Alaska stay safe · Alaska travel safety advice
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Alaska travel safety advice
Alaska travel safety advice
Alaska enjoys a comparatively low crime rate and is generally a safe place to travel. Keep in mind that while Alaska is wild and beautiful, it does not tolerate fools easily. It is quite possible to get lost, cold, wet, and even die, all within sight of downtown Anchorage. The state's populace varies between extremely friendly to tourists to openly hostile. A common bumper sticker says: "If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot 'em?" Many Alaskans are understandably tired of those people from the "lower 48" who head North to live out ill-conceived ? and sometimes fatal ? fantasies of living off the land.
The remote parts of the state are its jewels, but be prepared for the trip you plan. Do your homework, and plan on being self-sufficient. Consider using a guide, or checking out local conditions with locals before jumping in the kayak, and heading for yonder point that looked so nice on the map. The water in Alaska is so cold, falling overboard can be fatal within minutes. More importantly, self-rescue becomes impossible often within seconds, especially around glacier-fed rivers. Treatment for hypothermia is required reading before doing any water sports, even during warm weather.
Bears live in many areas of the state and are best avoided. Moose are equally common and just as dangerous, and attack humans more frequently than bears. See wilderness backpacking for more information about staying safe in areas of known bear activity.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Alaska
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Alaska - updated May 2024
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WHERE TO TRAVEL NEXT IN 2020
Alaska Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.