Downtown Anchorage's streets follow the grid plan laid out by the Army Corps of Engineers when the city was founded, making it easy to get around. Exploring Anchorage begins at the sod-roofed Log Cabin and Downtown Visitor Information Center at 4th Ave. and F St. Start here for brochures, maps and information on making the most of your stay.
Highlights of the downtown area include the Anchorage Museum, the Russian Orthodox Museum, and the Alaska Museum of Natural History. Inside the National Bank of Alaska building, the Alaska Heritage Library and Museum displays Eskimo art and artifacts, and houses more than 2,500 books on subjects important to the history and culture of Alaska. Highlights include a scaled down stagecoach and presentation on the Alaskan Gold Rush. Next to Town Square Park in downtown Anchorage, the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts hosts numerous performing arts events each year, and is home to eight resident performing arts companies.
Not far from the city center are the Alaska Native Heritage Center--not to be missed!--and The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which provides refuge for orphaned, injured or ill animals. Drive through the park to see bears, eagles, elk, moose, bison, and more in large fenced habitat areas in which they are housed until they are ready for release into the wild. The Alaska Botanical Garden, open year-round since 1993, is a 110-acre garden consisting mainly of spruce and birch forest, several specialized gardens, and the 1.1-mile (1.8-km) Lowenfels Family Nature Trail. Wildlife (moose and sometimes bears) are frequently seen in the garden.
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