Lake Clark National Park
Port Alsworth, AK · Southwest AlaskaFree
A floatplane gets you from Anchorage to Crescent Lake, the most visited spot in Lake Clark National Park, in under an hour. You watch the bears there mostly from a boat. Sockeye…
Canyons & deserts
Kobuk Valley National Park
About
Summer temperatures can reach 100°F on the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes in Kobuk Valley National Park, about 35 miles above the Arctic Circle. From Kotzebue or Bettles, a chartered plane either lands on the sand or sets you down on the Kobuk River for a two-mile walk south over tundra with no trail, about four hours round trip. Kobuk locoweed grows on these dunes and nowhere else. Inupiat and their ancestors have hunted caribou at Onion Portage, on the river, for well over 8,000 years. The herd usually swims across there heading south around Labor Day, though far fewer animals cross now than once did.
Highlights
Largest active sand dunes in the ArcticCaribou swim the Kobuk in fallOnion Portage, 8,000 years of huntingNo roads or trailsAir taxi from Kotzebue or BettlesDunes reach 100°F in summer
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