Aniakchak Crater Base Camp- Trip Itinerary

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, Alaska National Parks

We are not currently offering this trip on our schedule but would be happy to arrange a custom trip for your group.

Trying to visit all the Alaska National Parks? We offer a National Parks Explorer trip in Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley, plus trips in Katmai National Park, Yukon Charley Preserve, Wrangell St Elias and more.

Sketch of the Aniakchak trip…

Picture a still-hot volcano, rising from the Pacific Ocean, whose crater is home to grizzly bears as big as horses, with a mineral green lake and some of the best hiking in Alaska. Welcome to Aniakchak Crater National Monument! From our comfortable camp next to the lake and within striking distance of the warm springs, we will spend our days enjoying the caldera in all its moods. There are cinder cones to climb, a river to walk down with impressive rapids to view, wildlife such as brown bears, wolves and caribou. We can hike the crater rim and look out to either the Bering Sea or the Pacific Ocean (weather permitting). There is even a volcano inside of a volcano (Vent Mountain) we could climb. Or we could attempt to circumambulate the 6-mile wide caldera. We could focus our energy on photography, watching birds or simply watching the weather and the changing light on the enormous crater walls. However we choose to use our time the land will inspire and delight us.

Few people have ever heard of Aniakchak and many fewer still have had the opportunity to visit this spectacular part of the Alaska Peninsula. The peninsula stretches southwest from Anchorage for 600 miles of the most remote and beautiful wilderness anywhere. With smoking volcanoes, rivers full to their banks with salmon, and some of the world’s largest bears it is a rich and awe inspiring region. Half of the way down this road less peninsula lays the least visited unit of the National Park Service, Aniakchak Crater National Monument. We have planned the trip for early August in hopes that the weather will be mild and sunny, but we will come prepared for the famous winds and storms of the region.

The crater is full of surprises, from its resident moose, to the thermal springs, to the tenacious plant life growing on coarse volcanic rocks, to lakes and rivers full of salmon. The Caldera was formed a scant 3500 years ago and erupted as recently as 1931. Signs of the active geology are everywhere in the area. Please join us for a week of wildlife, exploration and adventure with latitude.