Alaska
See the world's best sky show from your private backcountry cabin.
Test yourself on these wild routes.
Our favorite high-risk, high-reward adventures in North America.
A former Denali ranger shares her secrets for finding solitude, scoring the most coveted permits, seeing wildlife, beating the weather, and more. Follow her from-the-field advice for the ultimate trip in America's wildest park.
Park your tent in one of these 10 spots, and you'll be happy in the morning. Guaranteed.
Go ahead, look again. And again. These images are worth a third, fourth, and then a tenth gaze.
Denali isn’t just for experts. These guinea pigs will prove it. Probably.
Can you ever really have too much of a good thing? Once you've seen the biggest tree, largest glacier, and deepest canyon, nothing else compares.
See scores of stunning images from the Grand Canyon, Denali, Yosemite, and more.
See California dunes, Nevada red-rock canyons, Alaska's deep forest, quiet Oregon Coast, and Washington's Cascade lakes.
Your favorite Alaska hikes—from dayhikes to weekenders to multiday trips.
Explore Denali's top dayhikes, photo ops, and epic wildlife treks.
Cross the west edge of the Chugach for glaciers, bears, and wildflowers.
The undisputed local experts—you—choose the top parks, trails, campsites, and weekend getaways in Alaska.
Tackle an epic adventure in the far north.
Find deep solitude where the continent crashes into a frigid ocean.
We've covered 245,591 miles of trails in our 37-year history. Here are our 20 all-time favorite trips, plus—shocking!—20 routes we never covered.
Pick your pilgrimage through the backcountry Holy Land: Mt Eielson Loop or Kesugi Ridge.
This 39-mile Alaska hike offers big scenery without a bush plane.
Ten point-to-point treks with the payoffs of a thru-hike, but hikeable in a week.
The best hikes near Anchorage.
The best hikes in Northwest, as suggested by the best local hiking clubs.
Explore pure wilderness on this two-day circuit in the Alaska Range.
Feast your eyes on this photo of Alaska's North Slope, along the Arctic's Sagavanirktok River.
What makes a backpacker a backpacker? It's not the garage full of gear or piles of guidebooks--it's the experiences, from thru-hiking a long trail to pushing your personal envelope to inspiring a child's love of wilderness. Here we present BACKPACKER's new Life List: 10 experiences to add to your tick-listnow--and the key skills you need to nail them.
Coming face to face with the biggest predator in North America might just alter your worldview.
Our army of reader-reader scouts mapped 59 local hikes from South Carolina to Northern California. See their favorites, then learn how to download tracklogs and waypoints.
See five volcanoes, camp at secluded lakes, and hike through a swarm of butterflies. (Click linked trips for GPS waypoints, photos, and more.)
Hit the water, and see plenty of wildlife and scenic views, on these paddling trips in Alaska, Florida, and Minnesota.
Paddle along Glacier Bay's dynamic shores.
Plan your perfect Alaskan trip–from a budget-friendly weekend to an entry-level expedition–with field reports from Steve Howe.
On a remote Arctic peak, a father and his teenager encounter the hardest of all human challenges.
Imagine an Alaskan paradise with trout bigger than your leg, bears, and caribou traipsing by camp, and no people–except your good friends. This place exists, we just can't tell you where it is.
Witness the effects of climate change on a challenging trek in the Delta Mountains.
Easy routefinding and life-list sights make this thru-hike a must for Alaska novices.
Hike to a private paradise deep in the Talkeetna Mountains.
Hike a classic in Kenai Fjords–and escape the crowds by making it an overnight.
Tackle an epic route through Chitistone Canyon in Wrangell-St. Elias National Preserve.
Hike a historic, kid-friendly trail to wildflower meadows and fish-filled lakes.
Just minutes from town, score big scenery fast on the South Fork of Eagle River.
Bring plenty of supplies to this alpine plateau in the Chugach Mountains–you'll want to extend your stay.
See the awesome Valdez Mountains on this off-trail adventure to Point Odyssey and beyond.
