USA
Alaska National Parks National parks, monuments, natural reserves, historic sites of Alaska. Pages with photos are indicated with (pictures).
Alagnak Wild River King Salmon
Aleutian World War II Unalaska/Dutch Harbor
Aniakchak and Preserve (pictures) King Salmon
Bering Land Bridge Nome
Cape Krusenstern Kotzebue
Denali & Preserve Denali Park
Gates Of The Arctic (pictures) Bettles
Glacier Bay & Preserve (pictures) Gustavus
Inupiat Heritage Center Barrow
Katmai & Preserve (pictures) King Salmon
Kenai Fjords Seward
Klondike Gold Rush (pictures) Skagway
Kobuk Valley Kotzebue
Lake Clark & Preserve (pictures) Port Alsworth
Noatak Kotzebue
Northwest Alaska Areas Kotzebue
Sitka (pictures) Sitka
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Cape Krusenstern National Monument
Kotzebue, AK
Cape Krusenstern National Monument is a treeless coastal plain dotted with sizable lagoons and backed by gently rolling limestone hills. Cape Krusenstern's bluffs and its series of 114 beach ridges record the changing shorelines of the Chukchi Sea over thousands of years.
Because the ridges accumulated over time, the earliest ridges lie inland, and the most recently formed ridges near the shore. This unusual series of beach ridges present, in sequence, detailed evidence of an estimated 9,000 years of prehistoric human use of this coastline. Some archeological sites here are older than well-known remains of ancient Greek civilizations on the Mediterranean Sea.
In summer, wildflowers color the beach ridges and nearby hills. Large numbers of migratory birds come from all over the world to Cape Krusenstern to nest. In fall, these migrating birds use the lagoons as feeding and staging areas. Shifting sea ice, ocean currents, and waves continue to form spits and lagoons possessing important scientific, cultural, and scenic values.
Along the outer beaches, Alaska Natives still hunt marine mammals. Local rural residents are allowed to hunt in the Monument. A road to the Red Dog mine crosses the northern boundary. Trucks haul zinc from open pit mines to a tidewater port. Cominco Alaska operates the mine, along with the NANA Regional Corp., a Native corporation based in Kotzebue.
Backpacking, Bird Watching, Dogmushing, Fishing, Hiking, Kayaking, Wildlife Viewing
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