Popular Alaska Tour Destinations

Some of the best of Alaska can be found inland.  There are a number of tours that can be added to a cruise.  These tours are generally by motor coach, rail or private automobile.  There are a number of wilderness lodges available for enjoyment while you explore Alaska's fantastic interior.  Two of the most interesting tour destinations are described below.  To find out more call us at 888-626-0523 or click here.   

Denali National Park

Denali National Park & Preserve features North America's highest mountain, 20,320' Mount McKinley. The Alaska Range also includes countless other spectacular mountains and many large glaciers. Denali's more than 6 million acres (larger than the state of Massachusetts) also encompass a complete sub-arctic eco-system with large mammals such as grizzly bears, wolves, Dall sheep, and moose.

Mount McKinley has been called the Alaskan landscape's most impressive feature.  Mount McKinley is the highest mountain on the North American continent. Measured from the 2,000-foot lowlands near Wonder Lake to its summit, this mountain is considered by many to be the highest in the world.  The vertical relief of 18,000 feet, greater even than that of Mount Everest, tops out on the snowy summit at 20,320 feet. McKinley's north summit is North America's second highest peak at 19,470 feet.  Temperatures at the summit are severe even in summer.  Winter lows at just 14,500 feet can plummet below -95 degrees F! During storms, winds can gust to more than 150 mph. Permanent snowfields cover more than 50 percent of the mountain and feed the many glaciers that surround its base.  The mountain's granite and slate core is, in fact, overlain by Ice that is hundreds of feet thick in places.  Mount McKinley reigns in lofty isolation over the Alaska Range, that magnificent 600-mile arc of mountains that divides south-central Alaska from the interior plateau.

Kenai Fjords National Park

The Kenai Fjords reflect scenic icebound landscapes in which salt spray mixes with mountain mist. 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 mountains are mantled by the 300-square mile Harding Icefield, 35 miles long and 20 miles wide. Only isolated mountain peaks interrupt its nearly flat, snow-clad surface. Exit Glacier spills off the massive Harding Icefield and 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 icefield'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 park's waters with stellar sea lions, harbor seals, Dall porpoises, sea otters, humpback, killer and minke whales.