When is the best time to visit Alaska?

When is the best time to visit Alaska? The short answer is it depends. Your goals for your trip to Alaska will dictate when you want to visit. Many tourists come to Alaska in the summer because it is warmer, but they want to see the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. What they don't realize is that the wonderful summer light means that one cannot see an Aurora. On the flip side, if you come to Alaska in the winter you will not be able to see a glacier because the glaciers will be covered in snow and indistinguishable from the rest of the snow pack on the mountains. Below,I have made a month-by-month guide to visiting the Last Frontier. 

March

By March the sun has returned and spirits begin to rise, making March a great time to visit Alaska. If you want to see the Northern Lights March is one of the best times to do so. The weather isn't as bitterly cold (please note this is relative, much of the state is still sub zero in March), but it is still dark at night. The auroras tend to be most active in September and March, but September is part of the rainy season making it difficult to observe the lights. In March the skies are typically clearer giving you the best chance to see the dancing lights.

March is also an exciting time in Alaska for festivals. The end of February into the beginning of March marks the celebration of Fur Rendezvous, or as the locals call it Fur Rondy in Anchorage. Fur Rondy includes snow sculpture contests, the running with the reindeer, a parade, and much, much more. The first weekend of Fur Rondy also includes short distance dog races while the second weekend of Fur Rondy also coincided with the start of the Iditarod Trail Dogsled Race.

The Iditarod is a grueling race that covers more than 850 miles of Alaska wilderness as mushers and their teams race from Anchorage to Nome. The ceremonial start is a time of great festivity and it begins in downtown Anchorage on the first Saturday in March. The teams travel from downtown to the Campbell Creek Science Center and then they are loaded up and trucked to Willow for the re-start.

If you're in southcentral Alaska in early March, the re-start is an event not to be missed. You can drive to Willow or take a shuttle, but be forewarned - there is only one road that travels north out of Anchorage and if there is an accident or other delay on the road, you may miss the restart. Plan to leave Anchorage with plenty of time.

Further north, in Fairbanks March is also the time for another awesome winter event: Ice Alaska. Ice Alaska is an ice carving event with amazing carvings as well as ice slides for all to enjoy. If you have a chance to go to Fairbanks in March, definintely check out Ice Alaska. Note: If you are going to Alaska in March to see the Northern Lights you will probably want to go to Fairbanks. Anchorage is too far south to get the awesome colors and the lights can rarely be seen in Anchorage due to light pollution.

April:

April is break up. This is when the snow begins to melt, the lakes and rivers thaw, and in some parts of the state the sea ice begins to break apart (although it usually doesn't go out until early May) The Nenana Ice Classic is the biggest event in the state at this time. You can buy tickets with your guess of the day and time that the tripod in Nenana (on the Nenena River) will tip over and stop the clock (some years it tips without stopping the clock - it doesn't count until it tips far enough to stop the clock).

May:

Cruise season starts in May. Typically I don't recommend travel to Alaska in May because much of the state has not greened up yet, but the snow is mostly gone. The rivers, lakes and ocean (depending on where you are) are also breaking up at this time. However, May is usually one of the best times for whale watching and southeast will be further along in spring than most of the rest of the state.

June:

If you are looking to visit Alaska in the summertime, I recommend June (and early July). June typically has the best weather. It is warm, sunny and less likely to rain. The middle to late June is also a time where all of the communities have some sort of solstice festival. In Southcentral there are solstice festivals in downtown Anchorage,  Moose Pass, Seldovia and more. Fairbanks also has a summer solstice festival as well as the midnight sun baseball game. In a tradition dating back to 1906, the Fairbanks Goldminers, a summer collegiate team, host the midnight sun baseball game that begins at 10 pm and continues past midnight without any artificial lights.

June is also the beginning of fishing season.

July:

The good weather usually continues in early July and the fourth of July is a great time of celebration. Anchorage and Fairbanks both put on great Fourth of July celebrations with music, food, and parades. However, many people flock to the small town of Seward on Resurrection Bay for the Independence Day. Seward is a small town of about 2,000 people located about two and half hours by car from Anchorage, however, fourth of July weekend it swells to over 10,000 people with the highlight being the Mount Marathon race. This race begins at sea level and climbs over 2,000 feet to circle the peak and come back down. The race is so popular that a lottery system is used to determine who can compete.

Fishing season also continues through July and into August.

August: For most of Alaska, August is the beginning of Fall. Fishing season continues into August and hunting season begins in August. August is also the time for berry picking and other fall- gathering activities. Early August boasts the Tanana Valley Fair in Fairbanks and the end of August marks the beginning of the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. Please be aware that August tends to be pretty rainy.

September:

One of the biggest draws of September is the Alaska State Fair in Palmer which typically has very large cabages and record-setting pumpkins. The Alaska State Fair also hosts a number of concerts and is the last hurrah of summer with the fair ending on Labor Day each year. September is also the last month of cruise season, the end of fishing season and the end of hunting season. After September, the state starts to buckle down for the snows that usually begin sticking in October.

October, November, December, January:

From October to November the state is pretty quiet. Sometimes the Northern Lights can be seen, but often the clouds obscure the view. The state pretty much goes into hibernation until late February when the light starts coming back out and the snow warms up enough to enjoy activities like skiing and ice skating. It is important to note that Alaska is a very large state and some parts are significantly colder and darker than others during this time.