Paddleboard the fjords in Alaska

Paddleboard the fjords in Alaska is one of the best extreme outdoor adventures in America. Within the Wild has two Alaskan lodges where activities abound and the kitchens are in the hands of an award-winning chef. The Within the Wild company is a rare thing, two remote Alaska lodges owned by one of the state’s most revered backcountry guides, Carl Dixon, who also happens to be married to an award-winning chef. Winterlake lies at the entrance to the Alaska Range, and Tutka Bay comprises six cabins on a private cove outside Homer, open from May to September.

Big nature activities abound at both. Winterlake has a new High Mountain Camp, a base for ridgeline and downhill glacier biking. Tutka Bay launched a new helicopter day trip to the outer coast of the Gulf of Alaska for bear viewing by boat and standup paddleboarding on the fjords. No worries if you work up an appetite: Three-course meals back at the lodge might feature reindeer tenderloin with blueberry gastrique or black cod. Take a bou­tique, small-group kayak­ing trip with expe­ri­enced guides at Liq­uid Adven­tures and get close to glac­i­ers in kayaks or pad­dle­boards while look­ing for whales and oth­er marine mam­mals. You can even com­bine your adven­ture with a jet­boat, heli­copter, or wildlife cruise. There’s noth­ing quite like it in all of Alaska!

Location: Alaska, United States