Travelers eager to rush off into the "real" Alaska tend to overlook cosmopolitan Anchorage - a blend of old and new, rural parks and more - but there is plenty to see, and it's worth spending some time here experiencing big-city Alaska. On long summer days it is better to stay outside, perhaps strolling (or biking) along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail that offers restorative views of Turnagain Arm, or exploring the mountains and lakes of the 495,000-acre Chugach State Park , just fifteen minutes' drive east from Anchorage. Challenging trails traversing the park include an often treacherous scramble to the summit of the 4500ft Flattop Mountain, a spectacular vantage point from which to view the city and Cook Inlet. The Anchorage Museum of History and Art , 121 W Seventh, offers an excellent overview of the state and its history told through intricate dioramas, alongside beautiful examples of carved ivory and basketware. Also downtown you can find: the Imaginarium , 737 W Fifth, has hands-on displays telling you all about glaciers, the Northern Lights, and Alaskan wildlife; the period-furnished 1915 Oscar Anderson House Museum , 420 M St, illustrates early Anchorage life; and the Alaska Experience Center , Sixth Avenue and G street, presents forty minutes of Alaska's best scenery and the admission price includes a film of the devastating 1964 Good Friday earthquake that leveled much of downtown - 9.2 on the Richter scale and North America's strongest-ever quake. The Alaska Native Heritage Center is located off the Muldoon Road exit from the Glenn Hwy. It is expensive and still finding its feet, but provides an excellent introduction to the state's five main ethnic groups. Each is represented by a typical house where Native guides interpret their culture. Throughout the day, cultural groups perform in the main auditorium where there is also an instructive introductory film. The 4th Avenue Trolley runs here hourly from downtown for $6.