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Denali National Park and Preserve Enjoy the extra day of unscheduled time built into more cruisetours than ever. And don't miss an amazing array of optional activities. Like flightseeing to Mt. McKinley and landing on a glacier. Each adventure reflects our long relationship with Alaska's most respected adventure operators and our unwavering commitment to making this the vacation of your dreams. For Thrill-Seekers Soar in a helicopter above Denali National Park. Watch for moose, sheep, caribou and bear and marvel at massive icefields. Land on a glacier to see ice falls, moraines, ice bridges and glacier streams. This is a life-changing experience you'll be talking about for years. For the Adventurous Here's your chance to paddle class III and IV rapids through breathtaking Canyon Run. You'll bond with your expert guide and your raft-mates as the Nenana River takes you on a wild ride through breathtaking wilderness. For the Outdoor Enthusiast Saddle up for a wilderness horseback adventure. Or ride a jet boat along the Nenana River, visit a trapper's work camp, pan for gold. For Independent Exploration Visit www.nps.gov/dena then click on the in-depth section to learn how you can explore Denali independently, make the best use of the Park's Shuttle Bus system, hike with a park ranger, or attend one of the many activities the Park Service has to offer. Glacier Bay National Park How does it feel when a monumental chunk of ice splits off a glacier and crashes into the sea? The sound is like thunder. The impact shoots water hundreds of feet into the air. You hold your breath as you catch the moment on film. Then you wait for it all to happen again. And it does. Glacier Bay has more actively calving glaciers than anywhere else in the world. The highest concentration of tidewater glaciers on the planet can be found at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Access to this natural wonderland is extremely limited and not all cruiselines can offer this highlight. Spread across an impressive 3.3 million acres in southeastern Alaska, this treasure trove of scenic coastal islands, narrow fjords and substantial wildlife offers an inspirational glimpse of what Mother Nature does best. "MORNING OF CREATION" When John Muir discovered Glacier Bay in 1879, he surveyed the unblemished panorama and declared it "still in the morning of creation." Muir wasn't the first explorer to be in the area. Nearly a century earlier, George Vancouver's ships sailed right past it because a wall of ice sealed off the entrance to the bay. But over the last 200 years, the ice has been steadily receding, revealing a stark landscape that's slowly being taken over by vegetation that can't resist the fresh rock and soil. The result is a lush, temperate rainforest of spruces and hemlocks that carpets large portions of the stunning terrain. TARR INLET At the head of Glacier Bay is the Tarr Inlet, where scientists have found exposed rock that's believed to be more than 200 million years old. The Tarr Inlet is home to the Grand Pacific Glacier, an active body of ice that's slowly making its way toward the Margerie Glacier, which it last touched in 1912. JOHNS HOPKINS INLET As you cruise by the northeastern edge of the robust Fairweather Range, you'll enter the Johns Hopkins Inlet, home to no less than nine glaciers. Framed by rocky slopes that stretch skyward more than 6,000 feet, these wondrous bodies are eclipsed only by the mighty Mount Fairweather itself, which at more than 15,300 feet is the highest point in southeast Alaska. BRILLIANT BLUE GLOW In the northeastern corner of Glacier Bay, the snow-covered Takhinsha Mountains feed the active Muir Glacier, which regularly sheds walls of ice into the bay. The brilliant blue glow of a calving glacier and the thunderous roar of ice crashing into the water below are sights and sounds that you'll remember for the rest of your life. With such a diverse landscape, the park provides a variety of habitats for animals, big and small. Large colonies of seabirds, migrating ducks and geese, black bears, seals, sea lions, porpoises and whales are all common here.

Articles To Read Alaska is the ultimate wilderness destination. More than 1,400 miles north to south and 2,400 miles east to west, it boasts a vast expanse of unspoiled wilderness that staggers the imagination. Trade freeways for forests and street shoes for hiking boots. Alaska's wide-open spaces are just what you have been missing. Her mountains, glaciers and wildlife are exactly what you need. Stand in awe before nature's spectacle in Alaska's great national parks and wildlife preserves. Here are a series of interesting articles to help you discover Alaska's great parks and destinations. National Parks in Alaska What's in a Name? Alaska is Glacier Heaven Wrangell-St. Elias Park Exploring the famous Copper valley and Wrangell-St. Elias A Tour of Fairbanks Denali National Park Activities & Adventure in Alaska Take a look at our collection of articles about activities and adventures. Perhaps one of them may inspire you. Alaska's Wild Kingdom The Angling Experience of a Lifetime Kenai Fishing Fairbanks- Alaska's Golden Heart City The Kenai Peninsula Dog Sledding Lingo Dog Sledding Tips History and Culture of Alaska Alaska is, above all else, a land of remarkable diversity. There is urban Anchorage and rural Copper Center. There are villages scattered throughout the land and wilderness as far as the eye can see. Explore everything from native villages to massive gold dredges, as you come face to face with Alaska's unique history and culture. We have collected a series of interesting articles to help you learn more about Alaska's history and culture. Mushing in Alaska Jade, Alaska's State Gem Alaska Rail Travel So many wonders wait in Alaska's heartland- all linked by railway and frontier spirit. Lush forests and meadows brimming with wildflowers. Rugged snowcapped mountains flanked by miles of open tundra. Princess rail and lodge packages allow you to explore Alaska's immense wilderness under the care of our friendly guides. This is Alaska, where wilderness is king. Search our collection of Alaska rail travel articles for inspiration in planning your dream vacation. Discover Alaska by Rail Denali by Rail

