INTERIOR
LAY OF THE LAND
Alaska's Interior, traditional home of Athabascan people, is a place of
dazzling extremes. It's home to some of the highest mountains and longest rivers, in North America. There's tundra, massive herds of caribou and endless forest. In winter, daylight is measured in single-digit hours and temperatures drop to chilling lows. During summer, the sun never seems to set and locals
use the phrase "it's a dry heat" unironically. Distances here are massive. The scenic Richardson Highway follows the Tanana River to Delta Junction, offering glimpses of the 800-mile-long
Trans Alaska Pipeline System, and the 1,387-mile-long Alaska Highway that was constructed in an astonishing 6 months during World War II. The riches earned here during the Gold Rush are still legendary. Somehow, it all combines to make a place of glorious beauty with a freewheeling sense of fun. Luxuriously warm hot springs dot the landscape. Nowhere on earth is better for seeing the northern lights. At Nenana, fortunes are won by those who can guess the precise moment the river will thaw each spring. And Christmas? That's a 365-day-a-year holiday in North Pole.
The Great One, Denali, presides over it all from a continent-topping 20,310
feet. No visit is complete without a stop at the park, where you can enter
12 months a year. Take a guided tour 90-miles into the wilderness on the
park's only road for perspective-shifting views of Far North landscapes
and wildlife.
KNOWN FOR:
PARKS
Big Delta State Historical Park
Chena River State Recreational Area
Denali National Park & Preserve
Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge
Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
HISTORICAL SITES
Eagle Historic District National
Historic Landmark
George C. Thomas Memorial Library
Gold Dredge 8
Rika's Roadhouse
SS Nenana National Historic Landmark
SCENIC BYWAYS
Richardson Highway
Steese Highway
Taylor & Top of the World Highways