Aniakchak National Monument & Preserve
Given its remote location and challenging weather conditions, Aniakchak is one of the most wild and least visited places in the National Park System. This landscape is a vibrant reminder of Alaska's location in the volcanically active "Ring of Fire," as it is home to an impressive six mile (10 km) wide, 2,500 ft (762 m) deep caldera formed during a massive volcanic eruption 3,500 years ago.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and January the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- King Salmon Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
Located next door to the King Salmon Airport, the King Salmon Visitor Center provides information on the many federal public lands of Southwest Alaska, particularly those in the Bristol Bay area.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Hike in Aniakchak's Wilderness
Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve is a wilderness park without built infrastructure or any trails. Here, you chose your own adventure.
Opens on the Park Service site - Raft the Aniakchak River
Rafting Aniakchak River is both a challenging and rewarding experience.
Opens on the Park Service site
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
On the National Register nearby
- St. Nicholas ChurchBuilding · Pilot Point · 4.6 mi
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Alaska guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 134 birds, 29 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsBald eagle · Golden eagle · Northern harrier · Northern saw-whet owl · Peregrine falcon · Rough-legged hawk · Short-eared owl
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican wigeon · Barrow's goldeneye · Bufflehead · Cackling goose · Canada goose · Common goldeneye · Common loon · Common merganser · Double-crested cormorant · Emperor goose · Greater scaup · Green-winged teal · Harlequin duck · Long-tailed duck · Northern pintail · Pacific loon · Pelagic cormorant · Red-breasted merganser · Red-faced cormorant · Red-necked grebe · Red-throated loon · Sandhill crane · Tundra swan · Yellow-billed loon
Shorebirds & seabirdsArctic tern · Black oystercatcher · Black turnstone · Bonaparte's gull · Common murre · Dunlin · Fork-tailed storm-petrel · Glaucous-winged gull · Greater yellowlegs · Horned puffin · Leach's storm-petrel · Least sandpiper · Lesser yellowlegs · Long-tailed jaeger · Marbled godwit · Mew gull · Pacific golden-plover · Parakeet auklet · Parasitic jaeger · Pomarine jaeger · Red-necked phalarope · Rhinoceros auklet · Rock sandpiper · Ruddy turnstone · Sanderling · Semipalmated plover · Semipalmated sandpiper · Short-billed dowitcher · Short-tailed shearwater · Solitary sandpiper · Sooty shearwater · Spotted sandpiper · Thick-billed murre · Tufted puffin · Western sandpiper · Wilson's snipe
Gamebirds & dovesPigeon guillemot · Rock ptarmigan · Willow ptarmigan
WoodpeckersDowny woodpecker
Also on the checklistAlder flycatcher · American dipper · American pipit · American robin · American tree sparrow · Ancient murrelet · Bank swallow · Belted kingfisher · Black scoter · Black-billed magpie · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-legged kittiwake · Brambling · Brant · Chipping sparrow · Common eider · Common raven · Common redpoll · Dark-eyed junco · Eastern yellow wagtail · Fox sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned kinglet · Golden-crowned sparrow · Gray-cheeked thrush · Gray-crowned rosy-finch · Gyrfalcon · Hermit thrush · Hoary redpoll · King eider · Kittlitz's murrelet · Lapland longspur · Lincoln's sparrow · Mallard · Marbled murrelet · McKay's bunting · Northern fulmar · Northern shoveler · Northern shrike · Olive-backed pipit · Orange-crowned warbler · Pacific wren · Pine grosbeak · Pine siskin · Ruby-crowned kinglet · Savannah sparrow · Sky lark · Snow bunting · Song sparrow · Steller's eider · Surf scoter · Surfbird · Tennessee warbler · Tree swallow · Varied thrush · Violet-green swallow · Wandering tattler · Western wood-pewee · Whimbrel · White-crowned sparrow · White-winged scoter · Wilson's warbler · Yellow warbler
Small mammalsAlaskan hare · American beaver · Arctic ground squirrel · Brown lemming · Common shrew · Dusky shrew · Hoary marmot · Meadow jumping mouse · Northern bog lemming · Northern collared lemming · Northern red-backed vole · Porcupine · Root vole · Snowshoe hare · Tundra shrew
Marine mammalsHarbor seal · Northern Sea Otter · Steller's sea lion
PredatorsBrown bear · Canada lynx · Ermine · Gray wolf · Least weasel · Mink · Northern river otter · Red fox · Wolverine
Hoofed mammalsBarren-ground caribou · Moose
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Rock climbing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
Weather & climate
When you visit, be prepared to encounter all types of weather. On average, wet and cool conditions predominate in spring, summer, and fall. Strong winds can delay the departure and arrival of boats and floatplanes.
Questions people ask
Does Aniakchak charge an entrance fee?
No. Aniakchak is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is Aniakchak open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
How busy is Aniakchak?
247 recreation visits in 2025, number 385 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
When was Aniakchak established?
1978.
Source: Wikipedia
What is the weather like at Aniakchak?
When you visit, be prepared to encounter all types of weather. On average, wet and cool conditions predominate in spring, summer, and fall.
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
