Get Wild!

A person paddling a raft on a river.
On the Noatak River.

Considering a trip to Alaskan Wilderness?

Alaska Wilderness Map: Alaska NPS Wilderness Boundaries (arcgis.com)

These web sites contain helpful trip-planning information:

Denali National Park and Preserve
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Katmai National Park and Preserve
Kobuk Valley National Park
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
Noatak National Preserve
Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve

Learn more about what is unique and special about each of these wilderness areas through the park’s Wilderness Character Narrative.

Learn more about conducting wilderness research in Alaska's national parks.

Explore Wilderness in Alaska

  • An aerial view of the beach ridges in Cape Krusenstern.
    Cape Krusenstern Wilderness

    Wooly mammoths only exist in the fossil record, but musk oxen still claim their place among the sweeping valleys and carpets of tundra.

  • A sled dog team travels over snow under Denali.
    Denali Wilderness

    Denali Wilderness is a land of paradox. It can feel inviting, and it can feel terrifying. Accessible and remote. Breathtaking and trying.

  • Caribou antlers and skull in the foreground of a valley surrounded by mountains.
    Gates of the Arctic Wilderness

    In Gates of the Arctic wilderness, people and nature weave a story of mutual existence for more than 12,000 years.

  • Overlooking the islands in Glacier Bay.
    Glacier Bay Wilderness

    Towering glaciers, amazing wildlife, spectacular mountains...Glacier Bay is overwhelming in its beautiful scenery and magnificent sights.

  • A bear walks along a beach with mountains in the background.
    Katmai Wilderness

    A land of unpredictable contrasts, Katmai is known for its plentiful wildlife, harsh weather, dramatic geologic processes, and remoteness.

  • A hiker in winter snow high over a glacier and fjord.
    Kenai Fjords Wilderness

    A place of magnanimous and dynamic change, insistent in its grandeur.

  • A campsite with a canoe on a beach.
    Kobuk Valley Wilderness

    Kobuk Valley is a sanctuary for wilderness values and wildlife; a place for life in the Arctic to play out as it has for millennia.

  • Reflections on Lake Kontrashibutna.
    Lake Clark Wilderness

    Exhilarating. Enlightening. Enduring. Lake Clark Is a Land of Stunning Wilderness.

  • Sunrise on the Noatak River with a canoe in the foreground.
    Noatak Wilderness

    Treading the rim of the Arctic Circle and resting at the edge of the continent, the Noatak Wilderness is encircled by mountains.

  • Looking down on a mountain glacier.
    Wrangell-St. Elias Wilderness

    Wilderness in Wrangell-St. Elias is large and complex; beautiful and rugged; delicate, yet dangerous.

  • Forested mountains and a braided river.
    Yukon-Charley Wilderness

    The remote Charley River provides visitors with a wilderness experience.

Last updated: May 10, 2024