National Parks

The 69-mile stretch of river flows from Kukaklek Lake in Katmai National Preserve, situated in the Aleutian Range in southern Alaska.
Established on December 2, 1980, by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA)
Size: 30,665 acres

The Aniakchak Caldera (a type of volcanic crater) is the result of a series of eruptions, the latest in 1931. Nearly six miles in diameter and covering some ten square miles, it is one of the finest examples of dry caldera in the world.
Proclaimed Aniakchak National Monument on December 1, 1978; established as a national monument and preserve on December 2, 1980 (ANILCA)
Size: monument, 137,176 acres; preserve, 465,603 acres

Humans crossed the Bering Land Bridge approximately 12,000-13,000 years ago. The Arctic coastline was not inhabited until about 4,500 years ago.
It became a national monument on December 1, 1978 and a national preserve on December 2, 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: 27 million acres

The monument features a coastal plain dotted with sizable lagoons, beautiful bluffs, and beach ridges, backed by gently rolling limestone hills.
It was named a national monument on December 1, 1978.
Size: nearly 650,000 acres

The park contains Mt. McKinley (Denali), North America’s highest peak.
Founded on February 26, 1917 as Mt. McKinley National Park, it is Alaska’s oldest park. It was renamed Denali National Park and Preserve, and additional acreage was added in 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: more than 6 million acres

The park nearly surrounds Anaktuvuk Pass, the village of the Nunamiut, the last remaining band of Nunamiut Eskimo, whose ancestors date back several centuries. Much of their lifestyle has remained unchanged.
The park was established on December 2, 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: 8.5 million acres

A little over 200 years ago, what is now Glacier Bay was a glacier more than 4,000 feet thick which extended more than 100 miles to the St. Elias Mountain Range.
Glacier Bay became a national monument on February 25, 1925 and a national park and preserve on December 2, 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: 2.7 million acres

The park is home to more than 2,000 brown bears, the largest protected population of this grizzly cousin. It also contains the biggest lake found in a national park and more active volcanoes than any other: at least 14.
Katmai National Monument was created to preserve the famed Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a spectacular 40-square-mile pyroclastic ash flow deposited by Novarupta Volcano.
The national monument was designated on September 24, 1918 and Katmai became a national park and preserve in December 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: 4.1 million acres

The park is home to glacier-carved valleys and mountains that are mantled by the 300-square mile Harding Icefield, 35 miles long and 20 miles wide, and Exit Glacier, which spills off the ice field.
Established on December 2, 1980 (ANILCA)
Size: almost 700,000 acres

The park celebrates the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-1898 through 15 restored buildings within the Skagway Historic District.
Became an historic park on August 5, 1998.
Size: 13,000 acres

The park lies entirely within the Arctic Circle, and contains the Salmon River and the 25-square-mile Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. There is no road access to the park.
Proclaimed a national monument on December 1,1978, and established as a national park December 2, 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: 1.75 million acres

The park represents a microcosm of Alaska within its boundaries. It contains four of the five biotic zones found in Alaska: tundra, riparian, coastal, and forest zones.
The protected Lake Clark watershed is a significant part of the greater Bristol Bay watershed, which contains the world's largest Sockeye salmon fishery.
Size: The park is 2.6 million acres, the preserve is 1.4 million acres

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 most magnificent assortments of plants and animals.
Proclaimed as Noatak National Monument on December 1, 1978; established as a national preserve on December 2, 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: more than 6.5 million acres

The park’s highlights include Southeast Alaska totem poles and the spectacular scenery of a temperate rain forest.
Alaska's oldest federally designated park, it was established in 1910 to commemorate the 1804 Battle of Sitka.
Size: 113 acres

It is the largest national park in the United States and home to the convergence of four different mountain ranges.
The park contains North America's largest subpolar icefield, which stretches 100 miles, as well as the continent’s largest group of glaciers and nine of the 16 highest peaks on U.S. soil.
Wrangell-St. Elias National Monument was designated on December 1, 1978; the park and preserve were e stablished on December 2, 1980 (ANILCA).
Size: 13.2 million acres

Located along the Canadian border in central Alaska, the preserve protects 115 miles of the 1,800-mile Yukon River and the entire Charley River basin.
The 100-mile-long Charley River is considered by many to be the most spectacular river in Alaska.
Size: 2.5 million acres