Discover 6 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Unimak Island (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Mount Shishaldin, Mount Westdahl, and Scotch Cap Light. Also, be sure to include Isanotski Peaks in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Unimak Island (Alaska).
Table of Contents
Mount Shishaldin
Volcano in Alaska. Mount Shishaldin is a moderately active volcano on Unimak Island in the Aleutian Islands chain of Alaska. It is the highest mountain peak of the Aleutian Islands. The most symmetrical cone-shaped glacier-clad large mountain on Earth, the volcano's topographic contour lines are nearly perfect circles above 6,500 feet. The lower north and south slopes are somewhat steeper than the lower eastern and western slopes. The volcano is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes along an east–west line in the eastern half of Unimak Island.
The upper 6,600 ft (2,012 m) is almost entirely covered by glacial snow and ice. In all, Shishaldin's glacial shield covers about 35 square miles (91 km2). It is flanked to the northwest by 24 monogenetic parasitic cones, an area blanketed by massive lava flows. The Shishaldin cone is less than 10,000 years old and is constructed on a glacially eroded remnant of an ancestral somma and shield. Remnants of the older ancestral volcano are exposed on the west and northeast sides at 4,900 to 5,900 ft (1,494 to 1,798 m) elevation. The Shishaldin edifice contains about 120 square miles (310 km2) of material. A very steady steam plume rises from its small summit crater which is about 500 ft (152 m) across and slightly breached along the north rim.
In 1967, Shishaldin Volcano was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.[1]
Mount Westdahl
Stratovolcano in Alaska. Mount Westdahl is a stratovolcano of the Aleutian Range, in the U.S. state of Alaska.
It is on Unimak Island, near the western tip of the Alaska Peninsula.[2]
Scotch Cap Light
Lighthouse. The Scotch Cap Light is a lighthouse located on the southwest corner of Unimak Island in Alaska. It was the first station established on the outside coast of Alaska.[3]
Isanotski Peaks
Peak in Alaska. Isanotski Peaks or Isanotski Volcano, known locally as "Ragged Jack", is a multipeaked mountain on Unimak Island, the easternmost Aleutian Island in Alaska, United States. It is an old, highly dissected stratovolcano, lying about 10 miles east of Shishaldin Volcano, the highest peak in the Aleutian Islands. Its height is also often given as 8,025 feet.
In contrast to many of the younger, symmetrical volcanoes of the region, Isanotski is topped by multiple rugged pinnacles. This makes climbing or skiing the peak much more challenging than Shishaldin, for example.
While eruptions from 1825 and the 1840s have been attributed to Isanotski, geologists were only able to find evidence of Holocene eruptions on Shishaldin, not on Isanotski. Because of this, the actual date of Isanotski's last eruption is unknown.[4]
Cape Sarichef Light
Lighthouse in Aleutians East, Alaska. Cape Sarichef Light is a lighthouse located on the northwest tip of Unimak Island, approximately 630 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The most westerly and most isolated lighthouse in North America, Cape Sarichef Light marks the northwest end of Unimak Pass, the main passage through the Aleutian Islands between the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. When it was first lit on July 1, 1904, it was Alaska's second coastal lighthouse, and the only staffed U.S. lighthouse on the Bering Sea. Today, the lighthouse is automated, and the beacon is mounted on a skeleton tower.
Cape Sarichef was named in 1816 by Russian explorer Otto von Kotzebue after Admiral Gavril Sarychev of the Imperial Russian Navy.[5]
False Pass
City in Alaska. False Pass is a city on Unimak Island, in the Aleutians East Borough of southwestern Alaska, United States. The population was 397 at the 2020 census, a tenfold increase from 35 in 2010.[6]