What Visitors Want, Alaska Provides

Towns in Alaska are never far from the wilderness, and in many places they overlap.

Creek Street in Ketchikan recalls earlier days in Alaska's history. Lawrence Weslowski, Jr./Dreamstime

When I began planning to visit Alaska, three words came to mind: “big,” which describes many things in the 49th state; scenery, some of the most magnificent anywhere; and “wildlife,” which is there in abundance.

It didn’t take long to experience all of those observations. Alaska is big. It’s twice as large as Texas, with a coastline longer than those of all of the other states combined.