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Place, which provides shoppers with a variety of
merchants, including Russian and Native Alaskans
featuring their handicrafts and artwork, photography
studios, a restaurant, café, espresso bar, and
nightclub. Summer hours are 9 to 9 Monday through
Saturday and 11 to 6 on Sundays.
The greatest challenge to Anchorage visitors is
trying to determine which of many spectacular and
interesting activities to do first. Activities include
strolling, cycling, or rollerblading along the Tony
Knowles Coastal Trail, wildlife viewing at the
Alaska Zoo, where Alaska species and animals
from other subarctic regions are homed, touring
the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, fishing for
rainbow trout, arctic char and grayling, visiting the
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Eagle
River Nature Center, Thunderbird Falls, Eklutna
Historical Park or exploring the Anchorage Coastal
Wildlife Refuge, discovering Portage Glacier or
Anchorage Visitors Bureau skiing at Alyeska Resort, the state’s largest downhill
photo by: ski area located in Girdwood south of Anchorage.
VC TRAVEL GUIDE
Youth theaters, the Anchorage Opera and Alaska
Dance Theatre are active and the city promotes
nearby port such as Whittier, then take the highway and the Orient as well as traditional fare. weekly public musical offerings.
or railway to Anchorage from there. See the Alaska The 4 Avenue Market Place, located on West Established in 1971, the Anchorage Coastal
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Marine Highway section of this guide for more 4 Avenue, between C and D Streets, hosts daily Wildlife Refuge serves as home and/or migratory
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information or go to www.AlaskaFerry.com. free live shows each summer, featuring Native stopover to more than 220 species of birds. Every
The parks system within Anchorage showcases performers from the Cook Inlet Tribal Council. season is good for bird watching at the Refuge, but
some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. Indoor and outdoor stages provide a venue for local the best times for viewing migrating birds are late
Virtually every aspect of Anchorage’s unique past ensembles, musicians, and storytellers, and the April and early May. The Refuge is a unique blend of
is represented in the historic, cultural, or natural Alaska Experience Theater makes its home inside bird, mammal, and plant habitats in an area less than
themes of these accessible parks. the Market Place. Come dazzle your senses with the a mile square and offers an unequalled opportunity to
There are more than 135 miles of paved trails in Alaska Experience, a 40-minute flyover of Alaska’s view many of Alaska’s bird species while surrounded
Anchorage, many of which are lighted, as well as most beautiful sights. The 1964 earthquake film by the awe-inspiring beauty of south Anchorage’s
hundreds of backcountry treks. The grand Chugach provides a virtual adventure as you feel the earth Turnagain Arm.
State Park embraces the south side of the Anchorage move under your feet. Also, be sure to visit the free Explore Alaska’s military history at the Alaska
Bowl and offers backcountry access literally minutes exhibit illustrating the devastation that took place Veterans Museum, which focuses on honoring the
from downtown. Hundreds of trails cross through in the Good Friday Earthquake, and the pictorial state’s servicemen and women. Every one of the five
wooded areas abundant with wildlife and vistas of history tour of Anchorage that runs along 4 Avenue Armed Services and the US Merchant Marines has
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the Alaska Range and Denali. at the mall. The largest Tlingit bear totem pole in played a role in shaping Alaska.
One of Anchorage’s more culturally diverse downtown Anchorage stands in front of the Market Discover the rich mixture of the area’s Russian and
neighborhoods is Mountain View, an area of new Dena’ina Athabascan culture at Eklutna Historical
and rehabilitated restaurants, specialty retail store, Park, located at the head of the Knik Arm of Cook
and art galleries. Many Hmong mountain people Inlet, just off the Glenn Highway Scenic Byway and
from Thailand and Laos live in the neighborhood, within the Municipality of Anchorage. Dating back
and take part in a community production gardening to 1650, Eklutna is the oldest continually inhabited
program, selling the fresh produce at neighborhood Athabascan site in the region. Visit Eklutna’s St.
markets. The multinational atmosphere of the city Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, originally
extends to the amenities, with dozens of gourmet built in the 1830s. A blend of Athabascan beliefs
restaurants proudly offering the cuisines of Europe and Russian Orthodox teachings introduced by
missionaries in the 1800s holds that when a person
dies his spirit wanders the earth, searching for his
earthly possessions. To keep the spirits confined to
the Eklutna Cemetery, colorful miniature houses are
built on top of the graves; each structure is topped
with the distinctive cross of the Russian Orthodox
Church. The tiny houses are painted with family
colors and contain personal items of the deceased
such as cups, plates, spoons, a comb, a pipe, or even
a rifle or camera.
Ten thousand years ago, at the end of the
Pleistocene Age, Portage Valley was covered by a
massive glacier, which has since largely retreated.
Visitors can take a one-hour cruise or stroll along the
lakeshore to wonder at hulking blue-white icebergs
and learn of the Portage Glacier area’s geology and
history. Three road-accessible campgrounds with
55 campsites are available to the public in Portage
Valley.
For thousands of years, Alaska’s Natives have
produced arts and crafts that are both functional
and beautiful. Decorative pieces crafted from
animal skins, ivory, bone, grasses, and many other
materials have allowed Natives to memorialize
the history and traditions of their ancient cultures.

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