OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT SOURCES ONLYTHE STATE & NATION RELEASE ARCHIVE
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STATE & NATION TRAVEL

Alaska Travel.

National parks, historic sites and practical visitor updates, directly from the National Park Service.

NPS sources checked 10/3/2026, 12:43:29 PM Eastern

Travel Alerts & Closures

CHECK BEFORE DEPARTURE

Hazardous Conditions at Terminus Of Aialik Glacier

Entering an ice fall hazard zone is prohibited in Kenai Fjords National Park. The terminus of Aialik Glacier is a high-risk area, where unstable ice can fall in blocks or columns. This can generate localized tsunami waves that wash over newly deglaciated and nearby beaches. Rapidly collapsing ice and breakage can cause severe injury or death.

Official NPS source

Teklanika Area Closures

The Park Road is closed to pedestrians and cyclists from mile 26 to mile 37 for wildlife management activities. Vehicles may still drive to the Teklanika Rest Stop at mile 30, but visitors may not walk outside of the rest stop area. Backcountry units 29 and 6 are closed to both overnight and day use.

Official NPS source

Broken Windsock at Serpentine Hot Springs

The windsock at the Serpentine Hot Springs airstrip is broken, and the National Park Service is in the process of ordering a replacement. At this time, we do not have an estimated date for when it will be reinstalled. Please use caution when utilizing the airstrip.

Official NPS source

Use Caution in and around Pedersen Lagoon

On August 7, 2024, a landslide triggered tsunami washed over portions of Pedersen Lagoon near Aialik Bay (59.8842N, -149.7309W). We recommend caution for those visiting the area in and around Pedersen Lagoon. Click more for additional information.

Official NPS source
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Federal Subsistence Moose Hunt Opened for Two Additional Days in FM1106 Hunt Area

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Acting Superintendent Joshua Scott, under authority delegated by the Federal Subsistence Board, is opening a two-day moose hunting season in the Unit 11 federal registration permit hunt area (FM1106). The season will open at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, September 21 and close at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, unless modified by a subsequent federal special action.

Official NPS source

Pretty Rocks Bridge Complete, Paving Way for Return of Public Access to the West End of Denali Park Road

A red trestle bridge expands over a rocky slope of pale rocks with a cloudy blue sky in the background.
National Park Service · Original image and credit

The National Park Service, Federal Highway Administration and project partners today celebrated the completion of the Pretty Rocks Bridge with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Denali National Park and Preserve, marking a major milestone in restoring access to the west end of Denali Park Road following the Pretty Rocks landslide and road closure in August 2021.

Official NPS source

Wrangell-St. Elias Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Changes to Electric Bike Use

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is seeking public comment on a proposed change to the Superintendent’s Compendium that would modify the use of electric bicycles in the park. The proposed update would make the park’s management of e-bikes consistent with other forms of transportation used to get to Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark. The change would permit e-bike riders to leave bikes at the Shuttle Bus Turnaround just south of the Kennecott Visitor Center (where ATVs, personal vehicles, and bicycles are already allowed to park).

Official NPS source

Bear Pin Logo Design Winner

bear pin on display with Brooks Camp visitor center in background
National Park Service · Original image and credit

A design by Fred Anderson of Naknek, Alaska, won the annual Brooks Camp bear pin logo contest in Katmai National Park. Park staff distribute the pins to over 20,000 visitors who complete mandatory bear safety training at Brooks Camp.

Official NPS source

Upcoming NPS Events

NEXT 90 DAYS

No upcoming events returned. Check the destination calendars for additional programs.

Official destination calendars

National Parks & Federal Sites

19 DESTINATIONS

Wild River

Alagnak

The headwaters of Alagnak Wild River lie within the rugged Aleutian Range of neighboring Katmai National Park and Preserve. Meandering west towards Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea, the Alagnak traverses the beautiful Alaska Peninsula, providing an unparalleled opportunity to experience the unique wilderness, wildlife, and cultural heritage of southwest Alaska.

Alaska

Alaska Public Lands

Alaska’s parks, forests, and refuges are rich and varied. The Alaska Public Lands Information Centers help visitors and residents to have meaningful, safe, enjoyable experiences on public lands, and encourages them to sustain the natural and cultural resources of Alaska. These centers provide trip-planning, interpretation, and education for all ages.

Alaska

National Historic Area

Aleutian Islands World War II

The remote Aleutian Islands, home to the Unangax^ (Aleut) people for over 8,000 years, became a fiercely contested Pacific battleground in World War II. Some Unangax^ were taken from their homelands as Japanese prisoners of war while the others were evacuated from the islands by the government. Both groups suffered greatly during the war, and some would never return to their villages.

Alaska

National Monument & Preserve

Aniakchak

Given its remote location and challenging weather conditions, Aniakchak is one of the most wild and least visited places in the National Park System. This landscape is a vibrant reminder of Alaska's location in the volcanically active "Ring of Fire," as it is home to an impressive six mile (10 km) wide, 2,500 ft (762 m) deep caldera formed during a massive volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago.

