Wildflowers bloom on a 3,500-foot-high ridge of the Brooks Range overlooking the Kongakut River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Paul Souders / Anchorage Daily News archive, 1992) Biologists count sea lions at a rookery off Chowiet Island in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Anne Raup / Anchorage Daily News archive, 1994) Least auklets and a crested auklet rest on a boulder near Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. (Photo by Bob Hallinen / Anchorage Daily News archive, 1997) Wildflowers bloom on a 3,500-foot-high ridge of the Brooks Range overlooking the Kongakut River in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo by Paul Souders / Anchorage Daily News archive, 1992) Click on photo to enlarge

Izembek. Alaska Maritime. Innoko. Kanuti. Ever think to spend your summer vacation in one of those places?

If you're like most people, probably not.

Of Alaska's 16 national wildlife refuges, just a few are well known. Because of the controversy over oil drilling, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has become nationally recognized. Closer to home, many Alaskans have visited the Kenai or Alaska Maritime national wildlife refuges but may not have realized it.

If you have ever been on one of the all-day wildlife viewing cruises out of Seward, you probably watched sea lions hauled out on the Chiswell Islands inside the Alaska Maritime Refuge. Or if you have hiked to Skilak Lake or fished the Russian River, you've probably stepped onto the Kenai Refuge. But those adventures are just a small part of what both places have to offer.

The Alaska Maritime Refuge includes more than 2,500 islands, islets, spires, rocks, reefs, waters and headlands on nearly 5 million acres from Southeast Alaska to the Arctic Ocean and the end of the Aleutian Chain. The Kenai, just hours from Anchorage, is known for its fishing but also offers untamed and seldom-visited wilderness.

Alaska refuges represent a significant chunk of the state's public lands -- 77 million acres and nearly 82 percent of the national refuge system. Yet perhaps because many refuges are remote, expensive to reach and offer few amenities for tourists, they have not drawn crowds the way some national parks do.

While national park lovers keep passport books listing all the parks they have visited, no such "tick list" exists for refuges.

This year, there's a particularly good excuse to visit Alaska refuges. On Friday, the national refuge system celebrated its 100th anniversary, commemorating the creation of what is considered the nation's first refuge, Pelican Island in Florida. If you haven't spent much time exploring Alaska's refuges, this could be a good year to go. Think of it as a birthday gift -- to yourself.

Fishermen and hunters have traditionally been more aware of refuges than other outdoor lovers. But almost all of them offer spectacular hiking, boating and wildlife viewing.

Rod Arno, a hunting guide who has spent time in all of Alaska's national wildlife refuges, likes them because he hardly ever sees anyone else there. And because they are uncrowded, there are generally fewer restrictions about where to camp or how to travel.

"But you have to be self-contained," he warned.

Below we focus on six Alaska refuges and offer ideas ranging from inexpensive jaunts close to civilization to costly, once-in-a-lifetime adventures for those with expendable income. For detailed information or a list of outfitters that operate in each refuge, contact each refuge individually.

You can drive to Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge

The beauty of this 700,000-acre refuge bordering Canada's Yukon Territory is that you can drive to it. Located in the Upper Tanana Valley along the Alaska Highway on the way to Tok, it is one of just two Alaska refuges accessible on the road system. (The other is the Kenai refuge). It also has more amenities than some refuges, including a visitor center, seven scenic pullouts and two lake-front campgrounds. There are also two short trails just off the road, near the border.

But once off the road, you might as well be in the middle of nowhere. Lakes, ponds and wetlands dot the landscape, along with mountains, rivers and forests.

Two broad rivers, the Nabesna and Chisana, cross the refuge. Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve is to the south.

Tetlin is best known for its birding. Migrating birds begin arriving in April and continue into early June. It's an excellent place to see trumpeter swans in the fall. Birders get a chance to see songbirds, migrant and resident birds and many species of waterfowl.

For a quick trip, take a sea kayak or canoe and paddle around the lakes and wetlands close to the road. Arno has done this and said the refuge offers excellent birding opportunities. Pat Heglund, a former regional biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said she has explored a chain of lakes just off the road not far from Tok. Most of the lakes are unnamed.

"It's great canoeing," Heglund said. "People just don't go there."

