Alaska FAQ's

Where do cruseis go in Alaska?

What's the summer weather like in Alaska?

What should I pack?

Where can I find a map of Alaska?

How good is the Alaska Highway?

Will mosquitoes devour me?

Can I rent a car? An RV?

Where can I catch the railroad?

Where does the ferry system run?

What are Alaska's national parks?

Can I see a glacier closeup?

Nature

Is it dark all the time? When is the midnight sun?

Should I worry about earthquakes?

How big is Alaska?

When can I see the northern lights?

What are Alaska's tallest mountains?

Can I take my fish home?

Can I bring a firearm?

What's the best way to avoid mosquitoes?

Answers

Where do cruises go in Alaska?

The Inside Passage is Alaska's biggest cruise destination, but popular cruises also visit Prince William Sound, the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea.
The Inside Passage is also known as the Panhandle and as "Southeast." The main ports of call are Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau and Skagway, along with Glacier Bay National Park and Hubbard Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Prince William Sound, tucked into the underbelly of Alaska, holds abundant wildlife and glaciers, including Columbia Glacier.

Cruises in the Gulf of Alaska visit Seward and Kodiak.

Bering Sea cruises call at Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Nome and the Pribilof Islands.

In addition to these weeklong cruises, there are local day cruises, especially in Juneau, Whittier and Seward. These visit glaciers and search for whales and other wildlife such as eagles, bears, sea lions and sea otters.

What's the summer weather like in Alaska?

Anchorage has relatively mild summers (highs near 70).
The Interior (Fairbanks and Denali) has warm summers (highs in the 90s).

The Inside Passage, where most of the cruise ships go, is usually warm and damp (summer highs in the 60s and 70s).

Coastal areas have more moderate temperatures than inland areas as well as more precipitation.

In late spring and early summer (close to the solstice in mid-June), the days are the longest. Early summer has less rain than late summer and fall.

The suitcase of a well-packed summer traveler will include items to cover most situations.

• Long-sleeve shirts -- These provide warmth and general protection against mosquitoes.
• Fleece jacket -- This is a versatile item for layering your clothing during cool periods.
• Rain jacket and pants -- Chances are good that it'll rain sometime during a weeklong visit. Don't expect prairie-style torrents.
• Sturdy socks and good walking shoes-- Many tourist-area trails are covered in asphalt or are boardwalks. But adventurous travelers may want to head up a rocky or muddy trail, of which there are hundreds.
• Watch -- During summer's long days, it's easy to lose track of time. Of course, that may be why you're coming to Alaska in the first place.
• Sunglasses -- The summer sun rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest, so no matter what you have planned it will involve facing the sun sometime. Anglers and passengers on cruise and tour boats will find sunglasses especially helpful.

Dressing up

A few high-dollar restaurants encourage guests to wear jackets and ties, but you'll be welcome just about anywhere in slacks (and often in jeans).

Around Denali and the other big parks, you're welcome to come as you are.

Where can I find a map of Alaska?

Paper
The best printed-on-paper highway map of Alaska appears to be the one printed by Rand McNally. It can be purchased at bookstores in many states for about $5.

Atlas
The Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer, an oversize book, is a favorite in the state for its topographical maps. It costs about $20 and is available at many large bookstores and through online bookstores. Like many maps, it is based on the U.S. Geological Survey series of topographical maps.

Trail maps
Another good source of topographic maps for activities is the series produced by Trails Illustrated and National Geographic. These maps cover many of Alaska's fun places: Prince William Sound, the Inside Passage, Kachemak Bay State Park, and several national parks, including Denali, Klondike Gold Rush (the Chilkoot Trail and Skagway), Gates of the Arctic, Glacier Bay, Kenai Fjords, Katmai, Lake Clark and Wrangell-St. Elias. These maps cost about $10 each and can be bought online from www.nationalgeographic.com or from outdoors-oriented stores.

