Stunning! The views are breathtaking from start to finish, and the trail itself is well-kept and…read moreeasy to follow. The scenery changes as you go, with incredible overlooks and peaceful spots to take it all in. Definitely a must-see if you're in the area!

This is a great hike! It's probably right around the longest you can go for a weekday, after-work…read morehike...and still get to bed at a normal time. (unless you trail-run, of course) If you start at the Bear Valley trailhead, the stats are: 5.4 miles round trip, 2,300 ft. elevation gain BIG SIDE RANT INCOMING: About that trailhead. It's located in an area with many McMansions. The people that live in these McMansions chose to build their McMansions within spitting distance of PUBLIC lands. And yet, they hate it when people use these public lands. Parking is tiny and STRICT. The police left these wealthy McMansion owners with a sign explaining these rules. Rampant theft in all of Anchorage and these one-percenters in the hills waste law enforcement's time because someone parked on the side of the road. Of course, their excuse for this is "safety", because of course it is. Safety, like children, is always a great excuse to get your way. WHAT?! ARE YOU SAYING YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SAFETY?! WHAT IF MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE AND THE FIRE ENGINE TAKES 2 SECONDS LONGER BECAUSE A HIKER PARKED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD? The icing on top is that these McMansions are usually vacant. Such beautiful land with beautiful views: wasted. Anyway, be prepared to not have a parking spot if you're here on a good weather day and/or a weekend. There is an "overflow" (seems silly to use "overflow" when the "main" lot only has 3-4 spaces) place you can park, but it will add another half-mile to your hike. A half-mile with scenic views of McMansions. The hike takes you a softly-undulating ridge. It leads up and down a few false-summits until you arrive at the castle-turret-looking formation that is the true summit of McHugh Peak. There are numerous ways to the top, of varying difficulty. Plan your route accordingly. If you start to climb up and feels very difficulty, maybe back down and try a different side. There is some steep relief on some sides of the summit. A fall would be...."real bad".

Oh my goodness…read more Unlike most people, when I'm super-excited, I don't cuss. I use granny phrases like "Heavens!". I'm so excited about this trail, I can't believe I'm just now hiking it. Bird Ridge starts at a big trailhead with blasted-out rockwalls from when the Seward Highway was widened. It has bathrooms at the parking lot and then another (emergency?) bathroom about 1,000 ft up the trail. After the second bathroom, you start going up! And up! And up! There's a lot of gain here in a short amount of time. If you do it in the winter, micro-spikes (choose your favorite brand) are pretty much mandatory (it gets mighty slippery). I'd also HIGHLY recommend a pole of some sort. An ice axe would even be handy for the upper reaches. I'd also recommend you STAY OFF THE CORNICES, people have DIED. But, if you stay off the corniced ridges, this trail is still decently safe to do in the winter. You're on a ridge which is, by definition, one of the safest places to be in avalanche terrain. You'll get amazing views of Penguin Peak (which I recommend NEVER doing in the winter, it is VERY avalanche-prone) to the east and of Indianhouse South Suicide North Suicide Homicide Avalanche Mountain to the West. To the north, you can keep taking this ridge for miles, although it looks like it gets increasingly gnarly. I can't comment on what it's like in the summer, but I've heard it's beautiful. This is a great place to get above the clouds in the winter. You'll have sun on your face while everyone at lower elevations ferments in the gloom! As a bonus, the trailhead is plowed.

Drive south on AK1. pass Indian Valley meats on your left, and you will see a sign for "Bird Ridge"…read moretrail parking lot. (Sign will be on your Right, but the parking lot is on your left when you head south on AK1.) $5 for parking or use your park pass. uphill work out with a fantastic view once you climb up over 3000 feet. If you are fit, you can ascend in less than 2 hours to the top. The trail continues behind along the ridge towards girdwood possibly. Also often times you can spot eagle soaring when you look back towards Turnigan Arm/Inlet. Everything becomes so small when you are up at the peak. It's challenge but you will be rewarded with the view.

COVID-19 update: The…read moreEagle River Nature Center(ERNC) is closed. Its trails: are not. You can still park at the ERNC, you just can't go inside. As of 4/5/2020: Trail was hardpacked (no post-holing!) to Echo Bend. (about 4ish miles in, one way) Great views and blue skies were plentiful. There was barely anyone past 1 mile in. (still, bring a mask, it's impossible to get 6ft away from other people on the trail) Yurts/campgrounds were still open! (this was shocking to us) For more general trail details, see my previous review.

This is a great peak to try if you want a long hike that never gets very difficult (you don't have…read moreto use your hands). The "quick" way is to start at South Fork Eagle river trail: https://www.yelp.com/biz/south-fork-eagle-river-trail-anchorage After you reach the lakes you'll want to veer right around Symphony lake and gain that ridge. You then take that ridge all the way up to the summit of Triangle. Or, you can hike on South Fork for about 1 mile. There, you will come to a junction where you can gain Rendezvous Ridge (https://www.yelp.com/biz/arctic-valley-rendezvous-peak-trail-anchorage). You take this up to the top of the ridge on your right and ride this ridge all the way to the summit. There's a lot of up and down, so it's going to take a lot more time going this route, but it's worth it. You get 360 degree Chugach views the entire time. The views of Eagle and Symphony lakes from the ridge are even better than they are down on the normal trail. You'll likely see Dall Sheep near the summit, the love this area. I was "herding" them for the last 2 miles to the summit. Getting to the summit involves some easy scrambling. There's a summit register where you can write your name, proving you made it. There are excellent views of Cantata Peak (review pending) to the north. When I was there, a storm was rolling in, creating a nice drizzle and lots of rainbows!

