Alaska, Stone garden in Norra Långön nature reserve, Strömstad Municipality, Sweden

Alaska is a stone park on a hilly island off Sweden's west coast, featuring multiple levels, pavilions, towers, bridges, and walls built with local stone and cement. The structures follow the natural landscape and create pathways and viewing points throughout the garden.

Hilma Svedal, born in 1870, emigrated to New York in 1897 and spent 15 years in Alaska before returning to Strömstad in 1925 at age 55. On inherited land on Norra Långön she began building the stone park in the late 1920s; the garden was finished in summer 1930, and the Golden Inn restaurant was completed in 1934. After a fire destroyed the inn in 1962 and the site decayed, the remaining garden was restored in 1992.

Hilma Svedal took her inspiration from Japanese gardens she had seen in San Francisco, and the Buddhist-minded builder gave the site its name from her gold-digging years in Alaska. Since 1934 the café has served coffee, and that same year Månskensturer with accordion music and dancing began. A pennant with "Alaska" in white on blue still flies by the café, as on old postcards.

The site is only reachable by boat from Strömstad's northern harbor during summer months and requires advance booking. Walking through the park involves climbing up and down the hilly terrain, so wear sturdy shoes and allow plenty of time to explore.

Hilma Svedal finished her own Golden Gate bridge in 1935, two years before the Golden Gate Bridge in California opened. The Temple of Winds, another original structure, can be seen from Seläter on the mainland. A pennant with "Alaska" in white on blue, like the one on old postcards, often flies from the café flagpole.