Outdoor recreation
Another popular map series is the Road and Recreation set produced by Todd Communications in Anchorage; ask by e-mail for information at sales@toddcom.com or look in dozens of stores in Southcentral Alaska. In addition to showing lake and river access points, these maps show campgrounds, buildings, mileposts, some businesses and what kind of fish are in each lake. The maps cost about $5 each.

How good is the Alaska Highway?

The Alaska Highway, despite its reputation, is not terrible. It's a fast, scenic and wildlife-filled adventure with plenty of businesses along the way to make travel easier.
The highway surface is almost all asphalt. The exceptions are some construction zones, and these are gravel.

The 1,422-mile Alaska Highway starts in Dawson Creek, small city in northeastern British Columbia. It runs about 1,220 miles through British Columbia and Yukon Territory to the Alaska Border and for another 200 miles from the border to Delta Junction, Alaska. (Sometimes the 95 miles of the Richardson Highway between Delta Junction and Fairbanks are considered part of the Alaska Highway.)

The Alaska Highway is only part of the trip between the Lower 48 and Alaska. To reach Dawson Creek, drivers from the United States generally motor up from Washington state through British Columbia, or from Montana through Alberta.

Including the Alaska Highway, the distance to the Yukon-Alaska border is 1,950 miles from the Montana-Alberta border and 1,900 miles from the Washington-British Columbia border.

Speed: The Alaska Highway in the 1940s and 1950s was a nightmare of mud and potholes. Now it's possible to drive everything from a four-wheel-drive pickup to an RV to a low-slung sedan up and down the asphalt road at 55 or 65 mph, depending on the local limit. A steady driver can expect to average 50 miles an hour over the course of a day.

Construction: Some places are under construction, as might be expected on a road 1,600 miles long, and some places are packed gravel instead of asphalt. Chipped and cracked windshields are possible. Check the road conditions in Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon Territory.

Weather: The Alaska Highway is a lot friendlier in the summer than in the winter, when temperatures fall below -50 and blowing snow can make the road hazardous. Summertime temperatures may reach the 70s, but late summer rains can also make the road seem pretty long.

Wildlife: Drivers can reasonably expect to see black and brown bears, bison, caribou, sheep and moose, plus many species of migratory and resident birds.

Gas: Drivers shouldn't worry about running out of gasoline or diesel fuel; the longest stretch without a gas station is about 100 miles between Whitehorse and Haines Junction in Yukon Territory.

Sleep: Accommodations, from frequent campgrounds to nice lodges, are open during the warm months and sometimes in the winter.

Will mosquitoes devour me?

Let's be upfront: Mosquitoes are a pest.
But for most travelers in Alaska, mosquitoes are nothing more than an inconvenience.

Mosquitoes are most prevalent near standing water, in the forest and on low tundra. They're present during all the warm months, but they taper off late in the summer.

Wear long sleeves, long pants and a hat; go where mosquitoes aren't; or use bug dope with a high percentage of DEET.

Applications based on citronella or Avon's Skin-So-Soft also work for some people.

Other people insist on wearing a headnet -- but unless you're going to wander through miles of marshy tundra or have a strong allergic reaction to bug dope, there's no really need for a headnet or special anti-skeeter gear.

If you're hiking, try walking in a breezy place or along ridges to reduce the number of mosquitoes that line up at the lunch counter.

A case of West Nile virus was reported in Alaska in 2002, but it was a man who had contracted the disease in his home state.

Can I rent a car? An RV?

Cars and other vehicles can be rented in many cities around Alaska, even in isolated places such as Nome where there are few roads.
National car rental companies -- Thrifty, Budget, Avis, Hertz, National and others -- join local agencies in providing sedans, SUVs and vans. Note that agencies have limits on where their cars can be driven; some gravel highways and roads are off-limits.

Renting a vehicle for a week in the summer will cost several hundred dollars, but unlimited mileage is usually allowed.

Recreational vehicles, or RVs, can be rented in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Tips

Early reservations are suggested.

Gas and diesel fuel are readily available.

Summertime visitors won't need four-wheel drive on Alaska's paved or gravel roads.

