Which Alaska National Parks Are Worth It? We Ranked All 8

If you're trying to visit all 63 U.S. national parks, I’ll make this easy: yes, all eight Alaska national parks are worth it. Go! Every one gave us an experience or story I'm glad we have.

But not everyone is trying to visit all 63 national parks. You might be planning your first trip to Alaska and trying to decide which national parks deserve a spot on it. Maybe you have room for one big splurge. Or maybe you're looking at the price of a bush plane and wondering, Is this actually worth it?

So instead of ranking Alaska's national parks by how difficult they are to visit, this time I'm ranking them by how much we enjoyed them and which national parks we think are most worth your time, money, and effort.

#1: Kenai Fjords National Park

If someone told me they were taking their first trip to Alaska and could only visit one national park, I’d send them to Kenai Fjords.

It's the combination of accessibility, scenery, and sheer number of things you can do that puts it at number one for me.

You can drive from Anchorage to Seward along the famous Seward Highway, then drive directly into the Exit Glacier area of Kenai Fjords National Park. That alone makes it easier to work into an Alaska trip than many of the parks on this list.

But once you're there, you have so many more options.

We went ice climbing near Exit Glacier, dog sledding, sea kayaking in Aialik Bay, and hiking. We went on a wildlife and glacier boat tour, and walked around downtown Seward, which is gorgeous in and of itself. Standing around Seward Boat Harbor with mountains rising behind the water was exactly what I imagined when I pictured coastal Alaska. Catch it on a sunny day and it’s simply spectacular.

If you want one park that can give you a big, adventurous, scenic Alaska experience without requiring a bush plane or complicated logistics, Kenai Fjords would be my pick.

Why it's worth it: Incredible scenery, easy access, and more ways to experience Alaska than we could fit into four days.

#2: Katmai National Park

Before this trip, Katmai was the park I was most nervous about. Bears terrified me, and we were about to spend two nights camping in one of the most densely populated brown bear areas in the world.

Then our floatplane landed at Brooks Camp, and there was a mama bear with two cubs standing just beyond the Katmai National Park sign. And somehow, over the next two days, the thing I'd been most afraid of became one of my favorite experiences of the entire trip.

At Katmai, the bears aren't limited to Brooks Falls. You might spend an hour watching one fish from the ledge of the falls, find fresh tracks along the beach, spot bears wandering near the visitor center, or get stuck in a 35-minute bear jam because one is blocking the trail you need to use. After two days of never knowing where we'd see the next bear or what it would be doing, I didn't want to leave.

In fact, I'd happily go back and stay for 10 days if I could get a reservation that long. Brooks Camp reservations are incredibly competitive, but we still enter the Brooks Lodge lottery because if our names ever get picked, we're going back.

That's probably the strongest endorsement I can give it. If seeing brown bears in the wild is anywhere on your Alaska wish list, Katmai is worth the money and effort it takes to get there.

Why it's worth it: We spent two days living among bears. Not searching for one through binoculars or hoping one appeared in the distance. We watched them fish, walked the same trails they used, waited when they blocked our path, and woke up every morning knowing we had another full day to see what happened. Katmai is an experience unlike anywhere else we've visited.

#3: Lake Clark National Park

I knew we were going to Lake Clark to see bears, but I was not prepared for the flight.

The mountain scenery we flew through on the way to Chinitna Bay was some of the most beautiful terrain I have ever seen. Even if you'd told me there wasn't a single bear waiting for us when we landed, I would have been staring out the window thinking, This was worth it.

Fortunately, there were bears. Lots of them! We watched brown bears digging for clams along the coast, and at one point there were more grizzlies in a single view than I'd ever seen at once. (27 of them, according to our guide—it was tough to keep track!)

But when I think about Lake Clark, I still think about those mountains.

This is one of the more expensive parks to add to a trip because you'll probably be flying in, but it also works well as one big adventure from the Anchorage area. If you're already going to be in Anchorage and want to splurge on one unforgettable day, Lake Clark would be very high on my list.

Why it's worth it: The bears are incredible. The flight through the mountains is somehow even more so.

#4: Glacier Bay National Park

Glacier Bay is great for a completely different reason. Once we got there, we were there.

There wasn't another national park we needed to drive to that afternoon. There wasn't a giant list of attractions competing for our attention. We'd flown into Gustavus, checked into Glacier Bay Lodge, and for the next few days, Glacier Bay was where we were supposed to be. I found that incredibly relaxing.

Then, there was the wildlife. We saw whales, sea otters, sea lions, and birds, but one of the tiniest moments is still one of the things I remember most vividly from the entire trip: 17 puffins pattering across the surface of the water.

Add the glaciers, mountains, kayaking, and full-day trip into the bay, and Glacier Bay gave us exactly what I'd hoped for from a remote Alaska national park without feeling like we constantly had to work to experience it.

The downside is that it's geographically separated from the roadtrip portion of Alaska, so you have to intentionally build it into your trip.

Why it's worth it: Glacier Bay gives you a chance to disappear into one spectacular corner of Alaska for a few days and let the park be the entire destination. Also, the wildlife.

