Wood-Tikchik State Park (Website)

The largest state park in the United States, Wood-Tikchik State Park is also one of the most remote and secret treasures. Named for its two separate systems of large, interconnected clear water lakes, the Wood River and Tikchik Lakes, the Park comprises 1.7 million acres. The Tikchik Lake system is made up of six large lakes to the north which carry the melting snow of the glacial peaks to the west down to the Tikchik and Allen Rivers into Tikchik lake and finally into the Nuyakuk River and out of the State Park into the Nushagak River and finally into Bristol Bay.

Another set of six extraordinary lakes mirror this system just to the south - the Wood River Lakes - sending their waters from one to the next through a series of short, picturesque rivers; the Wind, Peace, Agulupak and Agulowak Rivers, which are all literally 'alive' with fish! The flow finally leaves the State Park, emptying into the southernmost river, the Wood, and joins the Nushagak River at Dillingham where it too empties into Bristol Bay.

Habitats in the Park range from the spired peaks, high alpine valleys and deep V-shaped arms (accessed through the spectacular fjord-like western reaches of its large lakes) to the expansive tundra, gravel beaches and pike-filled marshes at the lake's eastern edges. The many islands dotting the lakes - where migrating birds find their summer refuge, and the rivers - with their millions of struggling salmon and hungry bears roaming the shores - make this a land of awesome extremes and exhilarating beauty.

Moose, caribou, bald and golden eagles and many other small mammals including lynx, wolverine and fox all thrive within the Park, and sightings of a wild variety of wildlife are an exhilarating accompaniment to the awesome beauty of this wild setting.

The boating, camping, hiking, climbing and fishing opportunities offered by a stay in Wood-Tikchik State Park are extraordinary. The rivers are breathtakingly beautiful and exciting, home to rainbow trout, grayling and arctic char, and serve as a highway and spawning ground for returning salmon, yet the waters are easily navigated by raft, canoe or kayak. The lakes are large, lined with beaches ideal for camping, and offer access to hiking and climbing in the mountains at their west ends, and provide excellent fishing for great northern pike in the shallow bays and marshy eastern ends. Lake trout school in all of the Tikchik lakes where the shallow ledge circling the shore plunges into the depths of these glacially carved lakes.

Wood-Tikchik State Park provides the setting for a wilderness adventure that will far exceed even your highest expectations.