Float trips are also possible on both the Chisana and Nabesna rivers, but those require considerable planning and river expertise. Because these are important subsistence and cultural lands, you would be well advised to contact locals to tell them your plans and seek advice.

Both rivers flow from the Wrangell Mountains to flatter refuge lands. They come together just outside the village of Northway to form the Tanana River, which flows through and along the border of the refuge for approximately 30 miles. There's a boat ramp for canoes and motorboats at the bridge in Northway, which accesses the Chisana River.

Contact the refuge at 907-883-5312 or at tetlin.fws.gov.

Tokiak National Wildlife Refuge offers a lot

Togiak is an angler's paradise, but fishing isn't the only reason to go.

Anchorage attorney Doug Pope said it is one of the places in Alaska he hopes to visit over and over. He has done family camping trips there and floated both the Togiak and Goodnews rivers. Everyone found something they liked doing: hiking, fishing and wildlife viewing. Just bring a tarp, he warned, because it can pour.

"It's an incredible area," he said. "Any other place in the country, it would be a national park."

Togiak, located in Southwestern Alaska, contains 4.7 million acres saddled between Kuskowkim and Bristol bays. It has rolling tundra, dramatic sea cliffs and some of the world's best fishing streams. Anglers can catch five species of Pacific salmon, rainbow trout, Arctic char, Dolly Varden, lake trout, northern pike and Arctic grayling.

The three main rivers are the Kanetok, Goodnews and Togiak. The Kanetok has a reputation as one of most consistent king salmon fisheries in the state. Salmon here aren't huge, like they can be on the Kenai, but the fishing is hard to beat.

Quinhagak, a village near the river's mouth, has had a difficult relationship at times with sport anglers. As when traveling anywhere in Alaska, be respectful of locals.

Allen Miller, lead park ranger for the refuge, said most visitors either float the rivers or stay in lodges outside the refuge, traveling into the refuge for day or overnight trips by plane or motorboat. Peak visitor season is timed to salmon runs -- usually early July during the peak of the king run and mid-August, when silvers are running.

Miller usually advises people to shift their trip to a week or two off the peak to avoid crowding. "There's such nice scenery, and more and more people are looking for that," he said.

Hunting and wildlife viewing are also on the rise. The caribou and moose populations have increased over the past decade.

Few people hike in the refuge but they could, Miller said. There are no marked trails but much of the land is open, rolling tundra, he said. There are plenty of bears but they are not as dense as on the Alaska Peninsula.

A trip to Togiak can be expensive. Most people come for a week or two, and lodges cost between $3,500 to $7,500 a week, Miller said.

Another unique opportunity is taking a cruise with Walrus Islands Expeditions, a boat tour company that operates natural history trips to Round Island and along the coast of the refuge. Those cruises run about $1,000 for two nights and three days. Along the trip, people may see seals, sea lions, seabirds, waterfowl, gray whales and walrus. One of the nation's largest walrus haulouts is within the refuge at Cape Peirce.

Contact the refuge at 1-907-842-1063 or at togiak.fws.gov.

Izembek Wildlife refuge is the place for birds

Picture thousands, or tens of thousands, of geese filling the sky over your head. Each spring and fall, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge hosts one of the world's most astonishing migratory events. Drawn by a gigantic eel-grass bed that blankets the 150-square-mile Izembek lagoon, nearly all of the world's Pacific black brant flock here each spring and fall.

"It's like being in a Walt Disney movie with birds swirling all around you," Heglund said.

During late April, on their northward migration to Northwest Alaska, Russia and Canada, the geese stop only for a short time. But in the fall, the lagoon serves as their last staging ground before taking off on a nonstop 3,000-mile journey to their breeding grounds. They gather there from the end of August through October and fatten on eel grass.

Overhead, one can hear the gutteral chattering of thousands of geese. And then, within hours, they are gone. When wind conditions are right, most of the birds leave at once.

"There's a deafening silence afterward," Arno said.

The refuge is also a stopover for more than 62,000 emperor geese and an important molting area for 23,000 Steller's eiders. There are also salmon, bears and caribou found here. The refuge draws duck and geese hunters and some go bear and caribou hunting on the open tundra.

