LAKE CLARK NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE

formerly Lake Clark National Monument, national park and preserve in southern Alaska, U.S., on the western shore of Cook Inlet, southwest of Anchorage. It was proclaimed a national monument in 1978 and the boundaries and name were altered in 1980. Lake Clark, more than 40 mi (65 km) long and the largest of more than a score of glacial lakes on the rim of the Chigmit Mountains, is the headwaters for the most important spawning ground for red salmon in North America. With great geologic diversity, the park includes jagged peaks, granite spires, dozens of glaciers, hundreds of waterfalls, tundra plains, and active volcanoes. Wildlife includes caribou, Dall sheep, brown and grizzly bears, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons. The total area is 3,653,000 ac (1,478,900 ha).