Travel Nursing Destination Spotlight: Alaska

If your goal in taking travel nurse jobs is experiencing a completely different culture and terrain, Alaska is a great place to start. With more than 600,000 square miles to explore, you’ll never find yourself wondering where to head next. Find out why The Last Frontier should be your next travel nursing destination.

Access to unique animals

Alaska’s Kodiak Island is home to the largest bears in the world, Kodiaks (a subspecies of the brown bear). More than 3,500 live on the Kodiak Wildlife Refuge, and you can see them with an experienced guide or by taking a half-day air taxi tour. Don’t miss the opportunity to see whales either in Prince William Sound (just south of Valdez) or the Inside Passage (near Juneau and Sitka). Polar bears, while not as common as brown bears, can be seen on Barter Island or near Barrow, both on Alaska’s Arctic coast. Moose, caribou, mountain goats and grizzly bears are also common in Alaska and can be seen throughout the state.

Breathtaking outdoor landscapes

Not only is it home to North America’s tallest mountain peak, Denali, Alaska has miles of tundras, the only U.S. state cold enough for permanently frozen ground — and you can hike the high alpine tundra when you take the Hatcher Pass scenic drive. Make time for a cruise in Prince William Sound to see tidewater glaciers break off into the ocean, or take a “flightseeing” tour to see the sheets of ice from the air. The Tongass National Forest, America’s largest forest, is located near Juneau and also worth a visit. Because it’s a temperate rainforest, the Tongass is wetter than most of America’s forests and includes 4 million acres of wetlands. Finally, Alaska is one of the best places to see the Northern Lights. From September to April on clear, cold nights, you can bundle up and see the Aurora Borealis (best viewed from Fairbanks).

Miles of wide-open spaces

With a total population of less than 800,000, Alaska is the least densely populated state. Forty percent of Alaskans live in Fairbanks, the largest city, and the majority live on the Kenai Peninsula — but other cities throughout the state are much less populated. If solitude is what you’re looking for, drive the Seward Highway south from Anchorage to Seward, or drive north from Anchorage to the Matanuska Glacier. The Old Glenn Highway winds through farmland above Anchorage and is a pleasant afternoon drive as well. Dog-sledding excursions (from Anchorage, Denali, Girdwood, Fairbanks or Juneau) are also a popular way to experience the wilderness of Alaska.

Check out our open travel nursing jobs in Alaska — and share your experiences traveling in this state below!