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Charles Wohlforth
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Remote National Parks


Question: Should we skip the remote national parks?

We particularly like to hike and have been to 37 national parks in the lower 48 such as Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, etc. Some day, we hope to visit all 55 of them.

We would like to hike in all of the 8 national parks in Alaska. However, it seems to me from my research that most of the parks in Alaska are more like wilderness areas and do not offer the kind of park experience that we are used to. We enjoy going on a marked trail such as Glacier Point trail in Yosemite for 10-15 miles a day and then staying at a park lodge overnight.

In Lake Clark NP for example, there is only one marked trail of 2.5 miles from Port Alsworth. Or, Gates of the Artic does not have any real trails. It just does not seem like it's worth it to go to these places. These and many of the parks appear to present a different kind of experience whereby you are dropped off from a bush plane, left to hike and navigate on your own, and then later on hope to get picked up by the pilot.

Given what I've said, do you think that

Denali and Kenai Fjords are really the only ones that we would enjoy even if it does exclude seeing the other six?


Answer:

You are correct that most of the National Park land in Alaska is simply wild land, quite unlike the parks in the Lower 48 with trails, hotels, and other visitor amenities. Even in Denali, most hiking is off-trail, although there are some established trails. There is only one trail in Kenai Fjords National Park proper, although there are some terrific trails in Chugach National Forest nearby.

For the style of travel and hiking you like to do, I think the parks you have selected make the most sense and you should probably focus there. Going to all the parks in

Alaska would be a monumental task. Even going to the five parks that might have interest for your would be way too much for one vacation.

Here are the other choices that could make any sense:
--Wrangell-St. Elias National Park: Stay at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge and hike the trails near there; there is certainly a day's worth of trail hiking and other interesting sites. Chapter 9 in Frommer’s Alaska.
--Glacier Bay NP: A few trails around the lodge, a short day's worth, but the heart of the park has no trails. Chapter 5.
--Katmai National Park: Hiking at the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, but very expensive to get there and long hikes not possible without camping out. Chapter 10.