Insight Guides: Alaska: (Insight Guides Main Series)

Insight Guide Alaska is your comprehensive guide book to one of the world's most exciting destinations. Full-color photos throughout combine with the lively text to help you discover this vast state - Alaska is more than twice the size of Texas, is home to 17 of the nation's 20 highest peaks, and has more active glaciers than the rest of the inhabited world. Our Insight recommendsA" section outlines top attractions and activities not to miss, while features by local writers cover a whole range of subjects - how to choose a cruise, staying in a wildlife refuge, getting around by ferry, native art and artifacts, the world's most challenging dog sled race, gold-panning and how to spot a bear. Over thirty Places chapters cover the entire state, from the Panhandle in the southeast to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the far north. Evocative accounts of the state's national parks and varied wildernesses combine with lively descriptions of the main towns and cities, all illustrated in full color photographs. Maps throughout help you get around, and the travel tips cover all the practical information you'll need, such as how to get around, how much to budget for your trip, and extensive listings on where to stay and where to eat.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Best of Alaska; The Last Frontier; Preserving the Wilderness; An Independent People. History: Decisive Dates; Beginnings; The Making of Modern Alaska. Features: Visiting Alaska's Natives; Life in Winter; Wildlife; Surviving in the Wilderness; Cruising's Irresistible Growth; Alaska from the Air. Insights: A Trapper's Life; Economy and Ecology; Public-Use Cabins; Big Ships vs Small Ships; Getting Around by Ferry; National Forests; Juneau's Trail; State Parks; Yukon Villages; The Dalton Highway; Wildlife Refuges; Mixing Bears and People. Photo Features: The Great Klondike Gold Rush; The Eskimo-Indian Olympics; Native Art and Artifacts; The Iditarod Trail; Serengeti of the North. Places: Introduction; Touring the Panhandle; Ketchikan; Misty Fiords; Wrangell; Petersberg; Sitka; Juneau; Glacier Bay National Park; Haines; Skagway; Yakutat; Southcentral Alaska; Anchorage; Chugach State Park; Prince William Sound; Wrangell-St Elias National Park; Kenai Peninsula; Matanuska-Sustina Valley; Alaska's Interior; Denali National Park; The Alcan; Fairbanks; Beyond Fairbanks; The Far North; The Arctic; Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; Gates of the Arctic; Cape Krusenstern; Nome and Seward Peninsula; Southwest Alaska; Kodiak; Lake Clark National Park; Katami National Park; McNeil River State Game Sanctuary; Remote Communities. Travel Tips: Transportation; Accommodations; Activities; Contacts; A-Z: Practical Information. Maps: Alaska; Southeast Alaska: the Panhandle; Ketchikan; Wrangell; Petersberg; Sitka; Juneau; Haines; Skagway; Southcentral and Interior Alaska; Downtown Anchorage; Around Anchorage; Matanuska-Susitna Valley/Downtown Palmer; Denail National Park; Fairbanks; The Far North; Southwest Alaska; Kodiak. Index.