Chugach State Park
Anchorage's Playground

Chugach State Park is a 500,000 acre park! It's one of Alaska's largest State Parks.



It starts at the Eklutna Lake Exit off the Glenn Highway on the north end—about 30 miles north of Anchorage and follows the Seward Highway all the way to Girdwood, 38 miles south of Anchorage. Anyplace east of the highways between those two points which isn't private property, military or other public property, is part of Chugach State Park.

You'll find many places to enter Chugach Park along either highway. There are also other small public parks, picnic areas and recreation areas mixed in.

The park has three campgrounds of its own—at Eklutna and Eagle River on the north, and Bird Creek on the south side of Anchorage. Amongst these you'll also find the Thunderbird Falls day use area, Mirror Lake Recreation area, Peter's Creek Campgrounds (north of Anchorage), Potter's Marsh Bird Sanctuary and McHugh Creek Campgrounds (south of Anchorage).

All campgrounds have small nightly fees (from $10 to $15/night) and each has plenty of recreation opportunities. Eklutna has the longest stay limit at 15 nights, Bird Creek is 7 nights and Eagle River is only 4 nights. A $5.00/day parking fee is charged for day use only at most of the park facilities.

Eklutna Lake Campground has boating and fishing opportunities and has plenty of trails for all kinds of uses—walking, bicycles, ATV's, horses, etc.

Eagle River Campground is located on the river greenbelt not far from the Glenn Highway. There are some short hiking trails in the area and you can do fishing or whitewater rafting on the river.

Bird Creek Campground has some fishing and a hiking trail. You can even try following the creek up the mountainside! You can watch a sunset on Cook Inlet and you might even see a Beluga Whale.

Arctic Valley/Alpenglow is another area of this park that has some great possibilities. You can park here and go camping, hiking and berry picking in summer and fall. In winter you can go snow-boarding or skiing. There are several chairlifts for downhill skiing at Alpenglow Ski Resort. It's open on weekends from mid-November to late March and is run entirely by volunteers from the Anchorage Ski Club.

Chugach State Park has 28 summer hiking trails and some of those are also designated for certain uses in winter, such as snowmobiling or dog sledding. Of course, you can ski or use snowshoes almost anywhere in winter—but do be careful of avalanche areas!

You'll find everything from very easy trails to rugged, steep mountain climbs. Each one will have its own fantastic scenic views and possibilities of meeting up with Alaska's abundant wildlife.

Here's a Chugach State Park Map that has more information and places marked on it so you can get an idea of the location of campsites, trails and other important points. Zoom in on the map to get a better view. Left click on the markers to see all the information in them.

Alaska has many beautiful parks, but Chugach State Park happens to be one that is both beautiful and rugged. And it is just outside of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. A great combination!

I went "mountain-climbing" - a small hill of about 1000 feet or so - with a friend of mine. It was maybe 15 miles or so down the Seward Highway from Anchorage.

I wasn't driving so I can't say exactly where we stopped, but it was a place where we could climb up the mountainside on a path. It was pretty steep so took some work to get to the top.

But when we got there, I was delighted with what I found. Besides the fantastic view from there, my friend showed me something I hadn't expected.

When we got to the backside of the hilltop, which was quite steep also, it was overgrown with an unending carpet of small shrubbery and moss. He told me he had jumped all the way down that mountainside before and it was really fun.

So I said, "OK - I'm ready!" And we did just that. We leaped out away from the mountainside as far as we could, landing maybe 8 to 12 feet below, on the softest blanket of greenery you could imagine. It was like jumping on a bed all the way down!

Now you may think only young kids do things like that. But we were both in our 30s. I absolutely loved it!

So take advantage of this great outdoor opportunity so close to civilization. You can stay in one of the campgrounds or hike up the mountainside and pitch a tent wherever you like on the park land. Stay close to one of the rivers and try some fishing or hike one of the many trails if you want exercise. Do keep an eye out for bears, moose, mountain sheep and other such wildlife if you are hiking. They are definitely in the area, along with many other smaller animals and birds.

You'll enjoy some tremendous views of Cook Inlet, the Kenai Peninsula Mountains, Fire Island, the Sleeping Lady Mountain (across Cook Inlet) and even some of the volcanic mountains in the area. Of course, what you will see depends on what area of the park you are in.

And if it's a real clear day and you get high enough, you might even see Mt. McKinley, several hundred miles away! We used to see the tip of it from the top of DeArmoun Road. You'll see more than that if you hike some of the trails in the Hillside area.

Enjoy your visit to our Chugach State Park and when you are ready to move on, there are plenty of other state parks and recreation areas.

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