Just How Big Is Alaska Anyway?

04/30/10

6 Comments Written by Carlo Alcos

EVERYONE KNOWS Alaska is the biggest state in America, but we rarely get to see just how massive it is in comparison to the rest of the country. Contributing editor Juli Huang shows us in this overlay.

Alaska superimposed on the continental US

Modified image from Wikimedia Commons.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

If you’re like us, this illustration will get you excited to go explore all the natural wonders that lie inside Alaska’s massive borders. Matador Co-founder Ross Borden recently traveled from the southeast of AK near Juneau, to Anchorage in search of some of the best heli skiing in the world.

Check out his Photo Essay: Heliskiing with SEABA in Haines, Alaska, and his shots from skiing in the Chugach range with CPG.

He also answers his own question in Is Juneau, AK, Really Just a Little Drinking Town With a Fishing Problem?

Feature photo: Alaskan Dude

Tagged under: Alaska

Matador ID: vagabonderz

Carlo is a Contributing Editor of Matador Trips, originally hailing from Vancouver, Canada. After a two-year stint in Melbourne, he and his wife are traveling slowly with their Bike Fridays; they don't know when, where, or if the journey will end. Follow him on Twitter and at Vagabonderz.com.

More By This Author

There's No Looking Back (3 comments)
Photo Essay: Revitalizing Thailand's Tourism (12 comments)
Rapt in Havana, Cuba

» view all

Photo Essay: Flying the Mighty Chugach Range With CPG in Girdwood, AK (10 comments)
Is Juneau, AK, Really Just a Little Drinking Town with a Fishing Problem? (21 comments)
Where to Find Glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere (2 comments)

Subscription Options

Subscribe via RSS feed

Subscribe via Email

Comments (6)

6 Comments... join the discussion!

somchai replied on April 30, 2010

One evening I flew from Anchorage to Barrow and saw almost no lights, just mountains and trees for hours. Our altitude wasn’t very high. I can’t imagine a less populated yet forested area on the face of the earth.
(Report comment)

↵ Reply
Hal Amen replied on April 30, 2010

Beautiful graphic, Juli
(Report comment)

↵ Reply
Juliane Huang replied on April 30, 2010

Thanks Hal, though I can’t take all credit for it– I photoshopped a cc image from Wikipedia
(Report comment)

↵ Reply
Alaina O'Brien replied on May 3, 2010

What an interesting graphic. I’ll have to use this in one of my classes. Alaska is obviously huge and not very many people know that… Anyway, I’m desperate to get to Alaska. Hopefully sometime soon…
(Report comment)

↵ Reply
Lyn in AK replied on May 3, 2010

A couple of small corrections and additions: Alaska is actually 2 1/2 times the size of Texas, and the land mass is equivalent to 20% ( 1/5th) of the “Lower 48.” There is more coastline in Alaska than there is in the entire continental US. Most communities are not connected by road.
(Report comment)

↵ Reply
jevelme replied on June 2, 2010

Nice graphic. Thanks for very precise and useful information. Very much appreciated. Keep it up!
(Report comment)

↵ Reply