Best Time To Visit Alaska For Wildlife, Northern Lights And Adventure

Alaska is alluring for even the most intrepid of travelers. With a landscape ranging from rugged mountains and glaciers to seemingly-endless forests and jaw-dropping coastlines, Alaska is a wilderness lover’s paradise. Many visitors will claim that the best time to visit Alaska is in the peak of summer — and while they’re not entirely wrong, Northern Lights chasers and wildlife spotters keen to get specific sightings will want to visit The Last Frontier State during specific months.

1. What is the best month to go to Alaska?

What’s the best month to plan an Alaskan vacation? That depends on what you want to do and see. For instance, the best time to visit Alaska for maximum savings is in January or February when very few tourists make the journey. On the other hand, July and August are prime months to visit Alaska for exploring without contending with severe weather or early sunsets.

2. The best month to go to Alaska for wildlife viewing

July

July is the best month to go to Alaska for wildlife viewing if you’re hoping for sightings of multiple species. Many parts of Alaska enjoy the most hours of daylight in July, allowing you to spot fur seal pups, seabird colonies, muskoxen, walruses, deer fawns, moose cows and calves, sea lions, and bears hunting spawning salmon.

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3. The best month to go to Alaska for the Northern Lights

March and September

Generally speaking, the best months to go to Alaska for Northern Lights viewing are September through April. Technically, the aurora borealis lights up the night’s sky throughout the year, but you need prime darkness and weather conditions to view them. March and September are ideal months because the Northern Lights tend to be most active during the spring and autumn equinoxes.

4. The best month to go to Alaska for outdoor adventure

June

Mid June to mid August are great months for outdoor activities making this the best time to visit Alaska for adventure lovers. This is when you will see the state’s warmest temperatures and maximum hours of daylight. The fact that it’s the summer season doesn’t limit visitors to traditional summer activities; high elevation areas of Alaska are still ideal for snowboarding, skiing, and even dog sledding.

June also has more predictable weather patterns than the late-spring months. Wildlife is active in June, however, many species spawn in July, which could mean encountering quieter, more docile animals while outdoors.

5. What is the cheapest month to visit Alaska?

Alaska gets plenty cold, dark, and desolate in the dead of winter, making December through February some of the cheapest months to visit. Generally, the off-season months between October and March will be the most affordable: cheaper flights, more vacancies at hotels, fewer tourists throughout the state.

6. How many days in Alaska are enough?

You could get away with a long weekend in Alaska if you base yourself in a city like Anchorage or Juneau where a host of attractions and activities are easily accessible. However, most travelers believe between 7 and 14 days are ideal. For example, a 10-day Alaska itinerary could include hiking Denali National Park, learn about the Klondike Gold Rush at the White Pass & Yukon Route depot, watch bears hunt for salmon at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve, and kayak amongst glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park’s Resurrection Bay.

7. What is the best season in Alaska?

The summer season is one of the best times to visit Alaska for wildlife viewing and outdoor adventure. Events like the Yakutat Tern Festival, Alaska Bearfest, and Tanana Valley Sandhill Crane Festival combine with warm temperatures and extended daylight hours to give visitors the most opportunities to engage with Alaska’s culture, landscape, and attractions.

8. National Parks in Alaska: The Last Frontier’s greatest attraction

Alaska’s great outdoors are its hallmark feature. More than 70 million surface acres of public land include two national forests, 120 state parks, 16 national wildlife refuges, and 15 national parks. One of the best times to visit Alaska is when you have an opportunity to spend more than a day exploring its vast landscape. Here are five national parks in Alaska that are a must-see for travelers staying a week or more in America’s 49th state:

• Denali National Park: One of the most-visited national parks in Alaska, Denali is a prime destination for dog sled mushing, mountaineering, and chance meetings with grizzly bears.
• Katmai National Park: If you’re visiting Alaska to see bears, few spots are better than Katmai National Park, where brown bears congregate to hunt salmon on the Brooks River.
• Glacier Bay National Park: Much more than its eponymous glaciers, millions of acres of rainforests, mountains, and fjords make it a popular destination for hiking and boating in the solitude of Southeast Alaska’s wilderness.
• Kenai Fjords National Park: An Ice Age-like area where dozens of glaciers and snowy trails make for excellent snowmobiling, ice climbing, and sled dog tours.
• Kobuk Valley National Park: Home to the Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, indigenous Iñupiaq culture, and serene canoeing.

Join Insight Vacations on our Jewels of Alaska adventure: an exciting week-long tour that includes a journey along the Alaska Railroad into Denali National Park, a glacier cruise of Prince William Sound, and a float trip on the Talkeetna River.