Most visitors are bird hunters, but some hikers and bird watchers come too. The refuge is open to backpacking but be aware that high winds and rain are common and brown bears frequent the area. The Cold Bay Lodge offers rooms and meals, while the Weathered Inn has rooms only. A few bed and breakfasts are also available. There are no roads to the refuge but once you get to Izembek, there are 40 miles of dirt gravel roads to help you explore. Limited rental vehicles are available.

Contact the refuge at 1-907-532-2445 or at izembek.fws.gov.

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Forget a watch

Those who love the Arctic refuge say one of the best things about it is its timelessness. Backpacking across open tundra in the middle of the summer when the sun never sets, it's easy to forget time -- civilization, too.

"It's a place where you can really think about how you fit into the natural world," said Arctic Refuge guide Macgill Adams. "You learn to fit into the country again. You don't do something because it's 4:15. You do something when it stops raining."

When Adams talks about his Arctic trips, he sometimes tells of a client who was too attached to his wrist watch. He tried to take it off but couldn't get used to seeing his halibut-white skin underneath. Eventually, he found a solution: He left the watch on but adjusted it to an imaginary time.

Adams, who owns Wilderness Alaska and has 20 years of guiding experience in the refuge, said his clients sometimes hike at night and sleep all day while visiting Alaska's northernmost refuge. Arno, who guides sheep hunting trips in the refuge, said he has had the same experience. "There's more sunshine than you can ever imagine," Arno said.

Adams likes to run river trips on the refuge's north-flowing rivers that start in the mountains and end at the coast. Doing that, you pass through wildly different landscapes -- from solitary, jagged peaks to pastoral plains to the Arctic Ocean. Then in the fall, when the colors are most vibrant on the south side of the Brooks Range, he flips to run trips on the refuge's south-flowing rivers.

Karen Jettmar of Equinox Wilderness Expeditions, said she tries to organize trips around caribou migrations. In general, that means running the north-flowing rivers in June. In July, she likes to be in the mountains. Then in August she switches to southern rivers as the caribou start moving southward.

To think of the refuge as barren is wrong, she said. She once did a river trip on the Wind River and saw almost no wildlife. Later she learned the caribou are there in the winter.

Wildlife move around, and even when you figure out the patterns, it remains unpredictable. You might see small groups of caribou or, if you are lucky, thousands.

If you are planning your own trip, Adams recommended spending time looking at maps and talking to pilots.

"Some people call and say they want to get in and out in a few days," Jettmar added. "I tell them they're talking to the wrong person. You better just go to the zoo."

In recent years, with all the focus on drilling on the refuge, more and more people have wanted to visit. That has led to crowding in some places. Adams recommends steering clear of some of the most famous rivers or being flexible enough to change plans if you find lots of other boaters.

Contact the refuge at 1-907-456-0250 or at arctic.fws.gov.

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is undiscovered

The Kenai National Wildlife Refuge is a little like the seemingly ordinary girl who grows up next door only to be "discovered'' by a Hollywood filmmaker. The only difference is that the refuge has never really been discovered.

Anchorage residents tend to take the 2 million-acre federal reserve for granted in much the same way they do Chugach State Park. Nearness does not make the place grow more stunning; it simply makes it appear ordinary.

For many in Anchorage and adjacent population centers, the Kenai refuge usually provides little more than the backdrop for weekend activities. The refuge is where they go to nab a salmon on a sunny summer night, or stalk a moose on a buggy September morning. The refuge estimates that nearly half a million people visit annually.

Few think about adventuring on the Kenai refuge. When residents of Los Anchorage think adventures, their visions wander north to Denali National Park and Preserve or the Brooks Range, west to Bristol Bay or the Noatak River drainage or somewhere else far away. The Kenai refuge gets overlooked.

Too bad, because the Kenai refuge has some of the best wilderness in the state.

The Killey River canyon offers Denali-esque wildlife viewing in a grand canyon setting. The Skilak River valley offers some of the nicest open land hiking in the state. Skilak and Tustumena lakes have paddling opportunities hardly ever explored. The slightly more traveled lakes and portages of the Swan Lakes and Swanson River canoe routes are what the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northern Minnesota was before it came a tourist attraction.

