Kenai Fjords National Park Located on the southeastern Kenai Peninsula, the national park is a pristine and rugged land supporting many unaltered
natural environments and ecosystems.
The fjords are long, steep-sided, glacier-carved valleys that are now filled with ocean waters. A mountain platform, one mile high, rises above this dramatic coastline. The
300-square mile Harding Icefield, 35 miles long and 20 miles wide mantle the mountains. Only isolated mountain peaks interrupt its nearly flat, snow-clad surface. Exit Glacier, spilling off the ice field, is
accessible by road.
The park's wildlife includes mountain goats, moose, bears, wolverines, marmots and other land mammals who have established themselves on a thin life zone between marine waters and the ice
field's frozen edges. Bald eagles nest in the tops of spruce and hemlock trees. Thousands of seabirds, including puffins, kittiwakes, and murres seasonally inhabit the steep cliffs and rocky shores. Kayakers,
fishermen, and visitors on tour boats share the fjord waters with stellar sea lions, harbor seals, Dall porpoises, sea otters, humpback, killer and minke whales.
Special Park Features: Exit Glacier is the only portion of the park accessible by trail. The 3-mile Harding Ice Fields trail. In summer, boat tours ply the coast, observing calving glaciers, sea birds, and marine mammals.
Where to Contact for Information: Kenai Fjords National Park, PO Box 1727, Seward, AK 99664-1727. 907-224-2132 for Recorded Park Information. 907-224-7500. www.nps.gov/kefj
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park The discovery of gold in Canada's Yukon brought thousands of gold hungry stampeders to Skagway and
Dyea, Alaska. The White Pass Trail from Skagway, and the Chilkoot Trail from Dyea were the most popular overland routes to the gold fields. Today the park has a visitor center in Skagway, and administers the
Chilkoot Trail and White Pass Trail units.
Fortunately, the United States and Canada have been able to preserve a wealth of historic structures and artifacts within this unspoiled geographic setting. Visitors,
particularly those that hike the Chilkoot Trail, are likely to see these last tangible reminders to the gold rush days: telephone wire and poles, boots, bedsprings, horse-shoes, and rusty cookware, to name a
few. The park preserves a dozen gold rush era buildings, forming the heart of the historic district.
Special Park features: Chilcoot Trail and Trail Center for hikers, Townsite of Dyea, Yukon-White Pass Railroad, Information Center exhibits, "Ton of Goods" display, Mascot Saloon exhibit and William Moore property.
Where to contact for information: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Box 517, Skagway, Alaska 99840; 907-983-2921. Chilcoot Trail Information: 867-667-3910 or 1-800-661-0486. White Pass & Yukon Railroad, 907-983-2217 or 1-800-343-7373.
www.nps.gov/klgo
Kobuk Valley National Park Kobuk Valley National Park is enclosed by the Baird and Waring mountain ranges. The park protects several
important geographic features including the central section of the Kobuk River, the 25-sqaure-mile Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, and the Little Kobuk and Hunt River dunes. Sand created by the grinding action of ancient
glaciers has been carried to the Kobuk Valley by both wind and water. Dunes now cover much of the southern portion of the Kobuk Valley, where they are naturally stabilized by vegetation. River bluffs, composed of
sand and standing as high as 150 feet, hold permafrost ice wedges and the fossils of Ice Age mammals.
Up to 1,500 feet wide, the placid Kobuk River falls a mere 2 to 3 inches per mile.
Its valley provides important autumn and winter range for the western arctic caribou herd. Bands of bulls and cows may be seen here from late August through October as they migrate across the Kobuk River on their extensive annual migrations.
Native people have lived along the Kobuk for at least 12,000 years. Their history is best recorded at the Onion Portage archaeological site.
Special Park features: Throughout the year programs offered at the Kotzebue Public Lands Information Center; camping, hiking, backpacking, wildlife observations and photography.
Where to contact for information: National Parks Service, PO Box 1029, Kotzebue, Alaska 99752; 907-442-8300. www.nps.gov/kova
Lake Clark National Park Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is a composite of ecosystems representative of many diverse regions
throughout Alaska. Within the park, covering four million acres, the mountains of the Alaska and the Aleutian Ranges join, creating the Chigmit Mountains, an awesome, jagged array of peaks resulting from centuries
of uplifting, intrusion, earthquakes, volcanism, and glacial action. Two active volcanoes, Iliamna and Redoubt, vent steam from their snow-capped peaks, rising more than 3,050 meters (10,000 ft.).
The rocky
cliffs in and adjacent to the park provide rookeries for puffins, cormorants, kittiwakes, and other seabirds. Lake Clark, 40 miles long, and many other lakes and rivers within the park are critical salmon habitat to
the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, one of the largest sockeye salmon fishing grounds in the world.
Special Park features: Sightseeing, hiking, camping, backpacking, sport fishing, , river running, flightseeing, bird and wildlife watching, lake kayaking, photography, and hunting in the Preserve.
Where to contact for information: Headquarters: Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, 240 West 5th Ave, Suite 236; Anchorage, AK 99501, 907-644-3626. Field Headquarters: Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, 1 Park Place, Port Alsworth, AK 99653. Headquarters: 907-781-2218. www.nps.gov/lacl
