Top five must-sees in Alaska

The Denali road leads toward snow covered mountains. Photo / Creative Commons image by Flickr user Frank Kovalchek

Denali National Park

Famous for Mt McKinley, North America's largest mountain, Denali National Park is 386km north of Anchorage, 193km south of Fairbanks and huge: more than 2.4 million ha of wild land bisected by one road going through taiga forest to high alpine tundra and mountains, leading to the 6168m peak. Great place for spotting grizzly bears, caribou, moose and dall sheep.

Ride the rails

Alaskan train routes stretch between Seward and Fairbanks, to Anchorage and Denali and further. An unusual route is Hurricane Turn, between Talkeetna and the Hurricane area, which has no roads. Residents stop the train by waving white flags or cloths.

Glaciers

Glacier Bay National Park and its mountain ranges, tidewater glaciers, humpback whales, sea lions and seals is not the only place with glaciers. Alaska has more than 100,000 rivers of ice covering about 3 per cent of the landscape. Prince William Sound has more tidewater glaciers than anywhere on Earth and is one of the easiest places to take a glacier cruise. Matanuska Glacier, Mendenhall Glacier and Exit Glacier are other accessible areas.

Gone fishing

Alaska's 21 recognised species of sport fish draw anglers from around the world, but you do need a fishing licence.

Remote destinations

Travel Alaska Route 11 (aka the Dalton Highway), a 666km road just north of Fairbanks and ending near the Arctic Ocean. Only three towns are dotted along the route, built as a supply road, but it provides breathtaking views. Or fly to Barrow, the US' northernmost city, and which is dark between 50 and 70 days every year. The sun shines and never sets from May to early August.

Further information: See DiscoverAmerica.com for more on visiting Alaska.