Hiking Chugach State Park (20 Mins from Downtown): Flattop Mountain ('Glen Alps') & Turquoise Eklutna Lake

Look east from any street in Anchorage and a wall of 1,200-to-2,400-metre peaks rises directly behind the city: Chugach State Park, covering 2,000 square kilometres (495,000 acres, the third-largest state park in the US), whose main trailhead sits 20 minutes from downtown hotels.

1. Flattop Mountain & Glen Alps Trailhead

At the top of Toilsome Hill Drive at 670 metres elevation (reachable by car with a state park parking pass or via the afternoon Flattop Mountain Shuttle from 4th Avenue downtown), the Glen Alps Trailhead offers three routes:

1. The Flattop Overlook Trail (0.8 km Paved Loop, 15 Mins): a flat, wheelchair-accessible loop from the car park to a panoramic deck overlooking the Anchorage bowl, Cook Inlet, Fire Island and the Alaska Range volcanoes. In late August, locals gather here to pick wild Alaskan lowbush blueberries on the tundra.
2. Powerline Pass or Little O'Malley Trail (Moderate Walk): walk along the glacial valley floor of Powerline Pass, where moose graze in willow meadows, or hike halfway up the ridge for views without scrambling.
3. Flattop Mountain Summit Scramble (4.8 km Round-Trip | 400m Gain | 2 to 2.5 Hours): Alaska's most climbed peak. The first mile climbs wooden steps to the saddle; the final 300 vertical metres is a steep rocky scramble up blocky boulders (follow white painted markers) onto a flat summit at 1,070 metres (3,510 feet).

2. Turquoise Eklutna Lake & Spirit Houses (40 Mins North, Exit 26)

Drive 40 minutes north up the Glenn Highway and 10 miles up a mountain canyon to Eklutna Lake: rent a kayak, mountain bike or e-bike at the lakeshore stand (Lifetime Adventures) to paddle across 11-kilometre milky-blue glacial water or cycle the flat 20-kilometre lakeside trail toward Eklutna Glacier. On your return to the highway at Eklutna village, visit St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church & Eklutna Historical Park to see the brightly painted wooden Dena'ina Athabascan and Russian Orthodox 'Spirit Houses' over every grave.