If Alaska is known for anything, it’s the national parks and preserves that sprawl all over the massive, scenic landscape.

National parks in Alaska are among the "must-do” items on your itinerary, so we have provided a handy "all you need to know about Alaska’s National Parks” itinerary.

Take a look at this Alaska National Parks list to help you create an itinerary for your Alaska trip.

According to the National Park Service, Alaska has 8 national parks, covering millions of acres of The Last Frontier. There are five national parks near Anchorage alone. If you want to see national parks near Anchorage, you have close access to Denali National Park, Kenai Fjords, Lake Clark, Katmai, and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. 

If you want to see all of Alaska’s national parks, here’s what we suggest: Use Anchorage as your hub.

First, see Kenai Fjords. Then travel to Katmai and Lake Clark, which are roughly two-hour flights from Anchorage. You can drive to Denali from Anchorage (Fairbanks isn’t far, either) and even get to Wrangell-St. Elias from there.

When driving, be aware of the weather, hazards such as potholes, and an occasional lack of cell phone service are real.

The other parks are more remote, but plane travel can be arranged to Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley, again using Anchorage as your hub. Glacier Bay is best approached by boat, where you might see whales breaching or glaciers calving.

What we’ve collected below is our list of eight of the top national parks in Alaska

Kenai Fjords National Park

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

This is the largest national park in the United States at 13 million acres. Glaciers and ice climbing tours are available. The park features a rugged landscape and Kennecott, a ghost town with the historic 13-story Kennecott copper mills.  

Denali National Park

Denali is probably the best-known national park in Alaska, and for good reason. Highlighted by 20,310-ft. Mt. Denali, the park is home to reindeer, elk, wolves, and the famous Denali grizzlies. All of the wildlife, surrounded by astounding scenery, make Denali a must-see. There are many ways to explore the Denali National Park. Check out Voyij to find a tour that is best suited for you! 

Glacier Bay National Park

If you’re going to see this incredible national park – and you should – you’ll probably arrive by water or air. But what a trip! See calving glaciers (calving is when huge chunks of the glacier slide into the ocean), marine life like sea otters and whales, and unforgettable scenery.

Take an unforgettable flightseeing experience over the East Arm of Glacier Bay National Park and see more mountain peaks, rivers, and glaciers than you could come to know in a lifetime.

Gates of the Arctic National Park 

This park is not for the faint-hearted. The "gates” are two mountains that frame the landscape. The park itself is inaccessible by road but you can travel the Dalton Highway on the park’s eastern edge to get a view of the Brooks Range and diverse wildlife. The terrain is largely untouched, but you can hike there, although there are no trails and you should be experienced in outdoor survival skills. Make sure to check weather conditions before heading out.

Kobuk Valley National Park

See thousands of caribou as they migrate through the park. Sculpted dunes, the Kobuk River, the Onion Portage, and the other wildlife that occupy the park. Grizzlies, wolves, foxes, and moose are just some of the untamed specimens you will see in Kobuk Valley National Park.

Katmai National Park and Preserve

This park was established in 1918 to protect this volcano-ravaged area near the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The park is home to artifacts as old as 9,000 years. This is a protected habitat for salmon in the Brooks River and, of course, where there are salmon there are grizzly bears.

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve

Few places on Planet Earth are as stunning as this national park. You can see steaming volcanoes, jagged mountains, crystalline lakes, salmon runs in the Newhalen River, and bears, always the bears. Become one with Alaska when you visit this incredible park. 

If you plan on visiting only a few of Alaska’s national parks, rest assured that whatever you choose you will not be disappointed.

There is just so much to see in The Last Frontier!