In the winter, try to rent cars with studded tires. The studs improve braking and handling on ice.

Alaska uses the same basic set of highway laws as the other U.S. states and Canada.

Where can I catch the railroad?

Alaska has a couple of big passenger railroads and some that are just for fun.
Alaska Railroad

The Alaska Railroad carries passengers between Seward and Anchorage and then Anchorage, Denali National Park and Fairbanks. An excursion is available from Anchorage to Whittier through a 2.5-mile-long tunnel.

Passenger service is also available for people who want to go shorter distances, say from Anchorage to Wasilla or Talkeetna. The railroad also carries freight inland from Anchorage. It hauls refined petroleum from North Pole (located on a spur from Fairbanks) to Anchorage. Northbound trains deliver coal, mined at Healy near Denali, to Fairbanks.

During the winter, the railroad's only passenger service is a whistle-stop train that goes from Anchorage to Fairbanks on Saturdays and back on Sundays.

White Pass and Yukon Route -- Skagway

The White Pass and Yukon Route railway once was a bustling freight hauler, but now it's an excursion line carrying passengers only during the summer between Skagway and Lake Bennett, British Columbia. There also are shorter excursions.

The rails generally follow the route taken by Klondike gold rush prospectors in the late 19th century.

In general, however, you can't reach Alaska by rail.

On the bright side, the Canadian passenger rail system does go to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where tourists can catch the Alaska state ferry for the trip north.

Where does the ferry system run?

Inside Passage: Angoon, Haines, Hoonah, Juneau, Kake, Ketchikan, Metlakatla, Pelican, Petersburg, Sitka, Skagway, Tenakee Springs and Wrangell.

Southcentral and Southwest Alaska: Chenega Bay, Cordova, Homer, Kodiak, Port Lions, Seldovia, Seward, Tatitlek, Valdez and Whittier.

Aleutian Islands and the Alaska Peninsula: Akutan, Chignik, Cold Bay, False Pass, King Cove, Sand Point and Unalaska/Dutch Harbor

The ferry does not go to Anchorage, which is instead served instead by highways, trains and airplanes.

Most of the ferry system's business is in Southeast Alaska, where roads connect few towns. Another ferry works the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak, and a third runs through Prince William Sound. Every month a ferry crosses the Gulf of Alaska to and from Juneau.

The southern terminus of the system is in Bellingham, Wash., on Puget Sound 90 miles north of downtown Seattle, but not all ferries go that far south. The only Canadian stop is Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

The boats carry vehicles and passengers, and passengers don't need vehicles to ride the boats. Some cabins are available, but many passengers sleep on the deck. Food is also available. Pets are allowed, but there are restrictions.

In addition to the Marine Highway System, the Interisland Ferry carries traffic between Ketchikan and Hollis, providing access to Craig and other points on Prince of Wales Island.

The Alaska Marine Highway has been declared a national scenic byway.

What are Alaska's national parks?

Alaska has 10 national parks, 16 national wildlife refuges, four national monuments, three national preserves, two dozen national wild rivers and the Chugach and Tongass national forests:
National parks and preserves

• Denali National Park and Preserve, in the Interior between Anchorage and Fairbanks. Its best-known features are grizzly bears and Mount McKinley, at 20,320 feet the tallest peak in North America.
  
• Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, in Northern Alaska west of the Dalton Highway.
  
• Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, in the northern part of Southeast Alaska, west of Juneau. Glaciers are the big attraction, obviously, and whales feed in the area for several months each year.
  
• Katmai National Park and Preserve, on the west side of Cook Inlet in Western Alaska. Thousands of people each summer visit the park's volcanic Valley of 10,000 Smokes and watch grizzlies stand in the Brooks River to catch salmon.
  
• Kenai Fjords National Park, west and south of Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. It has glaciers, whales and millions of seabirds.
  
• Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, in Skagway.
  
• Kobuk Valley National Park, in Northern Alaska northeast of Kotzebue.
  
• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, on the west side of Cook Inlet in Western Alaska. Rugged scenery, good fishing, lots of animals.
  
