Plane spotting in Anchorage: cargo hub and floatplanes at Lake Hood

Anchorage isn’t a destination you stumble upon. Anyone who flies here is looking for either wilderness or big freighters – and in the best case both. Ted Stevens Anchorage Airport is one of the most important cargo hubs in the world: 747 freighters refuel here on their way between Asia and North America, sometimes several in a row. Right next to it lies Lake Hood, one of the busiest seaplane bases in the world, where Beavers, Otters and Super Cubs lift off from the water. This guide shows you where to stand, when the light is right and why bear spray belongs in your photo gear in Alaska.

Ted Stevens Anchorage International at a glance

The airport (IATA ANC, ICAO PANC) lies about eight kilometers southwest of downtown on the shore of Cook Inlet. It is operated by the state of Alaska through its Department of Transportation. It opened in 1951 and has borne the name of longtime senator Ted Stevens since 2000. For passengers there are two buildings: the South Terminal for domestic flights and the smaller North Terminal for international connections and charters.

The runway system is quickly explained. Two parallel runways run east–west, 7L/25R at around 3,230 meters and 7R/25L at around 3,780 meters. Across them lies 15/33 at a good 3,300 meters in a north-northwest–south-southeast direction. In fiscal year 2025, according to figures cited in standard reference works, ANC handled around 5.4 million passengers and about 3.75 billion pounds of cargo – roughly 1.7 million metric tons.

Why Anchorage is a cargo hub

Until the early 1990s, Anchorage was a stopover for passenger flights between Europe and Asia. Soviet airspace was closed and jet range was limited, so flights went over the pole and Alaska. With greater ranges and the opening of Russian airspace, these stops almost completely disappeared.

The cargo stayed. A fully loaded freighter between East Asia and the US Midwest can refuel in Anchorage and so has to haul less fuel for the whole route – space and weight it uses for cargo instead. On top of that comes a peculiarity of US transportation law: foreign cargo airlines may transfer shipments between their own aircraft in Alaska. That creates transfer nodes that don’t exist like this at other US airports. In rankings by cargo volume, ANC regularly appears among the largest airports in the world, with third place cited for 2025.

For you, that means: in Anchorage you see widebody freighters in a density that in Europe you’d at most experience at pure cargo airports like Liège – only with more Asian airlines and with mountains in the background.

Who flies here: the traffic mix

The big US integrators run significant hubs in Anchorage. UPS and FedEx Express are present with widebody freighters, joined by Atlas Air and its group sister Polar Air Cargo with their 747 freighters. Kalitta Air can be seen here too.

From Asia come, among others, the cargo divisions of Cathay Pacific, Korean Air and China Airlines as well as Nippon Cargo Airlines. Which airline flies which route via Anchorage at any given time changes with market conditions and schedule; check current data before your trip.

The types you can look forward to:

• Boeing 747-8F and Boeing 747-400F – hardly anywhere else do you see so many jumbos in one day.
• Boeing 777F – the workhorse of the younger freighter fleets.
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11 – long a regular as a freighter with the integrators. How the freighter versions differ is explained in the guide Recognizing freighter aircraft.

Then there’s Alaska’s own traffic. Alaska Airlines has its most important base in the state at Anchorage and provides most of the passenger flights. Northern Air Cargo supplies communities across the state with freighters, Lynden Air Cargo flies the civilian Lockheed L-100 Hercules. A real highlight are the piston-engine freighters of Everts Air Cargo, above all the Douglas DC-6. Regional service into the bush is handled by, among others, Ravn Alaska and smaller operators with aircraft like the Cessna 208 Caravan.

From Germany, Condor serves Anchorage seasonally from Frankfurt – a convenient way to get there if it’s in the schedule in your travel year.

The spots at the airport

There is no officially built spotter point like in Las Vegas in Anchorage. Instead, spotters use roadsides, parks and small rises around the grounds. The following locations come from spotter guides and field reports; fences, barriers and access roads change, so look closely on site.

Point Woronzof and Woronzof Road

The best-known area lies in the northwest of the airport, where Point Woronzof Road leads toward Cook Inlet. Point Woronzof Park borders the airport grounds and is known for its view of Denali. From here you have crosswind runway 15/33 in your sights: with operations on 15 you see landings and takeoffs, with operations on 33 mainly the takeoffs. According to spotter reports, the park area closes late in the evening; stick to the hours and never park right at the fence.

A little further south on Woronzof Road, a second position offers itself opposite the UPS apron. West of the road you can get head-on shots of approaches to 15, east of it side views at the fence. Many spotters shoot from there from the car roof or with a small ladder. On the Woronzof side the light works mainly in the afternoon and evening, in summer until late at night.

South Airpark

At the southern edge of the airport, near Jewel Lake Road, there’s a small hill overlooking the east–west runways. Here you see takeoffs from the 07 runways and taxiing traffic toward 33. Spotter guides name late morning to early evening as a good time. A note from more recent reports: a metal wall now hides parts of the taxiway, and the view of 7R/25L is limited.

Kincaid Park

West of the airport lies the sprawling Kincaid Park, a popular recreation area with cross-country ski and mountain bike trails. A location in the park under the approach is suitable, according to spotter guides, for landings on the 07 runways. The way there takes around 20 to 25 minutes on foot through dense terrain, and this is exactly where an encounter with moose and bears is most likely. Don’t go alone, ask local spotters for directions and take bear spray.