Kenai Fjords National Park

Sweeping from rocky coastline to glacier-crowned peaks, Kenai Fjords National Park is one of Southcentral Alaska's most scenic attractions. A dayboat cruise through the park's long, steep-sided, glacier-carved valleys gives you an up-close look at abundant wildlife. Watch for bald eagles, listen to the sounds of thousands of seabirds and share the waters with Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, Dall's porpoises, sea otters and whales.

The gateway to Kenai Fjords is the scenic town of Seward. At the head of dramatic Resurrection Bay, towering Mt. Marathon provides a breathtaking backdrop for a historic downtown district filled with quaint shops.

Kluane National Park

Kluane National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is so wild and remote few even know its name.  Parks Canada brings you guided explorations to help you appreciate the enormity of the land and the diversity of the wildlife. And special presentations introduce you to wonders like towering Mt. Logan, the continent's second-tallest peak. No one else offers this unique combination of park-sponsored activities and optional excursions. Pick your activity level from wild to mild. Your day includes a Parks Canada orientation, a stop at the Kluane National Park Visitor Center, lunch and a festive barbecue dinner. Here are some of the optional activities.

• Strenuous, full-day guided hike to the top of King's Throne for lunch and views of Mt. Kennedy, Kathleen Lake and Shakwak Valley.
• Full-day moderate guided trek through Alsek Valley bear country via foot . Lunch overlooking the Alsek River and towering peaks.
• Leisurely stroll with a Parks Canada Interpreter following the forested Dezadeash River Trail for striking views of the Auriol Mountain Range. Great for birdwatchers. After lunch enjoy the easy Kathleen Lake trail (wheelchair accessible).
• Flightseeing excursions deep into Kluane National Park to see the "world's largest non-polar icefield." After lunch take the leisurely Kathleen Lake trail (wheelchair accessible).
• Full-day raft on the famed Tatshenshini River. Pass through a canyon with 500-foot-tall walls. After lunch run the Boulder Garden and Twin Holes rapids.
• Canoe fishing for lake trout, northern pike and Arctic grayling on Pine Lake with a local Yukon guide. After lunch, take an easy stroll on the Kathleen Lake trail (wheelchair accessible).
• Full-day guided hike at Kimberley Meadows. Take a helicopter flight and land on a plateau near Kluane National Park. Lunch overlooking endless mountain, glacier and valley views. Return via helicopter for a hearty dinner with your fellow travelers.

Wrangell St. Elias National Park

Wrangell St. Elias National Park is the most remote of Alaska’s parks and offers unique opportunities for an off-the-beaten-path experience. Highlights include the Bagley Icefield; Hubbard, Nabesna and Malaspina Glaciers; Mt. Wrangell and Mt. St. Elias, and the convergence of four major mountain ranges. The abandoned Kennicott copper mine in the park interior is an increasingly popular destination and is a National Historic Landmark. The high-grade copper ore of the Kennicott mine was among the nation’s richest deposits ever found in the twentieth century. The impressive structures that remain at the mill site and mines represent an ambitious time of exploration and discovery in Alaska. As the most remote and least developed of Alaska’s national parks, Wrangell St. Elias National Park is perfect for wilderness-oriented, self-guided activities. Besides sightseeing, major activities include backpacking, hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, mountaineering, river rafting, and sea kayaking in protected bays. Opportunities to view wildlife abound in Wrangell St. Elias. The park contains one of the larges concentrations of Dall sheep in North America, and other large mammals include mountain goats, caribou, moose, brown bear, black bear and bison. Located in the heart of the Park is the historic mining town of Kennicott. River rafting trips on the Gulkana River and spectacular flightseeing tours are also available.