• Sitka National Historical Park, in Sitka.
  
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, in the southeastern part of Southcentral Alaska. Wrangell-St.
  
• Elias is the nation's largest national park and is part of a World Heritage Site, along with Glacier Bay National Park and Canada's Kluane National Park.
  

Only Denali, Kenai Fjords and Wrangell-St. Elias national parks can be reached easily from the road system.
Determined hikers can make their way to Gates of the Arctic from the Dalton Highway. Glacier Bay is reached most often by floatplane, cruise liner or passenger tour boat from Juneau.

Katmai, Kobuk and Lake Clark are most frequently reached by small plane.

National monuments
Alaska boasts four national monuments:

• Admiralty Island
  
• Aniakchak
  
• Cape Krusenstern
  
• Misty Fjords

Can I see a glacier closeup?

A number of Alaska's coastal and landlocked glaciers can be seen close up.
Cruise ships carry their passengers close to glaciers and icebergs in Glacier Bay National Park, at Hubbard Glacier near Yakutat and Columbia Glacier near Valdez.

In addition, day-tour companies carry hundreds of passengers a day on glacier and wildlife tours from Juneau to Glacier Bay, from Whittier into Prince William Sound and from Seward into Kenai Fjords National Park.

Several land-locked glaciers, notably Exit, Matanuska, Worthington and Kennicott, are close to the highway system. People willing to hike a short distance can walk up to and touch several other glaciers as well.

Helicopters carry passengers onto glaciers from Juneau, Haines, Seward, Anchorage and the Denali area.

Is it dark all the time? When is the midnight sun?

Alaska gets as much daylight and darkness as anywhere else on earth over the course of a year; it's just distributed differently.
Summer is a time of long days. Above the Arctic Circle, the day can be 24 hours long or months long. In Anchorage, almost 400 miles south of the circle, the summer solstice day is 19.5 hours long.

Winter has much shorter days. Above the Arctic Circle, the night can last for months, although lingering twilight brightens the sky. In Anchorage, the shortest day still provides 4.5 hours of daylight.

Around the equinoxes in March and September, Alaska gets the same 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness the rest of the world does.

Should i worry about earthquarkes?
Even though Alaska has a justly deserved reputation for frequent earthquakes, visitors should keep in mind that hundreds of thousands of people live here with little fear.
Earthquakes in the magnitude range of 4 to 5 occur frequently and cause little or no damage and injury. Alaska's greatest earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.2, occurred in 1964 under Prince William Sound.

There is a risk of a tsunami, or a giant wave created by an undersea quake, but a warning system is in place for coastal areas. Seward, for example, has street signs showing evacuation routes.

How big is Alaska?

Alaska covers 570,373 square miles of land, plus an additional 45,000 square miles of water.
It's the biggest state in the country. Alaska is 2.3 times the size of Texas, 10 times the size of Georgia or Florida; and 499.7 times the size of frequent comparison victim Rhode Island. Alaska covers 20 percent of the total U.S. area.

Alaska stretches across 57 degrees, 34 minutes of longitude between 52 and 54 degrees latitude.

When can I see the northern lights?

Winter visitors have the best chance of seeing the northern lights, or aurora borealis. Even though the electromagnetic activity that creates the aurora occurs all year high overhead, the lights are visible only at night -- and Alaska's long winter nights make for good viewing.
The aurora may not be visible every night in the winter.

The aurora isn't visible in the summer before mid- to late August.

What are Alaska's tallest mountains?

Are any mountains in Alaska even close in size to Mount McKinley?
Mount McKinley, 20,320 feet high, is the tallest peak in North America. Its closest competitor, Mount St. Elias, rears up 18,008 feet high at the southern end of the straight border with Canada.

Here are Alaska's tallest mountains:

1. McKinley, 20,320 feet (South Peak). The North Peak is 19,470 feet.
   Together, the peaks are known as the Churchill Peaks. Alaska Range, Denali National Park.
   
