Will new movie 'Into the Wild' inspire more travel to Alaska?
Meanwhile, in a press release entitled "'Into the Wild' (and back again safely)," the Alaska Travel Industry Association is promoting trip ideas that offer ...

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The new movie "Into the Wild" tells the story of Christopher McCandless, a young adventurer who wandered across the continent and died in the Alaskan wilderness in 1992 at the age of 24.

Fans of the movie may be inspired to visit some of the locales and landscapes featured in the film. You can even enter a contest to win a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, part of a joint promotion between the movie and the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau, at http://www.intothewild.com/. (Click on "Adventure" for the entry form; the contest ends Oct. 26.)

But the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that local tourism officials are also concerned about insuring the safety of tourists who might come on their own seeking to see the abandoned bus near Denali National Park in Alaska where McCandless died. The remote site is out of cell phone range, reachable only by hiking the Stampede Trail and fording the Teklanika River.

The newspaper reported that Fairbanks tourism officials plan to include an article about the book, movie and trail in an upcoming 2008 visitors guide, but that the article will include a cautionary note about potential dangers.

Alaska is only one of many places featured in the film, directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch as McCandless. Scenes from the movie include shots of Hirsch camping in the Gran Desierto de Altar, part of Mexico's Sonoran Desert; taking a tram to California's San Jacinto Peak; visiting a bar in Carthage, S.D.; kayaking Colorado River rapids, and crossing the raging Teklanika River. A clickable map at http://www.intothewild.com offers shots from the film, links, and information about McCandless' odyssey.

Meanwhile, in a press release entitled "'Into the Wild' (and back again safely)," the Alaska Travel Industry Association is promoting trip ideas that offer a taste of adventure "with the assurance of survival."

The options include staying at one of Denali Park's lodges - Camp Denali, Northface Lodge, Denali Backcountry Lodge or the Kantishna Roadhouse; a floatplane trip to a bear-viewing site in Katmai National Park; glacier-trekking in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and visiting Gates of the Arctic National Park, which is accessible only by air and averages fewer than 5,000 visitors a year.

Another option for an unusual Alaska adventure is a new tour from the Travcoa company, which is offering an eight-day trip, Feb. 27-March 5, built around the famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The trip - $5,995 a person - takes an inside look at the life of a musher and includes stops at a wilderness lodge and a race checkpoint. Details at http://www.travcoa.com.