Kenai Fjords National Park

See what a real glacier is like at this incredible national park in Alaska. Half of the park is covered in ice (even in summer). The Harding Ice Field is one of only four ice fields left in the United States. Its 700-square-mile beauty continues to survive despite the best attempts of global warming to destroy it. Everything in Alaska is bigger — at 607,000 acres, this park is the smallest in the state.

The best time to visit Kenai Fjords is the summer because winter snows often leave roads impassable. Driving to this area represents an adventure unto itself, thanks to the Seward Highway National Scenic Byway that heads south out of Anchorage. Once here, the fjords dominate the landscape as tall mountains form narrow channels into the Gulf of Alaska. Some of the fjords are blocked by ice from the gigantic ice field, a remnant from the last ice age that covered much of Alaska in a mile-thick sheet of ice.

Whether by land or by sea, you have plenty of wildlife-watching ops here. On land, check out coyotes, bears, moose, wolves, and wolverines. Coastal areas offer viewing of sea otters, seals, porpoises and (if you're really lucky) migrating whales. Summer activities include mountain climbing, hiking, fishing, and kayaking. Plenty of guides in the area serve as tour leaders for you and your family.

Kenai Fjords create a breathtaking view of one of America's unspoiled lands. In the summer, the hills sing with life and provide an epic opportunity to explore The Last Frontier as it should be.