Best college towns in America: Juneau, Alaska (Home of University of Alaska Southeast)
Alaska is unlike any other state in the nation. They don’t have college football. That doesn’t mean they don’t have sports. The Seattle Kraken actually just helped one Alaska college get hockey back on campus. However, that’s not the deal in Juneau. It’s still an interesting city that people have to visit once in their lives.
The campus for the University of Alaska Southeast is right on the Auke Bay. The harbor is so peaceful, unlike many other college campuses in the country. The bay is in the eastern panhandle, so it’s not dreadfully cold like other parts of Alaska. Its climate is more like Washington State than traditional Alaska. Over the bay, you see mountains clear as day. They are so clear, you can see the snow on top. These are the types of mountains artists use for paintings.
Despite not being terribly cold, that doesn’t mean there aren’t exclusively winter things to do in Juneau. You can visit Mendenhall Glacier, which is about 12 miles from the area. It’s a literal glacier. There’s a tramway that takes you 1,800 feet in the air to a restaurant in the sky overlooking the cruise ship docks.
The best part about Juneau is the whale watching. Everyone who goes whale watching says it’s the experience of a lifetime. Sure, there are no college football tailgates, but there is a whale jumping ten feet in the air before splashing down back into the waters of the Inside Passage.