Photo: Skvader, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Culture Pass Joint Ticket (admission to Alaska Native Heritage Center and Anchorage Museum) $29.95 (free shuttle from downtown and between both museums) summer only. This is much more than just a static museum of glass display cases. The various native Alaskan cultures are all represented in this center. A large stage holds native dance performances as well as other types of events for visitors. Behind the center, a short trail around the lake takes you to several stations that show aspects of life in each of the native Alaskan cultures with native guides with short demonstrations and happily answering questions. Back inside, many items such as artwork, kayaks and ulu knives are on display. A small theater runs various films and there is a gift shop (with a second location in downtown Anchorage).
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is an educational and cultural institution for all Alaskans, located in Anchorage, Alaska. The center opened in 1999. The Alaska Native Heritage Center shares the heritage of Alaska's 11 major cultural groups. These 11 groups are the Athabaskan people, Eyak people, Tlingit people, Haida people, Tsimshian people, Unangax people (Aleut), Alutiiq people, Yup'ik, Cup'ik, Siberian Yupik, and Inupiaq.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
On Elmendorf Airforce Base to the north of downtown Anchorage, and is open to the public: civilians who don't have authorization to enter the base must be signed in and escorted by someone who does. Hillberg has only beginner terrain, but tends to have shorter lift lines than Hilltop making it a better option for people who can get access.
The Anchorage Museum, the largest in Alaska, tells the multi-faceted story of the North, weaving together social, political, cultural, scientific, historic and artistic threads. With its major expansion in 2008-2009, it has become a must see. The museum features an extensive exhibit on the first peoples of Alaska, Alaskan history, a Discovery Center for hands-on exploration of the history and science of the North for all ages, and part of a Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center. A expansion features new gallery space for the museum’s art collection and exploration of art of the North.
Alaska State Trooper Museum
The state's only collection of historical law enforcement memoribilia from not only Alaska but also the world.
Veteran museum with large exhibits covering World War II and the Cold War, with the oldest starting with the Civil War.
This center is staffed by National Park rangers. They also lead a through downtown, stopping at some statues and ending with a view of Cook Inlet.
My Alaska Center
The Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, a performance venue (concert hall) opened in 1988, consists of three theaters and entertains over 200,000 patrons annually. Together with the Dena'ina Center (7th and F) and the Egan Convention Center (5th and F), these three facilities linked by covered walkways form a civic center in the heart of downtown Anchorage.