The legendary shooter once said that photographs were "usually looked at, seldom looked into." Take a look into three hikes that inspired some of Ansel Adams greatest photos, and take a few pictures yourself.
Lost? Murdered? When the wilderness swallows people without a trace, who's to say what happened?
Hike these paths before the masses find them.
During a one-month August journey, BACKPACKER undertook multiple crowd-free Alaskan backpacking routes and returned with extensive photos, video, & GPS.
On the Brooks Range's Arctic slop, coal mining and oil and natural gas drilling are threats to half a million caribou, and the Arctic's highest concentration of grizzlies.
Take a fatherless herd boy from poverty-wracked Swaziland, endow him with an indomitable will and a few wealthy friends, give him the lungs of Ed Viesturs, and you have...
Take your pick of mountains, rainforests, deserts, or the ocean–or experience all four zones in a single day–one advantage of living the outdoor dream along the west coast of America.
After tackling Mt. McKinley, Sibusiso Vilane & writer Steve Howe foraged in Talkeetna, hitchhiked the Alaskan highways, and met a grizzly in Denali.
The Alaska Marine Highway is the world's most scenic floating campground.
The white, fluffy, subzero-temperature-loving polar bear takes this title.
Use our comprehensive state-specific pages to find hikes in your home state our a state you're planning on visiting.
Another dead Denali wolf. A battle for the soul of wild Alaska. Our reporter visits America's most iconic wilderness for the inside story of a park under siege.
Forget flying south. Learn the secrets of cold-weather survival from three well-adapted birds.
You guessed, it, you need to head North. Here's where you'll get the best view of the Northern Lights.
Denver teacher Mike Haugen sets a new state summits speed record–fifty state highpoints in less than 50 days!
When senior editor Tracy Ross investigated Denali's wolf controversy, she expected to see a dead wolf--but not a skinned one. Go behind the scenes with video filmed in the field and an interview with Ross on the experience.
Author Tracy Ross discusses her feature story "Dogs of War" devoted to the debate raging in Alaska over the famed Toklat wolf pack.
Paddling, hiking, testing self arrest skills–we cover it all in these 10 epic trips throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
A sudden swim in a glacier-fed river nearly finishes a ranger.
Stunned by the loss of his friends, a stranded climber struggles down one of Alaska's toughest peaks.
Beat your own path through Denali National Park's confounding and little-traveled
Wyoming Hills.
The system was rigged, says a former ranger. Here's how to beat it.
Hike with grizzlies in this remote northern corner of Alaska's greatest park.
America's first national park is a playground for grizzlies, wolves, moose, and hikers (not in that order).
Explore two ecosystems in this hinterland of moss-draped forests, ancient trees, and snowcapped peaks.
Trees, trees are everywhere, but sometimes there isn't a dry twig in sight.
Graze blueberry patches, explore swimming holes, and tag the South's high points on this sultry hike.
Send him out on a work trip. Let wilderness do the rest.
Drop into America's belly on a little-known hike that dips in and out of four different canyons, each blessed with gurgling spring water.
Climb classic Sierra passes, ogle granite monoliths, and camp above treeline in John Muir's second home.
Scramble up class III peaks and cross late summer snowfields on this strenuous but straightforward trip through Montana's big-mountain country.
The ultimate vacation in one of America's iconic parks requires the ultimate hiking plan: classic scenery, no crowds, and secret campsites. Here's how to spend a perfect week in Glacier, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Olympic, Denali, and the Great Smoky Mountains.
From the West Coast to the Rocky Mountains to New England, we've got nine epic ridgewalks just for you.
These weekend float trips have side hikes that rival the paddling for scenery and solitude.
No, not the famously wind-whipped peaks in New Hampshire. Explore some of the country's lesser-known Whites with these accessible spring summits in Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska.
How can I comparison-shop for a guided trek in Alaska?
The Lower 48's most glaciated region is losing its ice at an astonishing rate.
Alaska is the last frontier, but energy development and climate change promise to change the face of our wildest state in your lifetime. Here's how.
