Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve: The Least Visited NPS Unit

Aerial View of Aniakchak Caldera
NPS Photo

This post is a bit off the beaten path for me, and its subject is very far off the beaten path...  I stumbled on this National Monument today while looking into the Alaskan monuments for my National Monuments in Danger project, and re-discovered an article I read years ago sitting in a waiting room someplace, "Baked Alaska: Surviving Aniakchak National Monument," by Christoper Solomon in Outside Magazine.

So, this place is definitely on my bucket list.  However, it is the least visited unit in the National Park Service system for a reason.  It is remote, it is full of bears, and I saw one mention that it is the most expensive place to visit in Alaska.

But, for a very spectacular caldera and the rafting trip out of the caldera to the ocean?  Sounds amazing.

That article, and the links below, tell the story of the monument and caldera well.  I'll let them speak for themselves.



By M. Williams, National Park Service - http://www.avo.alaska.edu/image_full.php?id=441, Public Domain, Link























If you appreciate posts like this, please consider becoming a monthly subscriber through Patreon! 

Visit https://www.patreon.com/aflitt for more information.

Links

flickr

A spectacular Aniakchak album
https://flic.kr/s/aHsjxtAdE2



OutsideOnline

Baked Alaska: Surviving Aniakchak National Monument (April 2014)
https://www.outsideonline.com/1924416/baked-alaska-surviving-aniakchak-national-monument



National Park Service

Official Site
https://www.nps.gov/ania/index.htm

BEYOND THE MOON CRATER MYTH
A New History of the Aniakchak Landscape: A Historic Resource Study for Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ania/hrs/index.htm

ISOLATED PARADISE:
An Administrative History of the Katmai and Aniakchak NPS Units, Alaska
https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/katm/adhi/index.htm



Wikipedia

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aniakchak_National_Monument_and_Preserve

Mount Aniakchak
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Aniakchak



USGS
https://avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=Aniakchak