By Lynn O’Rourke Hayes
From FamilyTravel.com
Are you ready to plan an adventure? These five places provide the perfect base camp for exploration.
Anchorage, Alaska
It’s a gateway to everything Alaska has to offer. Start your trip in this urban outpost and ease into the state’s vast wilderness. Sample local parks and trails, watch the more than 1,000 resident moose graze in Potter Marsh and beyond. Schedule a flight over Denali National Park, take a scenic drive to observe glaciers in the distance, or fly-fish in a nearby river. While in town, stay at the colorful Captain Cook Hotel, where the décor recounts the adventurer’s voyages of long ago and provides views of the local community and the Chugach Mountains. Go deeper with a trip to Katmai National Park and Preserve. Accessible only by float plane or boat, and located on the Alaskan Peninsula near Kodiak Island, Katmai spans nearly five million acres. Families visit to observe the dense population of brown bears and to fish for trophy rainbow trout, salmon, and Dolly Varden trout that run in Katmai’s streams and rivers.