The Kenai has all of this and an abundance of those lovable big critters: moose, wolves, bears (brown and black), sheep, caribou, coyotes, wolverines. Most of them are found here in far greater numbers than at Denali, though they might be harder to spot.

The Kenai truly is wild. That is both its attraction and its defense.

The periphery is friendly enough. Skilak and Tustumena lakes have boat launches. The Skilak Lake Loop area south of Cooper Landing is riddled with trails. There are more trails off the Russian River and the Funny River Road north of Soldotna. A Jeep road, open only in the fall, cuts across the west face of the Kenai Mountains from Mystery Creek to Chickaloon Bay. And, of course, there are the two canoe routes.

But getting into the heart of the refuge is a wilderness challenge. If you're going to visit the Andy Simons Wilderness Area here, you better know a thing or two about route finding, wilderness navigation, river crossings and, of course, dealing with brown bears.

If you do, there are some great adventures to be had. The Alaska Mountain and Wilderness Classic, the state's oldest adventure race, has been staged across the refuge. The first classic went from Hope, on the shores of Turnagain Arm, to Homer, on the shores of Kachemak Bay.

That's more than most wilderness backpackers would attempt in a week, but it is possible to knock off smaller pieces. A suggestion?

Find someone with a boat to drop you off at the start of the Cottonwood Creek trail head on the south side of Skilak Lake, just across from the east Skilak boat ramp. Spend a day hiking that trail to the pass and camp. Drop down into the Benjamin Creek drainage and hike to Twin Lakes. Spend a day or more camping and fishing there. From Twin Lakes, swing south (there are no trails here, but this is all great, open, alpine hiking) to Iceberg Lake. Spend another day camping there and watching goats.

Then round the eastern end of Skilak Lake and start working south toward Alpine Lake. This is trickier because of cliffs, but even nonclimbers can make it. You can stop at Alpine Lake or keep dropping down along the Skilak Glacier, which has awesome views, to the glacially dammed lake at its terminus. This is another good camping area.

From there, it's an easy day's hike out along the Skilak River to a pickup on the lake, or if you want to really challenge your route-finding skills, you can bushwhack east to the Russian River Trail in the Chugach National Forest and hike out.

One warning: There's a reason Alaska Wilderness Classic competitors nicknamed the area between the Skilak River Valley and the trail "The Confusion Hills.''

Contact the refuge at 1-907-262-7021 or kenai.fws.gov.

Think of maritime refuge as a concept

Alaska Maritime is a concept refuge rather than a place with a discrete boundary. Consisting of coastal lands and islands scattered throughout Alaska, the maritime refuge is home to about 80 percent of Alaska's nesting seabird populations and thousands of marine mammals. This refuge also includes some of the state's best birding spots, including the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands.

St. Paul is the hub for excursions into the Pribilofs. Flights from Anchorage generally cost more than $1,000.

Much of the refuge is extremely remote but sightseeing boats that operate out of Seward, Sitka, Dutch Harbor and Homer go out to some of the closer islands. One of the most accessible island groups for Southcentral residents is the Chiswell Islands, a half-day cruise from Seward.

Another option is to take the Alaska State ferry that runs once a month during the summer from Homer to Unalaska. It's not cheap -- about $570 for a week-long round trip -- but it passes through five wildlife refuges: Alaska Maritime, Kodiak, Alaska Peninsula, Becharof and Izembek. A naturalist on board helps identify what you are seeing.

"You see a lot of marine mammals and a lot of birds," said Poppy Benson, an outdoor recreation planner with Alaska Maritime.

Alaska Maritime has up-and-coming attractions too. Benson said she expects whale-watching trips to start up soon to the Barren Islands between Shuyak Island and Homer, where as many as 100 ######## whales gather along with a half million seabirds.

The refuge is also getting a new visitor center in Homer. The new Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center should be open in November of 2003 and will include a visitor center, a trail system, classrooms, an auditorium and research laboratories.

Contact the refuge at 1-907-235-6546 or alaskamaritime.fws.gov.

Daily News reporter Elizabeth Manning can be reached at emanning@adn.com or 257-4323. Craig Medred can be reached at cmedred@adn.com or 257-4588.