19 Best Sights in The Kenai Peninsula and Southcentral Alaska, Alaska

In a land of many grand and spectacularly beautiful mountains, those in the 13.2-million-acre Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve are possibly the finest of them all. This extraordinarily compact cluster of immense peaks belongs to four different mountain ranges. Rising through many eco-zones, the Wrangell–St. Elias Park and Preserve is largely undeveloped wilderness parkland on a grand scale. The area is perfect mountain-biking and primitive-hiking terrain, and the rivers invite rafting for those with expedition experience. The mountains attract climbers from around the world—whereas Alaska's mountains have been summited many times over, there is the opportunity here to be the first or one of few to summit. Most climbers fly in from Glennallen or Yakutat. Although there are few facilities in Wrangell-St. Elias this is one of the few national parks in Alaska you can drive to. You don't have to be a backcountry camper to experience this park—it's possible to stay in comfortable lodgings in Kennicott or McCarthy and experience the massive glaciers that stand at the foot of Kennicott—Root Glacier and Kennicott Glacier or go on a multiday, guided rafting tour along the Nizina.

Overshadowed by the larger and more charismatic Denali National Park and Preserve, the 325,240-acre "Little Denali," or Denali State Park, offers excellent road access, beautiful views of Denali, scenic campgrounds, and prime wilderness hiking and backpacking opportunities within a few miles of the road system. The terrain here varies from the verdant, low-lying banks of the Tokositna River to alpine tundra. Moose, wolves, and grizzly and black bears inhabit the park, along with lynx, red foxes, land otters, beavers, porcupines, and myriad other species.

The famous competition's headquarters displays dogsleds, mushers' clothing, and trail gear, and you can watch video highlights of past races. The gift shop sells Iditarod items. Dogsled rides take place year-round; in summer rides on wheels are available for $10.

Gold mining was an early mainstay of the Mat-Su Valley's economy. You can tour the long-dormant Independence Mine on the Hatcher Pass Road, a loop that in summer connects the Parks Highway just north of Willow to the Glenn Highway near Palmer. The stunningly scenic drive travels past forested streams and alpine meadows and winds high above the tree line. The road to Independence Mine from the Palmer side is paved; the section between the mine and Willow is gravel. In the 1940s the mine employed as many as 200 workers. Today it is a 271-acre state park that has good cross-country skiing in winter. Only the wooden buildings remain; one of them, the red-roof manager's house, is now used as a visitor center.

The Ahtnu and Upper Tanana Athabascan peoples who inhabited the Copper River Region for thousands of years used and traded copper found in the region. These ore deposits were noted by European surveyors in the late 1800s, and, by the early 1900s, prospectors began staking claims in the mountains above Kennicott Glacier. The Kennecott Copper Corporation soon built a mine, a railway (now the McCarthy Road), and a company town and camp for about 300 workers.

By 1935, however, the copper ore was depleted, and the company ceased operations, leaving behind equipment, facilities, and debris. Today, the abandoned mine is one of Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve's main attractions, and restoration works have been an ongoing effort for more than a decade. The best way to see the mine is on a tour with one of the area operators, though only St. Elias Alpine Guides is authorized to take you into some of the restored buildings.

While exploring the area, it's hard not to notice the different spellings of the mine and the glacier, which was named after Robert Kennicott, a geologist who surveyed the area in 1899. Believed to have been caused by a clerical error, the discrepancy can be confusing, unless you look at it as a way to differentiate the man-made landmarks from the natural ones.

The 3.4 million acres on the Alaska Peninsula that comprise Lake Clark National Park and Preserve stretch from the coast to the heights of two grand volcanoes: Mt. Iliamna and Mt. Redoubt. The latter made headlines in 2009 when it erupted, sending ash floating over the region. Both volcanoes top out above 10,000 feet. The country in between holds glaciers, waterfalls, and turquoise-tinted lakes. The 50-mile-long Lake Clark, filled by runoff waters from the mountains that surround it, is an important spawning ground for thousands of red (sockeye) salmon.

The river-running is superb here. You can make your way through dark forests of spruce and balsam poplars or hike over the high, easy-to-travel tundra. The animal life is profuse: look for bears, moose, Dall sheep, wolves, wolverines, foxes, beavers, and mink on land; seals, sea otters, and white (aka beluga) whales offshore. Wildflowers embroider the meadows and tundra in spring, and wild roses bloom in the shadows of the forests. Plan your trip to Lake Clark for the end of June or early July, when the insects may be less plentiful. Or consider late August or early September, when the tundra glows with fall colors.

Wrangell–St. Elias's coastal mountains are frequently wreathed in snow-filled clouds, their massive height making a giant wall that contains the great storms brewed in the Gulf of Alaska. As a consequence, they bear some of the continent's largest ice fields, with more than 100 glaciers radiating from them. One of these, Malaspina Glacier, includes 1,500 square miles—larger than the state of Rhode Island. This tidewater glacier has an incredible pattern of black-and-white stripes made by the other glaciers that coalesced to form it. If you fly between Juneau and Anchorage, look for Malaspina Glacier on the coast north of Yakutat.

The peak of this 10,016-foot stratovolcano, which is in the southeast corner of the park, is home to 10 glaciers. Although not active, it is expected to erupt at some time in the future. It's noted as being the 25th most prominant peak in North America.

This active volcano, located north of Tuxedni Bay on the eastern side of the park, can be seen from many different vantage points in Southcentral Alaska, but from within Lake Clark National Park, it is a truly impressive sight. Its sister, Mt. Iliamna, has blown plumes of ash and smoke but has had no recorded erruptions, unlike Redoubt, which has errupted 30 times in the past 10,000 years, including four times just in the last century.

The white-iced spire of Mt. St. Elias, in the range of the same name, reaches more than 18,000 feet. It's the second-highest peak on the North American continent and the crown of the planet's highest coastal range. It also has the world's longest ski descent.

On a 20-acre site the museum exhibits some of the machines that helped develop Alaska, from dogsleds to jet aircraft and everything in between. The Don Sheldon Building houses aviation artifacts as well as antique autos, trains, and photographic displays. There is also a snowmachine (Alaskan for snowmobile) exhibit.

Fifty or so animals roam at the Musk Ox Farm, which conducts 30-minute guided tours. There's a hands-on museum and a gift shop featuring hand-knitted items made from the cashmere-like underfur (qiviut) combed from the musk ox. The scarves, caps, and more are made by Oomingmak, an Alaska Native collective.

On a sunny day the town of Palmer looks like a Swiss calendar photo, with its old barns and log houses silhouetted against craggy Pioneer Peak. On nearby farms on the Bodenburg Loop off the Old Palmer Highway, you can pay to pick your own raspberries and other fruits and vegetables. The peak picking time at Pyrah's Pioneer Peak Farm, which cultivates 35 kinds of fruits and vegetables, occurs around mid-July.

Exhibits at this downtown museum explore the history of mountain climbing in Denali as well as the town's eclectic history. Residents founded the organization in 1972 to protect the original Talkeetna schoolhouse. The group publishes a walking-tour map and operates a gift area, too.

Most of the park's glaciers are found in the Chigmit Mountains. The longest is 19-mile Tuxedni Glacier, which is one of 10 that radiates from the Mt. Iliamna volcano.

Covering a 100-by-70-mile area, the Wrangells tower over the 2,500-foot-high Copper River Plateau, with the peaks of mounts Jarvis, Drum, Blackburn, Sanford, and Wrangell rising from 15,000 feet to 16,000 feet above sea level.