By state · AK

National Parks in Alaska.

Alaska's NPS network at a glance — units, designations, visit totals, and what shapes the visiting season.

By Nicholas Major · Last updated

Alaska has more than twenty NPS units across more than fifty million acres, by far the largest land share of any state's NPS footprint. Headline units include Denali, Glacier Bay, Wrangell-St. Elias (the largest NPS unit in the country), Kenai Fjords, Katmai, Gates of the Arctic, and Lake Clark. Anchorage and Fairbanks are the primary anchor cities; most park access from those points is by chartered flight, Alaska Marine Highway ferry, or shuttle bus. Reachable-by-road parks include Denali (Parks Highway), Kenai Fjords (Seward), and Wrangell-St. Elias (McCarthy Road). The practical visiting window is mid-June through August: temperatures are workable, daylight is long, and most concessioners are open. May and September are shoulder months with reduced services; the rest of the year only Anchorage-adjacent units are usefully accessible.

Every NPS unit in Alaska.

Alaska's 19 NPS units: 6 National Park & Preserves · 3 National Preserves · 2 Others · 2 National Parks · 2 National Historical Parks · 1 Wild River · 1 National Historic Area · 1 National Monument & Preserve · 1 National Monument. Combined 5-year-average annual visits: 2,696,802 (multi-state units count their full visits in every state they touch — see methodology). The most-visited unit is Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park at about 897K annual visits.

UnitDesignation5-yr avg visitsBusiest month
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park National Historical ParkKLGO 897,280 July
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve National Park & PreserveGLBA 563,102 July
Denali National Park & Preserve National Park & PreserveDENA 433,066 August
Kenai Fjords National Park National ParkKEFJ 406,817 July
Sitka National Historical Park National Historical ParkSITK 211,130 June
Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve National Park & PreserveWRST 76,848 July
Katmai National Park & Preserve National Park & PreserveKATM 32,629 July
Lake Clark National Park & Preserve National Park & PreserveLACL 18,295 July
Noatak National Preserve National PreserveNOAT 14,665 November
Kobuk Valley National Park National ParkKOVA 14,220 July
Cape Krusenstern National Monument National MonumentCAKR 13,696 November
Gates Of The Arctic National Park & Preserve National Park & PreserveGAAR 10,939 July
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve National PreserveBELA 2,648 July
Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve National PreserveYUCH 1,009 July
Alagnak Wild River Wild RiverALAG 266 July
Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve National Monument & PreserveANIA 192 July
Aleutian Islands World War II National Historic Area National Historic AreaALEU — —
Alaska Public Lands —ANCH — —
Iñupiat Heritage Center —INUP — —

Methodology

Unit list and per-unit visit counts come from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025. The "5-year average visits" column is the mean of 2021-2025 Recreation Visits. Multi-state NPS units (Yellowstone, Death Valley, Great Smoky Mountains and others) are listed under every state they touch; the per-unit visit count is the unit's total, not a per-state share. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.

Adjacent reading

Independence

Independent site. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service. Data comes from the official NPS Visitor Use Statistics Data Package, 2025; editorial analysis is ours. The NPS Arrowhead and other NPS marks are not used.

Last updated · 2026-05-19