Take a Walk on the Wild Side!
By Travel Trade Staff
Whether it’s furry, feathered, or finned, there are plenty of species to be found running wild within the city of Anchorage including red fox, snowshoe hare, beaver, porcupine, coyote, lynx, beluga whale, Dall sheep, moose, salmon and a number of resident and migratory bird species. To see these animals and more, visit the city’s most popular wildlife viewing areas.
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
1-866-773-2025
www.alaskawildlife.org
Formerly known as Big Game Alaska, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) offers guaranteed wildlife viewing. Surrounded by mountains and hanging glaciers, AWCC is located on an expanse of natural wetlands about 50 miles south of Anchorage right off the Seward Highway. Here you will find a herd of bison, (including endangered wood bison), elk, Sitka black-tailed deer, moose, caribou, musk ox, grizzly and black bears and a variety of game birds. The Center is self-supporting, relying on customers to continue its mission of wildlife rehabilitation. New to the AWCC this year is an 18-acre enclosure for Hugo the grizzly bear. A viewing platform overlooking the enclosure allows visitors a safe way to enjoy watching an Alaska grizzly in its natural environment.
Alaska Zoo
907-346-2673
www.alaskazoo.org
The Alaska Zoo offers guaranteed wildlife viewing in a natural, boreal forest among the Chugach foothills. The Alaska Zoo is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conservation of all wildlife species through education and rehabilitation. The Zoo features many species that are indigenous to Alaska, as well as a number of exotic, cold-climate animals such as snow leopards, Amur tigers, and bactrian camels. This summer, the Zoo will add a new “Behind the Scenes” Naturalist Tour to its repertoire of year-round programs and events. The tour will be offered seven days a week, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m., Memorial Day to Labor Day. A trained naturalist will take participants on a full Zoo tour with special, behind the scenes emphasis on the Amur tiger, elephant and snow leopard exhibits. Located at 4731 O'Malley Road.
Potter Marsh
www.anchorage.net/488.cfm
Located at the southern end of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, Potter Marsh is about 12 miles south of downtown Anchorage on the scenic, All America Seward Highway. The area features a 1,550-foot boardwalk with interpretive signage from which visitors may spot a number of migratory waterfowl, bald eagles, small mammals and spawning salmon.
Beluga Point
www.anchorage.net/624.cfm
This popular scenic viewing area is located about 15 miles south of downtown Anchorage on the Seward Highway. It is the perfect place to see beluga whales pursuing hooligan runs up Turnagain Arm in late summer, and sometimes orcas in pursuit of belugas. It is also an excellent spot to watch Dall sheep prancing alon g the cliffs that border the highway.
Kincaid Park
The southernmost extension of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail (refer to the “Adventure Outdoors” section), Kincaid Park is the perfect place to spot a number of species – especially moose. In fact, the last five miles of the trail is virtually guaranteed to produce a number of these long-legged ungulates - from trophy bulls to spring calves with their mamas. Download maps at www.anchorage.net/650.cfm