Dawson City, Yukon Territory

When you think of the gold rush, think of this Klondike National Historic Site. Dawson City is where more than 30,000 Stampeders transformed a fishing camp at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers into the largest city west of Winnipeg and north of Seattle. You'll find history along the creaky wooden sidewalks, at the Dawson City Museum and Historical Society, and in the authentic costumes the townsfolk wear. For the History Buff ; The gold rush lives on at Diamond Tooth Gertie's where you can stake your poke in a blackjack game and get a kick out of the nightly show. Or journey back in time at a production of the Gaslight Follies at the lavish old-time Palace Grand Theatre.

Anchorage, Alaska

See some of Anchorage's historical points of interest in this sprawling city of over 250,000 full-time residents. Continue to the Alaska Native Heritage center.

Thanks to the development of the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, you may visit several of Alaska's fascinating Native Groups, up close and personal, in the space of only a few hours.

Located on a 25-acre site, the Alaska Native Heritage Center portrays Alaska's rich Native cultures. Full-scale models of typical dwellings are open for you to peek into. Village elders and apprentice youth - known as Native Tradition Bearers - demonstrate the time-honored customs and crafts of the various Native groups. Watch with awe and appreciation as an Athabascan Indian embroiders a leather moccasin, one tiny, fragile bead at a time. As a Tlingit carver transforms a formless cedar log into an intricate story in wood. Or as an Inupiat Eskimo.

Fairbanks, Alaska

When all stakes had been claimed and the rush for gold had faded in the Klondike, the sourdoughs headed west toward Fairbanks in the hopes of making their fortunes there. Trouble was, the gold in Fairbanks lay buried deep under a layer of "muck" that had to be dug out. Thus the gold dredge was conceived, a sort of floating gold pan that combined the four parts of the mining process - digging, sorting, gold-saving and disposal of tailings.

One of these giant diggers was Gold Dredge No. 8, a massive four-story-tall machine that was in operations right up until 1959. The dredge represents such a valuable landmark to the historical archives of Alaska that it has been placed on the register of National Historic Sites. Today it is one of the few gold dredges still open to the public.

Visitors to Gold Dredge No. 8 are treated to a guided tour inside the dredge where they'll hear tales of the rough-and-tumble gold rush days and the hardships faced by the original dredge operators. They'll also learn that this "workhorse of the riverbed" removed more than 33 tons of gold from Goldstream Valley. A video presentation gives visitors insight into the gold mining operations, and they can see for themselves relics from the dredge's early days, including mining artifacts and the workers' bunkhouses at Fairbanks Creek Camp.

Would-be prospectors are encouraged to "grab a poke of dirt" and pan for some gold of their own. A strike is guaranteed and panners can keep what they find as memento of their visit. The tour is topped off with a hearty miner's stew and biscuits served family-style in the camp Mess Hall. With memorabilia all around, the dining hall provides a fascinating opportunity to step back in time and relive the glittering gold rush days of 100 years ago.

Fairbanks Riverboat Discovery Cruise

Relax on this scenic cruise on the Chena and Tanana rivers on the only authentic operating sternwheeler in Alaska, the Discovery III. Enjoy a lively narration as you view a trapper's cabin, log homes, and a bush pilot's performance. Watch a dogsled demonstration with expert Alaskan dog mushers. Stop at the historic site of a Chena Indian village to learn about Native Alaskan hunting and fishing techniques.

Gates of the Arctic National Park

Kenai Fjords National Park
Take a day-boat cruise through long, steep-sided, glacier-carved valleys mantled by the 300-square-mile Harding Ice Field. Watch for bald eagles, listen to the sounds of thousands of seabirds and share the park's waters with Stellar sea lions, harbor seals, Dall porpoises, sea otters and whales

Haines

Founded by a Presbyterian missionary in November 1879, S. Hall Young built Haines between two waterways, the Chilkat River and Lynn Canal. Located on America's longest fjord, Haines features a perfect sampling of Alaska's history, beauty and lifestyle.

AN EYE FOR EAGLES
Haines is the home of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, where as many as 4,000 bald eagles gather each fall to feast on spawning salmon along the Chilkat River. Naturalists and photographers come from all over the world to witness one of the most unusual and impressive sights in nature's kingdom. As many as 80 have been seen perched in a single tree and more than one hundred may be captured in the frame of a single photograph.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Known for it's artistic flair, Haines is home to many galleries and shops of both contemporary and native artwork. Cultural tours and walks are popular among the tourists as they visit the museum and American Eagle Foundation. Outdoor activities abound as you enjoy the scenic surrounding beauty.

HISTORIC SITE
During the 1900's, a permanent army post was built and named Fort William H. Seward. This was the first army post in Alaska and can still be easily seen from the sea. The installation was abandoned in 1946 and has since become a national historic site.

