We took a nice day trip from Girdwood, Alaska, visiting the Portage Valley area of the Chugach National Forest. Portage Valley is accessed from the Seward Highway, 11 miles south of Girdwood or 49 miles south of Anchorage, by turning onto the Portage Highway, also known as the Whittier Access Road. One day should allow sufficient time for exploring the area. You can also fit in a trip to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center if pressed for time.
As soon as you make the turn, you are greeted with views of the Explorer Glacier. Next you will encounter the Moose Flats Day Use Area, a great spot for a picnic and a 1/2 mile walk on the interpretive boardwalk trail. This is the western end of the Trail of Blue Ice that runs to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center. Next up is the Explorer Glacier Viewing Area.
View of Middle Glacier
Close-up look at Middle Glacier in Chugach National Forest
A little further along the road, you will encounter the Williwaw Fish Viewing Platform, where you can watch salmon traveling up the creek to spawn in late July to September. The salmon that come through include red (sockeye), chum (dog), and pink (humpy). You can also view Middle Glacier from here.
View from Williwaw Nature Trail
Williwaw Nature Trail
The Williwaw Nature Trail starts here and heads to the Williwaw Ponds. We saw an American Dipper and a mother Common Goldeneye with her ducklings on the Nature Trail.
American Dipper sits above the stream watching for food
Common goldeneye duck with her ducklings
Stop in at the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, 5.4 miles in from the Seward Highway, which has some excellent displays on glaciers and area wildlife. There is a 20 minute film about the area. You can view Shakespeare Glacier from here. The visitor center sits on scenic Portage Lake.
Byron Glacier Trail
Next head over to the Byron Glacier Trail, a 2.0 mile (roundtrip) easy to moderate trail along Byron Creek to the snowfield at the foot of the hanging Byron Glacier. This popular trail is very scenic.
Karla in front of Byron Glacier
Scenic beauty along the Byron Glacier Trail
If you are interested in seeing Portage Glacier, you will either need to take a boat tour ($34/adult) across the Portage Lake or take the tunnel to Whittier and hike in 1 mile/750 feet elevation gain (one way) on the Portage Pass Trail. To use the tunnel you will need to pay a fee and wait in line for the next batch of vehicles heading through. It is a one way tunnel and runs in each direction once every half hour for a 15 minute period, except for when the train goes through. It is a shared train and automobile tunnel. The tunnel fee for motorcycles, passenger vehicles and RV’s under 28 feet is $13. For an RV over 28 feet towing a trailer it is a $38 fee. No toll is charged heading westbound from Whittier.
There are two USFS campgrounds along the Portage Highway with the larger, Williwaw, having some longer RV sites. The other campground, Black Bear is for tenting and pop-ups.
