When you think of Alaska, you think of wilderness and wide open spaces (at least I do). But Anchorage is kind of a shock and not at all what I expected.
It’s a very large city (pop. Close to 300,000!) with all the big city traffic, industrial areas, big buildings, night life, airports, train stations … surrounded however by stunning mountains and ocean that is not far away.
Downtown Anchorage has a great visitor centre, museum, lots of shops & restaurants. Be sure to get one of the most popular Alaska souvenirs … an Ulu – the traditional native cutting tool. There is actually an ulu factory right in town at 211 Ship Creek Ave. Or visit one of the many fur shops in town – there’s a lot of them! One of the best place to park downtown is off 3rd Avenue between C & A streets in the Anchorage Market and Festival parking for only $1/hour!
Anchorage Visitor Centre
One of the many fur companies in Anchorage
Downtown Anchorage
An easy way to take in some other attractions is on one of the free shuttles that depart from the log cabin visitor’s centre on F Street to the Alaska Native Cultural Centre, The Anchorage Museum, The Ulu Factory or the Alaska Zoo. You can also board one of the Anchorage City Trolley Tours that offer 1 hour sightseeing tours that start and end downtown.
Something we regret now is not bringing our bikes as Anchorage has more than 135 miles of paved trails! They’re everywhere and a great way to get around! You can rent bikes in downtown Anchorage or simply opt to walk some of the beautiful trails … views of the ocean and mountains in the distance are breathtaking!
In addition to the paved trails, there are hundreds of unpaved and wilderness trails within easy distance of the city. A popular hike for visitors and locals alike is the trail to Flattop Mountain (actually billed as Alaska’s most popular hike). (For more on Flattop … see our post: Hiking Flattop Mountain. Drive to the Glen Alps Trailhead (or you can take a shuttle from downtown) and then hike to the top of the 3,510 mountain for spectacular 360 degree views. This is a moderate to difficult hike, (be warned … some guide books actually say ‘an easy hike’ … but it’s definitely a challenge!) with some steep climbing at the last. Bring water and be aware that there’s going to be a LOT of people on the hike … at times it felt like we were in one of those scenes you see of Everest where there’s literally hundreds of people lined up to climb. And when we were there it wasn’t even high tourist season yet! Still … worthy views. (There is a very large parking lot with restroom facilities – and a $5 day use fee for parking/hiking.)
Start of Flattop Trail outside of Anchorage
Climbing some of the stairway at Flattop Mountain
View from almost the top of the flattop mountain hike
Another day trip is to drive up to Eklutna Lake. It’s a 7-mile long lake rimmed with mountains and a glacier at the end.
Take the Glenn Hwy north approx. 12 miles to just beyond Eagle River. There is a sign on the road to exit right. You’ll find yourself on a little, winding road for 10 miles but not difficult. Similar to Flattop Mountain, there is a $5 day use fee (seems that everything in Alaska has a fee!) There is a small parking lot and pit toilets available. There is no boat ramp and you can only use ‘human powered’ watercraft such as canoes, kayaks, paddle boards etc. If you don’t have your own, you can rent them at the lake itself.
If you have your own boat, it’s quite a ‘slog’ from the parking lot to the lake … you can’t really get near to the water … we had to hike down about ½ km (twice!) to carry boats and gear but certainly do-able.
Long way to carry boats to the lake!
Once on the water it was pretty spectacular! Snow capped mountains all around … we were hoping to see the glacier but being that it is on the other end of this long lake we weren’t able to make it. It should be noted that the wind can come up quite suddenly and quite strongly. We were on a glassy calm surface one minute and whitecaps the next! Be aware!
Beautiful Lake Paddle on Eklutna Lake
There are limited places to pull off and have a lunch, but we heard that there is a spot to camp on the far end … but I don’t know how big it is or what kind of site.
The beginning of the lake is apparently good for fishing because by the time we’d come in from our paddle (it was around 2:30 p.m.) the beach was loaded with people! Fishing … picnicking … it’s quite busy. Once again … anything close to Anchorage is going to be busy!
We loaded up (another long haul from the water to the car!) and headed a short way down the 10 mile road and stopped at Rochelle’s Ice Cream for some Espresso Shakes. A worthy stop on a hot day after a hard paddle!
Rochelle’s at Eklutna lake
Being so far north, you will find long summer days (up to almost 22 hours of daylight!) and short winter nights (only around 5 hours of daylight!) which can be difficult to get used to. Temperatures are moderate in the summer – around 65F – but can get much hotter at times. Winters are around the mid-20’s(F) which is perfect for sledding, skiing – or dog mushing!
Right on the city’s doorstep is Chugach State park with more than 50 glaciers in this huge 500,000 acre park. Lots of hiking, camping, fishing, boating possibilities all within easy distance of the city.
So, while not my idea of a perfect wilderness retreat, Anchorage has a lot to offer and can be a jumping off point for further adventures such as Seward, Whittier & Homer on the Kenai Peninsula.
Because it is so close to these destinations however, be aware that a large portion of the population of Anchorage is on the road in the summer to get there (weekends especially) and roads can be full and campgrounds packed. Best to plan ahead, if possible.
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