Things to do / Travel Guide
Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve
The famous bald eagles of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve can be viewed from the Haines Highway, where there are designated overlooks that allow motorists to park and see these great birds. The preserve protects the largest known gathering of bald eagles found anywhere in the world. Visitors from the four corners of the globe come to see these birds, whose numbers sometimes can be stunning. From October-January, over 3,000 eagles come here to feed on their favorite delicacy, chum salmon. If you can't visit in the fall, there are still about 200-400 eagles that can be seen on a regular basis during the summer.
Glacier Bay National Park
Glacier Bay National Park spans an area of about 3.3 million acres in the Alaska Panhandle, and is one giant scenic overlook! The park was formed by one of the most rapid glacier retreats on record. About 200 years ago, this area was nothing but glacial ice. Now, however, it offers an unprecedented natural laboratory for scientists, while tourists get to reap the benefit of exploration. The park contains gorgeous mountains rising skyward to over 15,000 feet, deep and spectacular fjords, unspoiled coastal beaches guarded by protective coves, fascinating tidewater glaciers, and coastal and estuarine waters. Glacier Bay is full of marine life like humpback whales, Stellar sea lions, porpoises, harbor seals, and sea otters.
Misty Fjords National Monument
Misty Fjords National Monument sits at the southern end of the Tongass National Forest, with the best point of access located about 22 miles east of Ketchikan. Not to be confused with a smaller “monument,” Misty Fjords constitutes the largest wilderness in Alaska's national forests, and the second-largest in the nation, at an astounding 2.3 million acres. The area is topped with dense forests growing on almost vertical slopes from sea level to mountaintops. Striking waterfalls plummet into the sea through narrow clefts over giant granite shoulders. The waterfalls are fed by lakes and streams that accumulate the annual rainfall of more than 14 feet.
Behm Canal is the predominant waterway running through the monument. This is one of the best areas in the U.S. for viewing a multitude of wildlife species, including orcas (killer whales), mountain goats, black bears, brown bears, moose, river otters, martens, wolves, wolverines, sea lions, harbor seals, and Dall porpoises. The avian varieties are also stunning, with every bird from hummingbirds and trumpeter swans to herons to bald eagles making their homes in the area. All five types of Pacific salmon are found here (king, chum, sockeye, pink, and coho). This almost infinite amount of bays, inlets, coves, and arms make for magnificent scenery, along with the thousands of lakes and streams in the monument's higher reaches.
Mt. Roberts Tramway
If you want to get above the fray, so to speak, then this is your ride! Talk about scenic overlooks! - the Mt. Roberts Tramway is one of the most popular attractions in Juneau. Take in breathtaking views of the entire southeast Alaska area, stop at a bear-viewing platform, see wildlife and alpine flowers and the Juneau Raptor Center bald eagle display. The ride begins at the Juneau cruise port, where a specially-decorated transport shuttle will take you through the rainforest to the 1800-foot-mark of Mt. Roberts. From there, you will board the tramway and off you go! Once at the top, maybe do some hiking, or just take in the expansive mountain complex as well as the gorgeous surrounding scenery for the view of a lifetime!
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