Alaska, the male-to-female ratio across the state has often been quite imbalanced. As a result, a saying began among Alaskan women that in Alaska "the odds are good, but the goods are odd." This joke of course has failed to wither with time or the balancing of the odds.

If the Japanese hadn't occupied the Aleutian Islands during World War II, the Alaska Highway probably wouldn't have been constructed at such an incredible rate: In less than 12 months, U.S. surveyors and engineers cut through some of the most rugged and uncooperative terrain in North America to build the supply line. (The permafrost made it nearly impossible to lay a roadbed because the ground melted each time a layer was uncovered.)

Juneau is the only U.S. state capital that cannot be reached by highway. It is located 573 mi/916 km by air from Anchorage, the state's largest city and populated area. Because the state is so vast and has a limited road network (only 12 major highways are open year-round), Alaska has six times as many pilots per capita as any other U.S. state and the busiest seaplane airfield in the world.

Geologically, Alaska is an amazingly active location. Small earthquakes are common in many parts of Alaska, and midsized ones frequently shake the thinly populated Aleutian Islands. The devastating 1964 Good Friday Earthquake registered 9.2 on the Richter scale, making it the most powerful temblor ever recorded in North America. In addition, 80% of the active volcanoes in the U.S. are in Alaska, including Augustine Volcano, within view of Anchorage, which erupted in 2006. Eruptions in the Aleutian Islands occur almost every year.

Geology isn't all that's extreme there: Alaska's record low temperature is -80 F/-62 C in 1971 at Prospect Creek Camp north of Fairbanks, and the record high is 100 F/38 C, recorded in 1915 at Fort Yukon in the interior.

Alaska is actually the closest state to Europe. Its northeast corner is nearer to Norway than any east coast state is to Ireland, and Nome is five times closer to a Russian airport than Anchorage is to any other state. This distance from the rest of the U.S. is reflected in Alaskans' use of the terms "Outside" and "Lower 48" when referring to any part of the U.S. that is not in Alaska.