Super Late on this review but finally got to it. We were in Alaska last year for my sister's T4K…read moreRide (http://www.texas4000.org). After she was done we wanted to explore Anchorage a little. After reading about Chugach guides we booked a hike with them. My parents never go hiking or trekking, neither does my wife!!! For them to enjoy this, was a big deal. Sudevi was on time and super cheerful. She is very knowledgable and kept the hike easy for most of the way keeping in mind that my sister just biked 4500 miles from Austin 2 days before. My mom is a botanist so she got to explore her flowers and plants, I like mountains so we got some nice shots. I would highly recommend Sudevi and her company. She was equipped with water and snacks, what else can you ask for.

I signed up for a day long hike and had the best hike of my life! Luke was our guide. He was…read moreenjoyable to be with and offered education along the way, as well as keeping the conversation going between us. He hiked us up to hidden lake, and then gave us the option to climb to the summit of The Ramp for the most breathtaking view. As a novice hiker, it was certainly a challenge, but the views at the top were spectacular. All in all, 13 miles round trip. Hiking poles, snacks and water were provided. Those poles saved my knees on the way back! I highly recommend this company. I felt I received great value.

There are many different sections to Chugach State Park, like…read more... - Potter Creek - McHugh Creek - Beluga Point - Falls Creek - Indian Creek - Bird Creek You can spend a lot of time discovering all these incredibly vast areas of the park. What really stood out for me was making a brief stop here at milepost 96.5 along Seward Highway (35 miles south of Anchorage) for BIRD POINT TRAIL. I believe coming to Bird Point will help provide a glimpse into the magical setting of the Turnagain Arm waterway within the Cook Inlet part of the Gulf of Alaska. According to the entrance sign near the trailhead, Bird Point is... "A place to reflect and enjoy." "See wildlife foraging in scenic surroundings." " Smell the richness of earth and see." "Hear the whoosh of a beluga's breathing or the rush of a 6-foot bore." "Touch land that was once tropical ocean bottom." Welp, I don't know about all that wildlife because I didn't see anything during my visit...but definitely walking the easy 1.9-mile trail will allow for plenty of opportunities to appreciate nature and the great outdoors. It's a $5 fee for parking. Then, there'll be plenty of viewpoints on the paved connector pathway for picture moments of the Kenai and Chugach Mountain Ranges. When I was here towards the end of June, there was still some snow covering the mountain peaks which added to the beautiful backdrop and that was even, still, on an overcast day. I didn't hike the full length of the trail, maybe I used 30 minutes in total, but it was enough to get a feel for how special this part of Southcentral Alaska is. And just past here at Bird Point are still more exciting roadside pullovers along the Seward Highway journey to appreciate the sights before arriving in the town of Girdwood, where I highly suggest riding the Alyeska Resort Tram. Overall, Bird Point is a scenic stretch of Chugach State Park that's not difficult for exiting your car and taking time to walk around and explore.

If you're like me, you want a hike that doesn't make you climb 1000 feet in 5 minutes. I prefer a…read moregentle slope and that's what you will find in Chugach State Park. It is a nice rolling trail with footbridges to avoid rough ground and crossing streams. I'm no expert on mushrooms, but there were a lot of them. Not sure that you were allowed to pick them, but some mushroom foragers were doing so. I've included some pictures for you mycologists. The trail had a nice spruce like smell that was pleasant. And we saw plenty of dogs at walking their owners. There were also benches along the trail in case you wanted to take a break. We saw wild berries and other native plants. It took use about 90 minutes to walk about 3 miles.

OK, OK. Whoever…read morenamed everything in this area BIRD or bird-related names probably thought they were being cute, but they were really just making things VERY confusing. This is a trail that starts at the Bird Valley Trailhead. This is NOT the same as: Bird Ridge, the steep and popular hike. That trailhead is a couple miles west (closer to Anchorage) of here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bird-ridge-trail-anchorage Bird POINT, a sightseeing area on the Turnigan arm a few miles EAST (farther away from Anchorage) of here. Bird Creek CAMPGROUND, a car-camping area near the highway that is a mile from this trailhead...known for nearby combat fishing: https://www.yelp.com/biz/bird-creek-campground-anchorage To get to this trailhead, you'll be on a bumpy, un-paved road. If it looks like you ain't supposed to be here...you're probably in the right spot. Once you reach the trailhead, if you hike maybe 2 miles and keep veering right, you'll eventually reach a junction. Head left at the junction and that's the Penguin Creek Trail. (look at the PDF this page links to and it all will make much more sense, trust me) "Creek Trail" is apt, because you are often hiking up a flowing creek. Either bring high-rise waterproof boots are some beater shoes you don't care about. Why would you come to this trail? 1) If you're on an ATV and want to make it go splishy-splash! 2) You are on your way to climb Nest Peak or Bird Peak (yet another Bird name! Note: Bird Peak is NOTHING like Bird Ridge. It is MUCH more involved...review coming soon) If you aren't doing either of those things, there isn't much reason to come here, in my opinon. You'd be much better off going up Penguin PEAK, on the Penguin PEAK trail, which you can read my review of here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/penguin-peak-trail-anchorage

Great trail for a trail run. Mostly woods but some great views of the mountains and ocean every now…read moreand again. Some awesome wildflowers and berry bushes.

Read my previous review for details- since my original review is so old, I'm not able to edit it. I…read morewant people to made use of the last two miles (starting at Windy Point) while they still can. In my opinion this is the prettiest section of the trail, but it is unfortunately slated for destruction. They would have us believe this is for "improvement " but anyone whose lived in Alaska for any length of time and read the report on the plans knows this is hogwash. My point is, enjoy this trail while you can.