What do Florida's Everglades and Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias have in common? Both face uncertain futures as temperatures rise.
Tour the wildlife menagerie that is southeast Alaska on two kayak trips
The stampede is over--but not the fun--in this trailhead town.
Experience the nighttime sky from 20,320 feet up majestic Mt. McKinley -- but first read our guide to the trip.
The slow boat to Alaska requires duct tape, an elastic itinerary, and a hunger for in-your-face adventure.
Wildlife aplenty at Walrus Islands State Game Sanctuary
From paddling Lake Superior to glacier-hopping in Alaska: 6 hair-raising, lung-busting adventures from America's top outfitters
We follow a giant, endangered caribou herd from the Yukon to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Part 6.
Use your backpacking skills at the best surfing, climbing, trail running, and even paragliding spots
Will anyone ever climb the dangerous northwest face of Alaska's Devil's Thumb? Maybe they shouldn't.
We follow a giant, endangered caribou herd from the Yukon to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Part 5.
They kill swiftly and silently. They flit like ghosts through enemy forests. And they will brew you a fine cup of cowboy coffee. Meet America's deadliest hikers as we hump ruck with the Special Forces.
We follow a giant, endangered caribou herd from the Yukon to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Part 4.
Visit this remote section of the Arctic before climate change alters it forever
We follow a giant, endangered caribou herd from the Yukon to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Part 3.
We follow a giant, endangered caribou herd from the Yukon to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Part 2.
Paddle blue inlets too new for any topo.
We follow a giant, endangered caribou herd from the Yukon to Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Part 1.
Will he keep up? Karsten Heuer embarks on an audacious 1,200-mile expedition-cum-caribou chase.
Just minutes from Anchorage lie dozens of world-class hiking and paddling trips. This guide gives you the best, plus gear and travel tips to smooth the way.
How do you plan a route following 123,000 migrating caribou across Canada and Alaska? Try to keep up.
18 facts you didn't know about Alaska and Canada's Porcupine Caribou herd.
Protection one of Alaska and Canada's largest caribou herds is so close, yet so far away.
How do you plan an expedition to follow 123,000 migrating caribou across Canada and Alaska? Very carefully.
Do you have what it takes to climb Alaska's Denali? Find out with our mountaineer's guide.
Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Let rivers and ridgelines be your compass as you hike in the shadow of Alaska's Mt. McKinley.
Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Alaska.
Camping with kids can plant a wild seed in them that will grow as they do-but only if you get them Out There.
When bushwacking a trail, go high altitude and stay there.
Just because it's flat and treeless doesn't mean it's easy hiking.
Distances can appear farther in the tundra.
Need someplace to go shoe with your snowshoes? Whet your whistle with one of these great places.
In the 20 years since the passage of the Alaska Lands Act, nothing has changed in many of the state's wild places. And that's reason to celebrate.
Why huff and puff to get to an isolated campsite? Simply grab a paddle, then let the current carry you to a secluded riverside trailhead.
Alaska's premier area for fish and wildlife.
Crossing rivers can be treacherous -- unless you know what you're doing.
Like shimmering rainbows in the night, the northern lights electrify the sky with color.
If you think autumn is simply a time to rake leaves, then you need to read our guide to the best of the fall season.
Missing for more than a month in the Australian Outback, American tourist Robert Bogucki was found alive and amazingly coherent yesterday in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia.
The Tordrillo Mountains are so rugged, you'd swear you're the first human to set foot there.
Journey to Alaska's far northern edge, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where the midnight sun shines like candlelight on the mountains.
When gently paddling amidst the mini-icebergs that grace Prince William Sound, you ponder one question: why walk?
A once-in-a-lifetime solo hike through Lake Clark National Park, where the midnight sun shines like candlelight on the mountains.
Wrangell-St. Elias National park is known for its jaw-dropping scenery, but there's just as much beauty at your feet.
In Alaska's Tongass, the ancient trees have something to say...if you're willing to listen.
In a land with few trails, Alaska's Resurrection Pass stands above them all.
