チュガッチ山地周辺のおすすめファミリーハイキング＆ウォーキング

This hike goes between Girdwood and Eagle River. It's a beautiful hike that covers a lot of various terrain.

One of the great trails in the Chugach Mountains, the Crow Pass follows part of the historic Iditarod Trail. The Girdwood Trailhead gives access to the south eastern end of the trail, which leads north, past Crystal Lake and eventually meets Eagle River. From here the trail continues to the opposite trail head at the Eagle River Nature Center.

This is sometimes called the German bridge, because it was funded by the German Club of Anchorage. It's a popular biking destination and non-technical enough that a confident rider can do it on almost any bike with good tires. There's even a bike rack here so you can park your ride and hike the rest of the way to Hidden Lake if you so desire. (Biking is only allowed on the south side of the bridge.)

This is a super-popular place to watch for moose, which tend to congregate in the valley during the fall rut. Bring binoculars to help you tell what you're looking at; I've spent long minutes staring at what turned out to be somewhat moosey-looking bushes. You may see people looking for moose here during spring and summer, too; they're just harder to spot.

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.

Once upon a time you would have had to splash through the creek and get your feet wet. Nowadays, you can jog easily across what is often called the "German Bridge," because a German Club funded its construction.

This lake is as small and protected from view as the name implies. It's also quite a ways from the nearest trailhead, but it still sees a good bit of trail running traffic. Once you come up this side of the valley the trail is mostly a thin dirt footpath over rolling tundra swells. This destination is also quite popular with hikers and overnight backpackers, so you might want to consider starting your run early so you won't have to dodge as many slower-moving hikers.

You might not want to interrupt your run for it, but this is a popular place to bring binoculars or a spotting scope and look for moose down in the valley below, especially during the fall rutting season. (If you're lucky, you might even see a bear going about its everyday business down in the valley.) From here, the Powerline Pass Trail is a wide, gravel service road heading in either direction, with some big but manageable hills to start a pleasant burn in your legs.