We scoured the internet to discover the best virtual tours of each of the 62 U.S. national parks and compiled them in one place for your convenience.
In this section, we’ve grouped all national parks in the Pacific region. As the name suggests, here you will find virtual journeys to the eight national parks scattered throughout the state of Alaska.
From self-guided tours on Google Earth and high-definition video expeditions on Google’s Arts & Culture portal to live webcams and a rich variety of documentaries and dynamic videos uploaded by park enthusiasts on YouTube, these virtual journeys will transport you to the most beautiful and exciting destinations for outdoor adventures across Alaska, allowing you to get a taste of America’s truly unique and highly diverse natural wonders.
Denali National Park and Preserve
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 9,446 mi2 |
| Established: | February 26, 1917 |
| URL: | NPS |
Denali National Park and Preserve covers six million acres of Alaska’s interior wilderness. The park is formed around and named after the tallest peak in North America, Denali. (Fun unrelated fact: Denali is also the name of Wanderu’s CEO’s pup 🐶)
The park’s nature is characterized by tundra, spruce forest and glaciers. Some of the animals you might run into here include grizzly bears, wolves, moose, caribou and Dall sheep. Despite the intense collection of wildlife that inhabits the area, Denali National Park is a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts as it offers plenty of opportunities for biking, backpacking, hiking and mountaineering.
Virtual Tours of Denali National Park and Preserve:
| Google Earth | Launch tour |
| Live Webcams | Launch webcam |
| YouTube |
GoTraveler Tour (5m 03s)
Denali National Park Vacation Travel Guide (9m 27s) Denali Highway & Denali National Park (18m 43s) |
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 13,238 mi2 |
| Established: | December 2, 1980 |
| URL: | NPS |
Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is the northernmost national park in the United States, encompassing portions of Alaska’s Brooks Range. Situated entirely in the Arctic Circle, the park is the second largest in the country. Because of its remote location, it’s also the least visited U.S. national park.
As the name suggests, the park was largely designated to protect the Gates of the Arctic Wilderness that features a diverse range of animal species. There are various forms of wildlife found in the park, including brown and black bears, Arctic and red foxes, muskoxen, moose, timber wolves, snowshoe hares, bald eagles, and great horned and northern hawk-owls, among many others.
Virtual Tours of Gates of the Arctic National Park abd Preserve:
| YouTube |
GoTraveler Tour (6m 34s)
Flying Through the Gates of the Arctic National Park (3m 54s) Edge of the Earth: Gates of the Arctic (17m 10s) |
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 5,037 mi2 |
| Established: | December 2, 1980 |
| URL: | NPS |
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is located in Southeast Alaska and it encompasses the area around the Glacier Bay national monument. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
There are over 1,000 glaciers in the park and its ecosystems include wet tundra, Alpine tundra, coastal forest, and, of course, glaciers and icefields. Like other national parks in Alaska, here you can find brown and black bears, timber wolves, coyotes, black-tailed deers, red foxes, and mountain goats, among many other mammal and bird species.
Virtual Tours of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve:
| Live Webcams | Launch webcam |
| YouTube |
GoTraveler Tour (5m 11s)
Glacier Bay Alaska Documentary (16m 31s) |
Katmai National Park and Preserve
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 6,395 mi2 |
| Established: | December 2, 1980 |
| URL: | NPS |
Katmai National Park is located on a peninsula in the south of Alaska. The area is famous for its large number of black bears, attracted by the abundant congregation of salmon in the Brooks Falls. One of the most popular natural attractions of the park is the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes which is filled with ash flow from the eruption of the Novarupta volcano.
The park offers various landscapes, spanning tundra, forests, lakes and mountains. Other than bears, the area is populated by snowshoe hares, timber wolves, coyotes, and red foxes, among other wildlife species. In the surrounding waters, you will find several types of whales, including gray, beluga and killer whales, as well as harbor seals, sea lions and sea otters.
Virtual Tours of Katmai National Park and Preserve:
| YouTube |
GoTraveler Tour (5m 43s)
Searching for Active Volcanoes and Giant Brown Bears in Katmai National Park (20m 18s) A Trip to Katmai National Park (39m 33s) |
Kenai Fjords National Park
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 1,047 mi2 |
| Established: | December 2, 1980 |
| URL: | NPS |
Kenai Fjords National Park is located in south-central Alaska and encompasses the Kenai Peninsula. The park is named after the numerous fjords that are characteristic for the area and it contains the Harding Icefield which is one of the largest ice fields in the U.S.
The park’s fauna includes various terrestrial and aquatic species such as brown and black bears, sea otters, moose, harbor seals, and humpback and killer whales.
Virtual Tours of Kenai Fjords National Park:
| Google Arts & Culture | Launch tour |
| YouTube |
GoTraveler Tour (5m 4s)
Day Cruise of Kenai Fjords National Park (13m 50s) Kenai Fjords Amazing Visuals (10m 18s) |
Kobuk Valley National Park
Western Arctic National Parklands / Flickr
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 2,735 mi2 |
| Established: | December 2, 1980 |
| URL: | NPS |
Located in the northwestern region of Alaska, Kobuk Valley National Park is not accessible by road, making it one of the least visited U.S. national parks. It was established in 1980 to preserve the 100 ft high Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, as well as the caribou migration routes that it encompasses.
Virtual Tours of Kobuk Valley National Park:
| YouTube | GoTraveler Tour (3m 30s) |
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 6,296.9 mi2 |
| Established: | December 2, 1980 |
| URL: | NPS |
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve is located in southwest Alaska and it covers many streams and lakes that are of crucial importance to the Bristol Bay salmon fishery, including Lake Clark that gave the park its name. Among the highlights of the park are the rainforests lining up the coastline of the Cook Inlet.
The park’s Kvichak River is the most productive watershed for sockeye salmon in the world. Because of that, brown bears are very common for the area and bear watching is a popular activity among the park’s visitors.
Virtual Tours of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve:
| YouTube |
GoTraveler Tour (4m 15s)
Lake Clark National Park: Tranquil Beauty in Alaska (6m 26s) Flying into Lake Clark National Park (2m 54s) |
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
| Location: | Alaska |
| Area: | 20,587.19 mi2 |
| Established: | December 1, 1978 |
| URL: | NPS |
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is located in south central Alaska. It encompasses a large portion of the Saint Elias Mountains and it is designated as the largest single wilderness in the United States.
The park’s Mount Wrangell is one of several volcanoes found in the area. The ongoing volcanic activity and glaciation have shaped the park’s surface. The Bagley Icefield stretches across a large portion of the park and makes for 60 percent of the permanently ice-covered territories in Alaska.
Virtual Tours of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park:
| YouTube |
GoTraveler Tour (6m 5s)
One Day at Wrangell-St. Elisa National Park (8m 8s) Adventure in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (4m 54s) |