#5: Denali National Park

Denali gets a boost on this list because it's the easiest to visit. You can drive there, there are plenty of places to stay, and you can explore on foot and by car without booking a tour or hiring a guide.

Plus, the park has the cutest national park employees in all the land. (I'm talking about the sled dogs. You have to meet them!)

If you go, I'd spend enough time to travel as far into Denali as access allows during your visit. The farther you go, the more the park opens up around you and the more chances you have to see wildlife.

Is Denali the park I'd spend thousands of extra dollars rearranging an Alaska trip to reach? No. Would I include it in almost any Alaska road trip that gets remotely close to it? Absolutely.

Why it's worth it: It's one of the easiest ways to experience an Alaska national park without the cost and logistical commitment required by the fly-in parks.

#6: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Wrangell-St. Elias is fascinating. It's also a little too remote and wild for my personal taste, which is why it lands here rather than higher on my list.

Getting there is half the adventure. We drove McCarthy Road, parked outside town, used a payphone to contact our lodging, got picked up, stayed in a cabin without Wi-Fi or cell service, and shared an outhouse that had a screen instead of a door.

But then we walked on Root Glacier, jumped into a blue pool, explored Kennicott, went river rafting, and got to experience this strange, fascinating little pocket of Alaska that feels very far removed from normal life.

If you're a hiker, climber, rafter, backpacker, or someone who reads that description and thinks, That sounds awesome, I could easily see Wrangell-St. Elias ranking much higher for you than it does for me. That's what makes it worth considering for the right traveler.

Why it's worth it: Wrangell-St. Elias is an adventure destination. If remote roads, glaciers, old mining towns, rafting, climbing, and fewer conveniences sound like your version of fun, don't let its position on my list deter you.

#7: Gates of the Arctic National Park

This one feels almost ridiculous to put at number seven because being dropped off by a bush plane in Gates of the Arctic for five hours was one of the coolest things we have ever done.

Our pilot landed beside Long Lake, helped us unload, and flew away. Then it was just us. We canoed, swam, took pictures, explored, and relaxed beside the lake. There were no roads, no cell phones, no visitor center, and no other people in sight. That kind of experience in a national park is incredibly rare.

So why is Gates seventh? Because I don't think it's the right Alaska national park for most travelers.

It's expensive to reach. It's remote. There aren't traditional national park attractions waiting for you when you arrive. What made our experience so special was precisely the thing that might make someone else wonder why they spent so much money to get there.

But if you're reading this thinking, Wait. A bush plane drops me off beside a lake in the Arctic wilderness and leaves me there? Where do I sign up? This is your park.

Why it's worth it: Gates of the Arctic offers something most national parks can't anymore: the opportunity to be genuinely, completely alone in an enormous wilderness.

#8: Kobuk Valley National Park

Kobuk Valley is last for one reason: We didn't really get to experience the park we had planned to experience.

Our goal was to land at the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes. Instead, a storm was moving through the park, and our pilot wasn't sure we'd be able to reach Kobuk Valley at all.

We tried anyway, made it into the park, landed beside an unnamed lake, hopped out, and about five minutes later climbed back into the plane before the weather got worse.

I'm incredibly glad we went. That tiny landing became part of the adventure of visiting all eight Alaska national parks in one trip, and I'll always remember the uncertainty of that flight and the excitement of realizing we'd actually made it into Kobuk.

But I can't rank a short weather-altered visit above seven parks where we had time to actually explore.

Why it's worth it: If you're trying to visit every U.S. national park, absolutely go. If the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes or the sheer remoteness of the park specifically excites you, go. But based purely on what we personally got to experience, I can't rank it higher.

So, Which Alaska National Park Is Most Worth Visiting?

If I could only choose one, I'd pick Kenai Fjords. It gives you so much of what people travel to Alaska hoping to experience in one relatively accessible place: mountains, glaciers, wildlife, water, hiking, and some incredible adventure activities.

If wildlife is your priority, I'd choose Katmai and stay overnight.

If you want one big splurge from Anchorage, I'd seriously consider Lake Clark.

If you want to slow down and immerse yourself somewhere remote, go to Glacier Bay.

If you want an Alaska national park that's easy to work into a road trip, start with Denali.

If you want adventure, you might love Wrangell-St. Elias.

If the thought of boarding a tiny plane and disappearing into the Arctic wilderness sounds more exciting than terrifying, Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley might be worth more to you than almost anything else on this list.

And if your goal is all eight? Visit all eight. I'm so glad we did!

Keep Planning Your Alaska Adventure

Ready to start planning your own Alaska trip? We've got three resources to help:

📘 Plan your trip with our Alaska National Parks Travel Guide. Get our 9-, 14-, and 21-day itineraries, plus the transportation, lodging, activities, and logistics we used to plan and visit all eight Alaska national parks.

🐻 Experience the adventure with Alaska Diaries. Come along for our full 21-day Great Alaskan Road Trip, from bush planes and bear jams to glacier kayaking, dog sledding, canceled plans, and everything that happened along the way.

🎒 Pack with our Alaska Packing List. See the clothing, gear, and travel essentials we packed for three weeks of bush planes, boats, hiking, camping, rain, mosquitoes, and constantly changing Alaska weather.

Related Posts