2. St. Elias, 18,008 feet. St. Elias Range, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
   
3. Foraker, 17,395 feet. Alaska Range, Denali National Park.
   
4. Bona, 16,421 feet. St. Elias Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
   
5. Blackburn, 16,390 feet. Wrangell Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
   
6. Sanford, 16,237 feet. Wrangell Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
   
7. Vancouver, 15,700 feet, on the Canadian border north of Yakutat. St. Elias Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
   
8. Churchill, 15,638 feet. St. Elias Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
   
9. Fairweather, 15,300 feet. St. Elias Mountains, Glacier Bay National Park.
   
10. Hubbard, 15,015 feet, north of Yakutat. St. Elias Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
    
11. Bear, 14,831 feet. St. Elias Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
    
12. Hunter, 14,580 feet. Alaska Range, Denali National Park.
    
13. Alverstone, 14,565 feet, on the Canadian border north of Yakutat. St. Elias Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
    
14. Wrangell, 14,163 feet. Wrangell Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
    
15. Augusta, 14,070 feet. St. Elias Mountains, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

Can I pan for gold?

You may pan for gold for free in a number of places without the danger of being shot as a claim jumper.
For example, people with a gleam in their eye can pan the beach east of Nome; several streams in the Interior, including the one where the Fairbanks gold rush began; several streams in Southcentral Alaska, including the Kenai Peninsula; in places along the Dalton Highway; and in some streams in Southeast.

Some companies that charge for tours of towns and mining areas also have panning areas, complete with gold pans and soil that sometimes is salted with "color."

Pans, shovels and loupes can be bought in mining supply shops and discount stores.

As you're panning and sifting through the muck, remember that nothing that glitters is gold. You're looking instead for a gleam.

Can I take my fish home?

Harborside shops and some meat/fish shops in larger towns provide freezing, smoking and shipping service for people who want to send their salmon or halibut home.
Overnight delivery can be had through FedEx and other services. Travelers can also take a cooler home on the jet if they're confident of getting there before the fish, packed in ice or gel packs, thaws.

Ice is readily available in bags of between 5 and 10 pounds at grocery and convenience stores and at gas stations.

Can I bring a firearm?

Alaskans sometimes carry firearms when hiking or fishing in bear country. Large-caliber rifles and 12-gauge shotguns loaded with buckshot or slugs seem to be favored. Some handguns, notably .44 Magnum and .357 Magnum, are worn. But often practicing the rules of bear safety removes the risk of a bear encounter.
The carrying of firearms -- shotguns, rifles and handguns -- is generally allowed unless it is specifically outlawed by a park, city or other authority. For example, you can't tote a firearm as you hike across Denali National Park.

Some parks forbid firearms (or operative firearms) altogether, some allow a firearm to be carried only in self-defense, and other places allow a firearm to be carried as long as it's handled in accordance with safety rules and state laws. Check with the local authorities or park ranger.

Travelers coming through Canada may not bring firearms. That includes ferry passengers whose boat stops at Prince Rupert, British Columbia, or those who disembark at Haines or Skagway intending to drive through Canada to reach the Alaska Highway. Airlines have their own rules for packing firearms; the best thing to do is check with them.

What's the best way to avoid mosquitoes?

Let's be upfront: Mosquitoes are a pest.
But for most travelers in Alaska, mosquitoes are nothing more than an inconvenience.

Mosquitoes are most prevalent near standing water, in the forest and on low tundra. They're present during all the warm months, but they taper off late in the summer.

Wear long sleeves, long pants and a hat; go where mosquitoes aren't; or use bug dope with a high percentage of DEET.

Applications based on citronella or Avon's Skin-So-Soft also work for some people.

Other people insist on wearing a headnet -- but unless you're going to wander through miles of marshy tundra or have a strong allergic reaction to bug dope, there's no really need for a headnet or special anti-skeeter gear.

If you're hiking, try walking in a breezy place or along ridges to reduce the number of mosquitoes that line up at the lunch counter.

A case of West Nile virus was reported in Alaska in 2002, but it was a man who had contracted the disease in his home state.