Juneau, Alaska

Located at the foot of grand mountain peaks on the Gastineau Channel, the town of Juneau has the massive Mendenhall Glacier and the immense Juneau Icefields at its back door. This is the place to let your imagination run wild. Explore the lush Tongass Rain Forest. Shop the rustic shops in town. Or get out and kayak, dogsled, raft, bike, hike, heli-hike, flightsee, or fish. There's no end to the adventure since we're in port long enough to truly take advantage of the long daylight hours. And climb aboard the Mt. Roberts Tramway for a great spot to shoot a souvenir photo of your ship in port.

Ketchikan, Alaska

Built out over the water and climbing weathered stairways, Ketchikan clings to the shores of Tongass Narrows and drapes the mountains with a cheerful air. Besides the main attractions - Creek Street, the Tongass Historical Museum, Totem Bight and Saxman Village - there's one other thing we highly recommend you do. A floatplane flightseeing trip to breathtaking Misty Fjords National Monument is a transformational adventure not to be missed. The souvenir photos you'll take from the pontoons of the plane are worth the trip alone.

Nome and Kotzebue, Alaska

Jet across the Arctic Circle to Kotzebue, timeless realm of the Inupiat Eskimo. Follow the beat of a skin drum to the NANA Museum of the Arctic, watch ancient dances and traditional blanket toss. In Nome, the "Gold Rush Capital of the Arctic," learn how prospectors scooped a million dollars worth of gold from beaches in the summer of 1899, then pan for your own. See a sled dog team of Siberian Huskies in action and watch a King Island Eskimo fashion a boat of sealskin, just as his ancestors have for centuries

Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

A trip to Prudhoe Bay spotlights the North Slope's famed oil fields, the 800-mile TransAlaska pipeline and much more. In fact, it's one of our premier wildlife-viewing adventures. Here, at the end of the world, you can gaze across the vast Arctic Ocean. Then sightsee south along the Dalton Highway "haul road," crossing the ancient Brooks Range mountains into caribou country. Prudhoe Bay is offered on cruisetours 19 and 20.

Sitka, Alaska

Discover the echoes of Sitka's Russian heyday beneath the onion domes of St. Michael's Cathedral and at a performance by the New Archangel Dancers. Then stand on the spot where the United States took possession of Alaska in 1867 for $7.2 million, less than two cents per acre. The dramatic setting in the shadow of Mt. Edgecumbe is one of the loveliest in the Great Land. Take a stroll through old growth forest in Sitka National Historical Park, shop the downtown district, and poke around the Sheldon Jackson Museum for a close-up look at some of the city's most prized arts, crafts and Russian relics.

Skagway, Alaska

History never gets old in Skagway. This Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park boasts restored buildings and wooden boardwalks that invite you to take a stroll into the past. Take your time and poke into every little store from the Trail Bench to Lynch & Kennedy's Dry Goods. The Red Onion Saloon, with its honky tonk piano and costumed barmaids, is a treasure trove of memorabilia featuring pictures of Klondike Kate, Peahull Annie and other vintage characters. To complete the picture of those rip-roaring days, visit the nostalgic Trail of '98 Museum.

Tombstone Territorial Park

In 2005 Holland America Line introduced its Great Land Klondike visitors to the unique landscapes of Tombstone Territorial Park. This is ancient land, part of the original North American continent, dating back two billion years. Visitors driving out from Dawson City along the famous Dempster Highway will pass through land merely 200 million years old - the Tintina Trench, a massive fault line straddling the Yukon and parts of Alaska - and travel into the sub-arctic tundra valleys of Tombstone Territorial Park.

The vistas are endless, the valleys broad and rugged. This land attracted some of the first known settlements of man in the New World and remains the ancestral home of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation. It is also the realm of a full range of wildlife, from grizzlies and moose to peregrines and plovers.

This remote wonderland receives very few visitors. It is untamed in every sense of the word.

Tracy Arm & Twin Sawyer Glaciers

Tracy Arm, a narrow, 26-mile-long fjord, is another one of Alaska's most dramatic glacier settings. Sheltered waters wind through 7,000-foot mountain peaks and nearly vertical rock cliffs laced with waterfalls. At the head of the fjord the twin Sawyer Glaciers calve icebergs into the jade-colored inland sea. Kittiwakes, mountain goats and seals are a common sight. Whales and bears may even make an appearance in this magical place where closeness and intimacy make visitors a part of the scene.

The Yukon

Sail past the Steamboat Graveyard where beached paddle-wheelers evoke the rip-roaring days of the Yukon River. Stand on the bridge of the mv Yukon Queen II, the only sightseeing vessel for cruisetour travelers, as the Captain navigates the beautiful wilderness of the third-longest river in North America. Look for moose wading in the shallows as you enjoy a hearty prospector's lunch. Wave to rugged homesteaders as you pass their stakes. Your 102-mile journey between Eagle and Dawson City is haunted by echoes of the gold rush and blessed by magnificent scenery.

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