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Home: Anchorage: Anchorage Tour
Take an Anchorage TourA Tour of Anchorage Alaska -- What to See, Do and Experience!That's were I come in! :) As a "full-time tourists" here in the Anchorage area, I've visited and photographed a lot of Anchorage and will continue to explore and report back to you (via this website and newsletter) about everything that I find interesting about Anchorage.
I hope that you find the information helpful in planning your next Anchorage Tour.
Begin Your Anchorage Tour...
This would be an ideal place to begin any downtown Anchorage Tour. This rustic sod-roofed cabin is operated by the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau and it is open year round. This little cabin, located downtown on 4th Ave, is a great place to begin any tour around Anchorage. Pamphlets, maps and advice are plentiful there! The milepost that you see in the picture demonstrates Anchorage's prime location as the "Air Crossroads of the World". Anchorage's northern location puts it right on the air cargo path to Europe and Asia! The milepost and cabin will make a great back drop for a photo to remember your Anchorage Tour by. Just outside the door you will see a hunk of Jade, which was donated to the Center. This rock is over 5,000lbs (2,300 kg).
I guess there isn't much worry about someone taking off with it, huh?
Resolution Park/Captain Cook Monument
Here you will find a statue of Capt Cook along with a lot of wooden decks and terraces. The park is small and the terraces and decks allowed this small park to be built on, what would have been, normally unremarkable. The location, meaning and scenic view of this park are what makes this park worth the time on your Anchorage Tour. Mount McKinley can be seen on a rare day if the weather is real clear.
A clear view of
Mt. McKinley makes an Anchorage Tour all the better. (Located on the corner of 3rd Ave and L Street.
About 20 minutes is sufficient for this stop.)
Ship Creek
Even if you don't fish, it's worth going just to watch. There is a bridge that crosses Ship Creek. It is a perfect location to watch others fish from. The water is usually clear enough to see the fish in the water. (Tip: Polarizing sunglasses make it easier to see the fish..especially from the bridge). Ship Creek is so cool! It is literally in downtown Anchorage. It's close proximity allows some die-hard local fishermen to fish on their lunch breaks...and many of them do! Ship Creek used to be the site of Dena"ina Indian summer fish camps. Later miners' and trappers' trails traversed this area. One word of caution. When the tide is out, the banks are pure mud. The kind that may make you leave a shoe or boot behind! On one such trip to Ship Creek, I took my two oldest boys with me to fish. I can't seem to locate the photo, right now, but let me just say...they were both covered from head to toe in mud. They weren't happy, but my wife and I got a laugh out of it!
Side Note: From this part of town, you'll often be able to see F-22 Raptor fighter jets taking off and landing
from nearby Elmendorf Air Force Base. Look northeast.
A Funny Anchorage Fishing StoryOn one of these quick fishing trips to Ship Creek something funny happened. I went to the creek with the same friend, but this time another friend, Brian, wanted to go along.Brian was from Seattle and was raised in the city and, having recently arrived in Alaska, he wanted to do anything that he deemed as "manly", despite the fact that he was of slender-build and had "city-slicker" written all over him! Brian arrived, with fishing pole in hand, late and ended up on the opposite side of Ship Creek from us. The creek was noisy and Brian couldn't hear us well, so we motioned for him to continue down the creek. Our intent was to have him stay on that side of the creek and fish, because quite a few fish were being caught in a spot just a bit further down the bank from Brian. Due to this lack of communication, and only a few moments later, we noticed Brian a distance away; "waist-high" and half way across Ship Creek. Brian thought we wanted him to go down downstream and then cross, coming to where we were. We were a bit embarrassed because Brian was walking right into the fishing holes of others fishing along both sides of Ship Creek...but Brian had already committed himself to the crossing. A few seconds later, Brian must have stepped into a deep whole, because the next thing we see is only Brian's hand sticking up out of the water with the fishing pole held high! He had borrowed it and didn't want to ruin it. With the pole held high and the constant current starting to sweep Brian downstream, a "Big Burly Alaskan Fisherman" stepped out into the water and with one hand reached down into the water. With one fluid motion he grabbed Brian and brought him to shore! Brian was fine, but really embarrassed about what had happened. The three of us worked together and this story was told and lived on for months afterward to the hilarious delight of everyone except Brian. He was a good sport about it though. Earthquake Park!One, is because it's a beautiful park, has a great view of the downtown Anchorage area and it has some great hiking/walking paths within it. In fact, you may recognize the view of downtown Anchorage from here, because it is used in a lot of travel brochures. Earthquake Park is also a popular spot for moose viewing Secondly, this park commemorates the HUGE earthquake that hit Anchorage in 1964. It was the largest quake to ever hit North America. It occured on Good Friday, March 27th 1964, and registered an 8.6 - 9.2 on the Richter Scale. Ground deformations were extensive with 30 foot rises in the Kodiak Alaska area and up to 8 foot drops in the Portage area!
Parts of Anchorage neighborhoods, near the coastline, slid off into the water. The highly saturated ground,
due to high levels of clay in the soil, caused a bad situation (the quake itself) even worse.
Potter's Marsh Bird Sanctuary
Potter's Marsh is 2300 acres and has a raised boardwalk so that you can access the wetlands without disturbing the birds. Birds that frequent the marsh are the Pacific Loon, American Wigeon, Canada Goose, Greater Scaup, Canvasback, Goldeneye Species, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Short-Billed Dowitchers, Wandering Tattler and many more. Bring a pair of binoculars!
Important Note: Dogs are not allowed.
Portage Glacier
Turn left on Portage Valley Road and continue on for five miles. Be sure to stop in and visit the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center. The displays impressive and the observation windows on the lower level are great! Unfortunately Portage Glacier has receded to the point that it's not easily seen from land. In it's place, though, is a beautiful ice-cold lake. There are two ways to get closer to Portage Glacier though. One is by boat. There are hourly boat rides that take visitors for a close up look. The option is to hike up the Portage Pass Trail. It is reached from the Whittier side of the tunnel and provides for a great view of the glacier from above.
The Portage Pass Trail is a moderately-steep one mile hike and it is worth the hike. Not only will you be
treated to great views of Portage Glacier, but also the town of Whittier! Get more inormation about Portage Glacier
by visiting this link.
Hike Anchorage's Many Trails and ParksWhether you cycle, walk or rollerblade, you'll really enjoy Anchorage's unmatched park and trail system. Anchorage has 190 parks covering 10,000 acres that are connected by 40 miles of trails!
I haven't been to
them all, but Earthquake Park and Kincaid Park (this is where most of the moose are!) are two of my
favorites...so far! Use following link to learn more about Anchorage Parks and Anchorage Hiking Trails
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