In the terminal

If you’re flying anyway, according to spotter reports you’ll find a viewing area overlooking the airfield in the South Terminal beyond security – handy for the wait before departure, with glass as an obstacle.

Location	Runways in view	Best light according to spotter reports	Approx. focal length
Point Woronzof Park	15/33	Afternoon to evening	50–300 mm
Woronzof Road (UPS apron)	15/33, taxiways	Afternoon to evening	50–400 mm
South Airpark	07L/07R, taxi traffic to 33	Morning to early evening	50–400 mm
Kincaid Park	Approaches 07L/07R	Morning to early afternoon	50–300 mm

Light and runway direction

According to spotters’ experience, the east–west system almost always takes off and lands toward 07; the opposite direction 25 is rare. Crosswind runway 15/33, by contrast, switches depending on the wind. How runway numbers and wind are related is explained in the guide Understanding runway direction in use.

For light, latitude plays the main role. Anchorage lies at a good 61 degrees north. At the summer solstice the sun sets only shortly before midnight and rises again around 4:30 a.m.; it travels far through the north in the meantime. That means: spots that in Central Europe would only get backlight suddenly have light from the northwest in the late evening in June. In December, by contrast, the sun stays low in the south all day, and daylight lasts just a few hours. You’ll find the basics in the article Planning the sun position.

Lake Hood: floatplanes every few minutes

Just a few hundred meters north of the cargo aprons, a different world begins. The Lake Hood Seaplane Base (ICAO PALH, FAA LHD) lies on the two connected lakes Lake Hood and Lake Spenard and is also owned by the state. It has its own tower, three water runways – the longest running east–west at just under 1,400 meters – and a gravel runway for wheeled aircraft. With around a thousand based aircraft, it is often called the largest seaplane base in the world; in daily movements, by some accounts, only the harbor of Vancouver is ahead.

What you see here is Alaska in its purest form: De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers and DHC-3 Otters on floats, Piper PA-18 Super Cubs with fat tundra tires, Cessnas of all generations and the odd rarity at the dock. A large part of the traffic is private, joined by air taxis for anglers, hunters and sightseers. In winter the operator grooms the ice for aircraft on skis – then the water base becomes a snow airfield. If you want to tell small types apart reliably, the guide Recognizing light aircraft helps you; the US registration system is explained in Understanding US N-numbers.

Where to stand at Lake Hood

• Lakeshore Drive on the north shore: View of the channel between the docks and the east–west water runway. Spotter guides recommend morning and evening. The access via Spenard Road can be closed by a gate at times.
• South shore of Lake Spenard: Quiet spots with benches and parking, good for the east–west water runway from midday.
• Alaska Aviation Museum: The museum lies on the south shore of Lake Hood. From the Seybert Tower you look down on the lakes from above, and according to the museum, the radio traffic of the big airport next door plays there. According to the museum’s website, it is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and only in January and February is the building closed on Sundays; check the current hours before your visit. The collection includes, among other things, a Grumman Widgeon and a restoration hall where volunteers are working on a Curtiss P-40.

The docks and hangars around the lake are mostly private property. Stay outside the fences, ask the owners before photographing their aircraft up close and don’t block access roads to the moorings.

Elmendorf and the military

In the northeast of the city lies Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with Elmendorf Air Force Base. Stationed there are, among others, the US Air Force’s F-22 Raptors, plus transports like the C-17 Globemaster III. Strict rules apply to military sites in the US: photograph only from public land, don’t enter restricted areas and follow instructions from security personnel immediately. What applies to US spots in general is summarized in the article Plane spotting in the USA.

Wildlife, mosquitoes and gear

Anchorage differs from every other major airport through the nature right behind the fence. Moose walk through residential areas, and bears live in the parks around the airport. That sounds romantic, but it’s meant seriously.

For lenses, a zoom of about 70 to 400 millimeters gets you through at almost all locations. For the shores at Lake Hood, less is often enough; for taxi shots across the runway, more is welcome. You can read more on dealing with animals at the spot in the article Nature at the airport edge.

Rules and behavior

In the US, plane spotting from public land is generally allowed, but airport staff and police ask questions when someone stands at the fence for a long time. Spotter reports from Anchorage mention ID checks and requests to keep distance from the fence. Stay friendly, show your photos if asked and carry your passport. For entry and the logistics of a US tour, the guide Plane spotting trip to the USA helps.

Working Anchorage into a trip

Many spotters combine Anchorage with Seattle: there the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field and the Boeing plants in Everett await, and Alaska Airlines connects the two cities several times a day. If you love floatplanes, in Seattle with Kenmore Air and further north in Vancouver with Harbour Air you’ll find more operators of Beavers and Otters. For planning your big spotting destinations, take a look at the Bucket list of plane spotting spots worldwide.

Conclusion

Anchorage offers two spotting worlds in the tightest of spaces: at Ted Stevens International, one of the densest cargo traffic flows in the world with 747s, 777Fs and MD-11s, and next door at Lake Hood, one of the largest seaplane bases with Beavers, Otters and Super Cubs. You’ll find the best conditions in summer, when the light almost never goes out and the lakes are full of floatplanes. Plan with a car, bear spray and patience – and take time for the Woronzof side in the evening.