Alaska
Amazing Alaska: The Last Frontier, From Mountains to the Sea
Program No. 24425RJ
Explore pristine landscapes and the wilderness of Alaska as you journey from mountains to the sea, learning from Native peoples, discovering geological wonders and spotting wildlife.
Enroll with Confidence
We want your Road Scholar learning adventure to be something to look forward to—not worry about. Learn more
Protecting the Environment
We offset a portion of the emissions created by your travel. Learn more
10 days
9 nights
23 meals
9B 5L 9D
1
Check-in, Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation
Fairbanks, AK
3
Cultural Center, Denali National Park, Dog Sled Homestead
Denali National Park, AK
4
Denali National Park Visitors Center, Rafting
Denali National Park, AK
5
Denali Wilderness Field Trip, Exploring “Front Country”
Denali National Park, AK
6
Talkeetna Historical Society, Native Heritage Center
Anchorage, AK
7
Eagle River, Hike, Free Time, Anchorage Museum
Anchorage, AK
10
Transfer to Anchorage, Program Concludes
Anchorage, AK
At a Glance
Journey from the highest mountain range in North America in Interior Alaska to the dramatic glaciated temperate rain forests of the Southeast Alaska coast on a learning adventure from Fairbanks to Seward. Learn about Native Athabascan culture, meet research scientists, take a field trip to see muskoxen, caribou and raft along the border of Denali National Park. Spend three nights at the entrance of Denali National Park, then take the Alaska Railroad through breathtaking scenery to Seward, nestled in beautiful Resurrection Bay. Visit the Alaska SeaLife Center, where researchers share their work rehabilitating the ecosystem after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and observe marine mammals in Kenai Fjords National Park as you voyage past majestic glaciers.
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
This is an on-the-go program with a few days of early start times, long drives, and getting on/off a motorcoach. Walking on uneven terrain. Standing for an hour at a time. Several opportunities for hiking, with some options over uneven dirt surfaces, steps, and moderate elevation gain and length. Please refer to daily activity notes.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Best of all, you’ll…
- With accommodations at the entrance of Denali National Park, enjoy opportunities to hike, learn of the park’s rich history and search for wildlife along the way.
- Cruise past tidewater glaciers and watch for whales, otters, sea lions and puffins from a catamaran in Kenai Fjords National Park.
- Get up close and personal with world-class sled dogs as you learn what it takes for them to race nearly 1,000 miles through the Alaskan wilderness.
Suggested Reading List
(10 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Amazing Alaska: The Last Frontier, From Mountains to the Sea
Program Number: 24425
Shadows on the Koyukuk
Born in 1915 in the old ways, this is an account of becoming modern. After statehood Huntington served for twenty years on the board of Alaska Fish and Game, an appointment that shows how valued he was by various governors.
Fodor's Alaska (Full-cover Travel Guide)
More than 25 detailed maps, color photos, recommendations from locals, up-to-date coverage on Juneau, Glacier Bay, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Skagway, Ketchikan, Hines, and many other areas!
Ordinary Wolves
Seth Kanter provides a view of life in Alaska through the eyes of a Caucasian boy who wants to be be a native.
Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod
Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod, an eleven hundred and eighty mile sled-dog race through the Alaskan wilderness. For seventeen days, Paulsen and his team of dogs endured blizzards, frostbite, dogfights, elk attacks, insomnia, hallucinations in a relentless push to carry on.
Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People
Excellent account from a significant Native Leader, born in a sod iglu, and the struggle for Native self-determination.
Two in the Far North
Territorial Alaska, a love story, an adventure story, by someone who became a major icon in conservation circles. Also growing up in early Fairbanks. President Clinton awarded Margaret Murie the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998.
Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival
An Athabascan Indian legend of betrayal, courage, and survival.
Alaska: Saga of a Bold Land
This book tells the entire story of Alaska, from its early inhabitants to its current challenges.
Going to Extremes
When the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline started an oil boom in the late 1970s, journalist, Joe McGinniss, headed north in search of what was left of the "last frontier."
Finding True North: Firsthand Stories of the Booms that Built Modern Alaska
A good mix of life in Alaska now and how resources shaped its history.