Alaska

National Preserve

Bering Land Bridge

Bering Land Bridge National Preserve lies at the continental crossroad that greatly influenced the distribution of life in the Western Hemisphere during the Pleistocene Epoch. It is a vital landscape for Indigenous communities who depend on the land just as their ancestors did for many generations. It is a wild and ecologically healthy landscape unlike any other.

Alaska

National Monument

Cape Krusenstern

A bridge to the past and a land for the future, Cape Krusenstern National Monument protects approximately 560,000 acres of diverse Arctic coastal, and upland ecosystems. Inhabited by the Iñupiaq people since time-immemorial, over 5,000 years of sequential human use is documented in the 114 successive beach ridges. Rich connections to the land and waters are preserved through subsistence practices.

Alaska

National Park & Preserve

Denali

Denali is six million acres of wild land, bisected by one ribbon of road. Travelers along it see the relatively low-elevation taiga forest give way to high alpine tundra and snowy mountains, culminating in North America's tallest peak, 20,310' Mount McKinley. Wild animals large and small roam un-fenced lands, living as they have for ages. Solitude, tranquility and wilderness await.

Alaska

National Park & Preserve

Gates Of The Arctic

This vast landscape does not contain any roads or trails. Visitors discover intact ecosystems where people have lived with the land for over ten thousand years. Wild rivers meander through glacier-carved valleys, caribou migrate along age-old trails, endless summer light fades into aurora-lit night skies of winter. Virtually unchanged, except by the forces of nature.

Alaska

National Park & Preserve

Glacier Bay

Covering 3.3 million acres of rugged mountains, dynamic glaciers, temperate rainforest, wild coastlines and deep sheltered fjords, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is known as Homeland to the Huna and Yakutat Lingít, and is a highlight of Alaska's Inside Passage. From sea to summit, Glacier Bay offers limitless opportunities for adventure and inspiration.

Alaska

Iñupiat Heritage Center

On the rooftop of the world, the Iñupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska, tells the story of the Iñupiat people. They have thrived for thousands of years in one of the most extreme climates on Earth, hunting the bowhead, or "Agviq." In the 19th century, the quiet northern seas swarmed with commercial whalemen from New England, who also sought the bowhead for its valuable baleen and blubber.

Alaska

National Park & Preserve

Katmai

A landscape is alive underneath our feet, filled with creatures that remind us what it is to be wild. Katmai was established in 1918 to protect the volcanically devastated region surrounding Novarupta and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Today, Katmai National Park and Preserve also protects 9,000 years of human history and important habitat for salmon and thousands of brown bears.

Alaska

National Park

Kenai Fjords

At the edge of the Kenai Peninsula lies a land where the ice age lingers. Nearly 40 glaciers flow from the Harding Icefield, Kenai Fjords' crowning feature. Wildlife thrives in icy waters and lush forests along the fjords once carved by the vast expanse of ice. Today, shrinking glaciers bear witness to the effects of our changing climate.

Alaska

National Historical Park

Klondike Gold Rush

Headlines screamed "Gold!" The dream of a better life catapulted thousands of people to Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Their journey shaped them, and changed the people they encountered and the north forever. Today, the park remembers the trails, boomtowns, and stories of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Alaska

National Park

Kobuk Valley

Caribou, sand dunes, the Kobuk River, Onion Portage - just some of the facets of Kobuk Valley National Park. Thousands of caribou migrate through, their tracks crisscrossing sculpted dunes. The Kobuk River is an ancient and current corridor for people and wildlife. For 9000 years, people came to Onion Portage to harvest caribou as they swam the river. Even today, that rich tradition continues.

Alaska

National Park & Preserve

Lake Clark

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is a land of stunning beauty. Volcanoes steam, salmon run, bears forage, and craggy mountains reflect in shimmering turquoise lakes. Here, too, local people and culture still depend on the land and water. Venture into the park to become part of the wilderness.

Alaska

National Preserve

Noatak

As one of North America's largest mountain-ringed river basins with an intact ecosystem, the Noatak River environs feature some of the Arctic's finest arrays of plants and animals. The river is classified as a National Wild and Scenic River. It offers stunning wilderness float-trip opportunities - from deep in the Brooks Range to the tidewater of the Chukchi Sea.

Alaska

National Historical Park

Sitka

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. Totem poles from Tlingit and Haida areas line the park’s scenic coastal trail, and the restored Russian Bishop’s House is a rare reminder of Russia’s colonial legacy in North America.

Alaska

National Park & Preserve

Wrangell - St Elias

Wrangell-St. Elias is a vast national park that rises from the ocean all the way up to 18,008 ft. At 13.2 million acres, the park is the same size as Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Switzerland combined! Within this wild landscape, people continue to live off the land as they have done for centuries. This rugged, beautiful land is filled with opportunities for adventure.

Alaska

National Preserve

Yukon - Charley Rivers

Located in Interior Alaska, Yukon-Charley Rivers offers 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. Your adventure awaits.

Alaska

Destination directory sourced from NPS state listings, October 3, 2026. Official NPS directory

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