Soar to New Heights on an Alaska Flightseeing Trip

Alaska: 365,000,000 acres of stunning landscape, and larger than the states of Montana, California, and Texas combined. Arguably, one of the only ways to truly appreciate the majesty and vastness of Alaska is by air. Even as Alaska comes to view on commercial planes, the winding rivers, mountain ranges, glacial landscapes, wetlands, fjords, tundra, and temperate rainforests as seen from the air are truly awe-inspiring. During your travels through Alaska, be sure to book more than just an arrival and departure flight; the beauty of the Great Land is best appreciated not only by land and ocean, but by also by air.

A Way of Life in Alaska

With about 17,000 miles of road system across this 600,000 square mile landscape, flying in Alaska is a way of life to access remote villages and destinations. Due to mountain ranges, vast distances, permafrost, and other challenging terrain, much of the state is not accessible by road. When road systems are not available, dog-sled teams, boats, and planes are the mode by which much of Alaska becomes accessible.

Bush planes are a standard mode of transportation in Alaska. In fact, many locals have them for personal use for recreation or to get to cabins, homesteads, camps, and to access fishing, hunting, float trips, and more in remote locations. These small planes have the capability of landing on short runways, lakes, and glaciers and are either outfitted with wheels or floats. Float planes have buoyant floats that are designed to take off and land on water, opening access to regions where ground landings are not possible. Anchorage is home to the busiest float plane base in the world – Lake Hood – with up to 500 flights per day during peak season.

A wide variety of operators in the state fly bush planes and float planes for flightseeing tours, charter flights, and transportation to remote villages. Depending on the type of aircraft, these planes typically carry 3 – 10 passengers and are used widely throughout the state to gain access to remote destinations.

Flightseeing Tours

For those looking to see the more of the Great Land, scenic flightseeing tours are available throughout all of Alaska’s five regions. These tours vary by aircraft, duration, and destination. Some tours offer brief but epic aerial views, while others range from multiple hours to overnight expeditions. Some include landings on glaciers for glacier trekking or dog sledding, visit remote villages to learn about Alaska Native culture, or land in wilderness areas for guided hikes. Aircraft used for Alaska flightseeing tours include bush planes, float planes, and helicopters.

The most popular flightseeing trips in Alaska highlight the state’s incredible mountains, wildlife, glaciers, and scenery. Day trips leaving from Talkeetna offer one of the best opportunities to see the tallest mountain in North America – Denali. These flights travel over the rolling tundra and mountains of Denali National Park and circle the incredible jagged peaks and deep gorges of the Alaska Range, with the option of adding on a glacier landing on Denali. This is truly an experience of a lifetime, giving you awe-inspiring views of one of Alaska’s top sights.

Other popular flightseeing trips take you to top bear viewing spots in Alaska, including Katmai National Park, Lake Clark National Park, and Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. These scenic day trips bring you to remote lakes and beaches to spend several hours watching bears. For glaciers and epic scenery, book a flightseeing trip over Misty Fjords National Monument, Glacier Bay National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, or the Brooks Range.

Several of Alaska’s eight national parks are not accessible by road and are best accessed by plane, including Gates of the Arctic National Park, Katmai National Park, Lake Clark National Park, and Kobuk Valley National Park. Flightseeing day trips for wildlife viewing, fishing, and sightseeing, plus drop-offs for multi-day backcountry adventures or wilderness lodges are some of the top ways to experience these parks. You can start to grasp the magnitude of these national parks from the sky - volcanoes, mountain ranges, tundra, glacial landscapes, and rugged coastline are only some of the incredible landscapes you’ll appreciate by air.

Even if you don’t have a full or half-day to devote to flightseeing, you can find one-to-two-hour scenic flights from many communities in Alaska. Operators in Anchorage, Homer, Girdwood, Talkeetna, Denali, Juneau, Ketchikan, and more offer short flightseeing trips to give you a taste of Alaska from the air.

Helicopter Tours

Helicopter tours are also very popular in Alaska, offering stunning panoramic views from the large wrap-around windows. These highly maneuverable aircraft are ideal for transporting travelers to glaciers and alpine terrain, getting you up-close to waterfalls, mountains, and other scenic sights along the way. Excursions on “heli-tours” feature heliskiing, dog sledding, heli-hiking, wildlife viewing, and glacier landings. Heli dog sledding is one of the most popular type of helicopter tour in Alaska, combining a scenic flight, glacier landing, and a glacier dog sledding tour for one incredible experience. Top destinations for helicopter excursions include Knik Glacier outside of Palmer, Girdwood, Seward, Homer, Valdez, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Denali.

Fly-Out Wilderness Lodges

Alaska is home to a wide variety of wilderness lodges and resorts in remote locations only accessible by air. After flying out to one of these backcountry lodges, you’ll be treated to comfortable amenities along with activities like fishing, wildlife viewing, hiking, wellness experiences, and more. Many of these lodges are centered around fishing, giving you the opportunity to fly or boat out to the area’s best saltwater and freshwater fishing spots to spend a day angling for Alaska’s world-famous salmon, halibut, Arctic char, Arctic grayling, trout, and many other species of fish.

Flying over Alaska is truly the experience of a lifetime. Whether you’re heading out on a quick 30-minute scenic flight, circling the tallest mountain in North America, or spending a week at a fly-out fishing lodge, you’ll gain a different perspective of Alaska’s incredible landscapes by air.

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