An Alaskan Nugget — Alaska is BIG, y’all!

We all know Alaska is the biggest state, but the way it’s usually depicted on maps, floating in space below Arizona and New Mexico, it’s hard to put its size in perspective.  I’ve been told by a couple people up here, because of how it’s situated on maps, some folks think Alaska is an island.  🤔  But I have been reading some pretty incredible statistics and decided to learn more about the big things in this big state.  Here’s what I learned.

*Alaska is not just big, it’s massive. 663,300 square miles.  It’s approximately one-fifth the size of the lower 48 states.  It’s total size is bigger than the next three largest states combined (Texas, California and Montana).  Rhode Island would fit into Alaska 425 times.  And, if Alaska were a country, it would be one of the 20 largest countries in the world.  It does, however, have the lowest population density of all the states, with 1.3 persons per square mile.

*Of the 20 highest peaks in the United States, 17 are in Alaska, including the highest, Denali.  Anchorage to Denali is, as the crow flies, 170 miles.  Still, on clear days, it is very prominent despite the distance.  We see it occasionally when walking the Tony Knowles Trail.  

*Alaska has more coastline than any other state, 34,000 miles, and has coastlines on the Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea.  Florida, which has the second most coastline, has only 25% as much as Alaska.

*There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes in Alaska.  The third largest lake in the US is Lake Ilianma, at the north end of the Alaska Peninsula.  It’s 77 miles long and 22 miles wide and is home to the alleged Ilianma Lake Monster.  All totaled, about 14.2% of Alaska is water.

*Seven of the top ten largest National Parks are in Alaska.  It’s our goal to visit them all.  We’ve been to Denali, Katmai and Glacier Bay (some on previous visits), have reservations for Wrangell-St. Elias, are in discussions for a Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley trip in August and have researched Lake Clark but not settled on a date.  Denali and Wrangell-St. Elias you can drive to.  The others you have to travel to by plane or boat and have few, if any, facilities for tourists.  

Alaska, big as it is, has only 14,336 miles of public roads.  The Interstate Highway System comprises four highways that cover just under 1,100 miles.  Juneau, the capitol city, can’t be reached by car, only by boat or plane.  It has only 190 miles of state or city maintained roads.  About 40 miles outside of Juneau, the road just ends.  There is a sign that says “End.”  That’s it.