Planning a Trip

Orientation

Many visitors never make it beyond the downtown area, the old-fashioned grid of streets at the northwest corner of town where the high-rise hotels and gift shops are located. Street numbers and letters work on a simple pattern and navigation is easy. Beyond downtown, most of Anchorage is oriented to commercial strips, and you'll need a map to find your way. It's easy to orient yourself, because you can always see the huge Chugach Mountains on the east side of the Anchorage bowl. Some parts of greater Anchorage are in distinct communities outside the bowl, including Eagle River and Eklutna, within half an hour on the Glenn Highway to the northeast, and Girdwood and Portage, on the Seward Highway, 45 minutes to the south. The suburban Matanuska and Susitna valleys (known as Mat-Su) lie an hour north of the city on the Glenn and Parks highways.

Visitor Information

The Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau, 524 W. 4th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501-2212 (tel. 907/276-4118; fax 907/278-5559; www.anchorage.net), offers information on the city and the entire state at its centers and extensive website (the site even has a feature to allow visitors to ask questions of volunteers by e-mail). The main location is the Log Cabin Visitor Information Center, downtown at 4th Avenue and F Street (tel. 907/274-3531; open daily June-Aug 7:30am-7pm, May and Sept 8am-6pm, Oct-Apr 9am-4pm). If it's crowded, go to the storefront office right behind it. You'll also find visitor information desks at the airport: one in the baggage-claim area in the C concourse and in the international terminal.

The Alaska Public Lands Information Center, located at 605 W. 4th Ave. (across the intersection from the log cabin at 4th and F), Suite 105, Anchorage, AK 99501 (tel. 866/869-6887 or 907/271-2737; www.nps.gov/anch; open daily 9am-5pm in summer, Mon-Fri 10am-5pm in winter), can help anyone planning to spend time outdoors anywhere in Alaska. Exhibits in the grand room with high ceilings -- the building was a 1930s post office and federal courthouse -- orient visitors to Alaska's geography and outdoor activities and make an excellent starting point for your trip. When you're ready for details, you will find all the land agencies represented by rangers whose advice is based on personal experience. Be sure to pick up the free booklets they distribute on the highways and parks you will be visiting, and select from an excellent selection of trail and field guides at the bookstore. Even if you have no need for information, stop in for free films, presentations, and children's programs. The center is well worth passing through the federal security checkpoint at the entrance.

Special Events

The Anchorage Folk Festival (tel. 907/243-8468; www.anchoragefolkfestival.org), Jan. 15 to 25, 2009, imports musicians and shows off local talent in free concerts, workshops, and jam sessions, as well as four guest musician dances that raise money for the festival. Check the website for times and venues.

The Fur Rendezvous Winter Festival (tel. 907/274-1177; www.furrondy.net), February 27 through March 8, 2009, is a winter celebration of many decades of longevity, recently rejuvenated with creative, youthful events such as the exciting and funny Running of the Reindeer, an event like the Pamplona Running of the Bulls but far safer for all involved, since reindeer are notably gentle animals. The MultiTribal Gathering and Native Arts Market should not be missed, and there are many community events as well: a parade, fireworks, a carnival, craft fairs, snowshoe softball, dog-sled rides, and so on. The Rondy's traditional centerpiece (global warming permitting) is the speedy World Champion Sled Dog Race, a 3-day sprint event of about 25 miles per heat. In addition, the last weekend of the festival coincides with the start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (tel. 907/376-5155; www.iditarod.com). The Iditarod, long Alaska's biggest winter event, brings in a flood of visitors who link seeing the race with winter sports and festivals in Anchorage and Fairbanks. On the weekend of the start, the streets of Anchorage fill with foreign languages, as European visitors come in disproportionate numbers. The Iditarod begins from Anchorage the first Saturday in March (in 2009, March 7) and then proceeds in trucks to the restart the next day in the Mat-Su Valley for the 1,000-mile run to Nome.

The Native Youth Olympics (tel. 907/793-3267), held by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council in April at the Sullivan Arena (a children's event is in Jan), is a tough competition in traditional Alaska Native games such as the seal hop (done on the knuckles) and the spectacular high kick, in which young men kick a ball suspended as high as 9 feet off the floor. Admission and parking are free.

The Anchorage Market & Festival is a big street fair and farmer's market held every weekend from mid-May through mid-September at 3rd Avenue and E Street (tel. 907/272-5634; www.anchoragemarkets.com).

The stocked salmon runs in Ship Creek, which runs right through downtown Anchorage, produce one of the town's most popular summer activities. The Slam'n Salm'n Derby (tel. 907/646-4846; www.shipcreeksalmonderby.com) with the possibility of winning money and prizes for fishing for kings salmon is in early June. One-day tickets are $10 or $20 for the entire derby and benefit the Downtown Soup Kitchen; they are available at the derby headquarters in the Alaska Railroad plaza near the creek.

The Alaska State Fair (tel. 907/745-4827; www.alaskastatefair.org), which culminates a 12-day run on Labor Day each year, is the biggest event in the area. It takes place in Palmer, 40 miles north of Anchorage on the Glenn Highway. In most ways, it's a typical state fair, with rides, booths, exhibits, contests, fireworks, and live music. Not typical are the vegetables. The good soil and long days in the Matanuska Valley around Palmer boost their growth to massive size, the stuff of childhood nightmares. Cabbages are the size of bean-bag chairs. A mere beach-ball-size cabbage would be laughed off the stage. And it's not just the 100-pound cabbages. Imagine a 19-pound carrot, 35-pound broccoli, 43-pound beet, 63-pound celery, or 76-pound rutabaga (all world records from the fair, among others you can check out on the website). The flower gardens are amazing, too, although not in the same way. Note that on the weekends the fair ties up traffic between Palmer and Anchorage, so it's wise to go midweek, if possible.

The Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout basketball tournament (tel. 907/786-1250; www.goseawolves.com), hosted by the University of Alaska Anchorage, brings top-ranked college men's and women's teams to the Sullivan Arena over Thanksgiving weekend and the preceding week.