チュガッチ山地のおすすめライド

Stay focus while riding on the side of the highway

If you're coming down this hill from the Kincaid chalet, it's an easy cruise as long as you don't get distracted by the pretty views and crash into a moose or a tree. But if you're going uphill, the more than half-mile of steady climbing is a real quad-burner. Wildlife sightings are very common here; please make sure to give them lots of space.

This bridge across the mighty Matanuska River is dedicated solely to foot and bike traffic. The water's generally murky appearance and sometimes lovely coloring (depending on the light) comes from tiny silt particles that were ground up by the Matanuska Glacier and eventually make their way downstream.

This historic train depot now doubles as a community center and can be rented out for special events including concerts. There's also a nice green space around it, and a pathway that gives you a chance to run away from the road for a while.

Once upon a time, you could see Portage Glacier from this viewpoint. Now it has receded behind a corner of the mountains, so from here you can only see the lake left behind by the glacier, and every so often a few icebergs might still float by. Still, the lake itself is wildly beautiful and the small visitor center nearby is interesting to visit... if it's open. More information here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/chugach/recarea/?recid=71946

The Eagle River Nature Center is a wonderful facility with lots of educational programming for all ages. The trails around the nature center are always open, even if the building is closed, with one big exception: The Albert Loop Trail is closed every fall to reduce dangerous bear encounters while salmon are running in the nearby river. Please respect these closures. Parking for a car costs $5... but of course parking your bike is free.

It's hard not to love this paved, multi-use trail that runs east-west through a greenbelt that transects almost all of Anchorage. It also ties into Goose Lake Park and the wider Anchorage trail system.

This paved, multi-use trail runs all the way from Anchorage to the small town of Chugiak. It's separated from the road, but look out for moose and bears, both of which are spotted here with some frequency.