Pass The Passport
Completed: Walk In The Wilderness Of Alaska

Bucket List / Travel Goals

Walk In The Wilderness Of Alaska

Ticked off in August 2014

Brown bears snatching salmon, glaciers calving into fjords and a mountain so big it makes its own weather.

Walk In The Wilderness Of Alaska

The adventure

Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas, and most of it has no roads at all. Out here, wilderness isn't a day trip; it's the default. In summer the rivers run thick with salmon, brown bears stand in the waterfalls to catch them mid-leap, and bald eagles watch from the spruce, as common as pigeons back home.

On a clear day, Denali rises 6,190 metres above the tundra, the highest peak in North America, though it hides in its own clouds more often than not. Along the coast, tidewater glaciers groan and drop house-sized slabs of ice into the sea, and humpback whales work together to trap herring in nets of bubbles before lunging up through the middle. In June the sun barely sets, so the days feel endless. Bring layers, bear spray and a sense of scale.

Why it’s epic

  • Denali, at 6,190 metres, is the highest mountain in North America.
  • Brown bears fish for sockeye salmon at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, mostly in July.
  • Humpback whales bubble-net feed in the Inside Passage, beside glaciers such as Mendenhall near Juneau.
  • Denali National Park covers six million acres, with just one road into it.

What it is

Alaska has some of the largest areas of wilderness in the United States, with glaciers, mountains, bears and moose.

How to do it

Fly to Anchorage and explore Denali National Park, the Kenai Peninsula and Kenai Fjords, or take a cruise or ferry along the Inside Passage.

Top tip

Carry bear spray and learn how to use it before hiking.

Need to know

  • The main season is June to August; many lodges, tours and park buses close from mid-September.
  • Distances are huge, and small planes and boats are often the only way into the best wilderness.
  • In bear country, carry bear spray, make noise on trails and store food securely.

Plan this trip

Rough cost
£2,000 to £5,000 per person, including flights from the UK
Time needed
1 to 2 weeks
Best time to go
June to August
Fly into
ANC airport

Long-haul flights, small-plane excursions and lodge prices push this into the thousands, especially in peak summer.

Sample itinerary

  1. Day 1Fly to Anchorage
  2. Days 2–4Denali National Park for grizzlies, moose and, on a clear day, the mountain
  3. Days 5–6Seward and a Kenai Fjords cruise for whales and glaciers
  4. Days 7–8Inside Passage by ferry or cruise to Juneau, or north to Fairbanks for the northern lights (September to March)

Do it yourself

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My experience

Ticked off, but the full story is still to be written up.

Over to you

Is “Walk In The Wilderness Of Alaska” on your bucket list, or have you already done it? Tell me in the comments, and if you've got a question about it, ask away and I'll answer.