Lake Clark National Park & Preserve - Nature and Science

Earth"s deep time and raw newness live side by side at Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. Coastal cliffs on Cook Inlet hold fossil remnants of 150 million years of sea life. But, 10,000 feet above them two active, snow-clad volcanoes-Iliamna and Redoubt-can spew out recycled Earth crust as new land surface. Mountain glaciers daily pluck and etch the spectacular scenery here where mountains of the Alaska and Aleutian ranges join. An awesome, jagged array, the park"s Chigmit Mountains record centuries and millennia of crustal uplift, intrusion, earthquakes, volcanism, and glacial gouging, scouring, and mounding. Continuously inhabited since early prehistoric times, this region nevertheless remains wild and sparsely populated by humans. Its several ecosystems suggest many diverse regions across Alaska. Aircraft provide primary access, but recreation opportunities are varied and plentiful

Environmental Factors
Natural Features
Marine Plants
Mushrooms and Other Fungi
Trees and Shrubs
Air Quality
Lightscape / Night Sky
Nonnative Species
Water Quality
Coasts / Shorelines
Forests
Fossils
Glaciers / Glacial Features
Lakes and Ponds
Mountains
Prairies and Grasslands
Rivers and Streams
Tundra
Volcanoes / Lava Flows
Watersheds