Alaska is home to 17 of the nation’s 20 highest peaks, including the legendary Denali, formerly Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest peak. Hiking options are plentiful statewide, and many excellent guidebooks offer directions to trailheads and detailed descriptions of Alaska trails in each community or region. Hikers should always let
someone know where they’re going and when they plan to be back and pack more than enough water and food in case they get delayed due to weather or injury. Here are just a few recommendations for experiencing Alaska’s backcountry:
- Located above the Arctic Circle, the Brooks Range is Alaska’s northernmost mountain range and also one of the most isolated.
- The Chugach Mountains are accessible from both Anchorage and Valdez and offer recreation for all levels, from a day hike up 3,550– foot Flattop Mountain to exploring the face of Valdez Glacier.
- The communities of the Inside Passage are hikers paradise, thanks in large part to being surrounded by the nation’s largest national forest, the Tongass. The towering Sitka spruce, glaciers, rivers, waterfalls and steep fjords make for scenic and challenging hiking terrain. In most towns, stunning trails of all lengths and difficulty levels are as accessible as walking to the end of the street and proceeding up a mountain. Consider the Mount Roberts trail in Juneau, which can be combined with a one– way trip on the Mount Roberts Tramway for a fantastically scenic and enjoyable day. For a longer adventure, consider the Chilkoot Trail, which was hiked by prospectors to get from tidewater in Skagway, Alaska to the gold fields in Canada’s Klondike.
I’d love to help you with your Alaska vacation, working together we can turn an ordinary trip into the experience of a lifetime.
More Alaska Travel Tips
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