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Seward Highway |
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Windy Point – The highway from Anchorage to Girdwood goes right along Turnagain Arm. Look for Dall sheep on the rocky ridges, moose close to the road and Beluga whales in the inlet. Windy Point is especially good for the Dall sheep spotting. | |
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McHugh Creek – This is a super picnic area, with views of the Turnagain Arm, which has a tidal bore (when the tide turns, there a nice big riffle). If the kids want to get out and stretch their legs, take the trail up to the waterfall. |
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Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center – At the Center, injured and orphaned animals are rescued, and when they're healthy again, released back into the wild. Here you can see the animals in natural habitat enclosures - black bears, grizzly bears, bear cubs, elk, Wood bison, moose, bald eagle, caribou, musk ox, and Sitka black-tiled deer. The Center is open year round. |
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Portage Valley – |
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 Portage Glacier cruise – Go for a one hour scenic boat ride on Portage Lake to see the Portage Glacier. Along with spectacular views of the mountains and glacier, icebergs floating in the water, a forest service ranger is on board with ice worms for kids to look at (they are real) and chunks of glacier ice to touch. |
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| Begich Boggs Visitor Center – Before the cruise, stop into the visitor center to watch a 20 minute film about glaciers and to learn about those totally cool ice worms as well as the natural history of the area. At the front desk there are live ice worms to see, and kids will want to roll around on the ice worm couch in the Wildside room, which also has dioramas about animals of the Chugach National Forest. |
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| Ice Worm Safari – On Tuesday and Saturdays, take a ranger-led hike from the visitor center to look for ice worms. It's a 3/4 mile walk to the snowfield, and after you're given an "ice worm hunting license," kids can dig in the snow to find ice worms (it's "hunt and release" only, you can't keep the ice worms). |
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Exit Glacier (Kenai Fjords National Park) – This is the only glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park accessible by car, and it's nice to drive right up and see a massive glacier out front. Before you head outdoors, stop into the Exit Glacier Nature Center to pick up a Junior Ranger activity booklet. Kids will also want to head down to the shallow Resurrection River that flows out of the glacier to play in the water. |
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| Glacier View Trail – Take the one mile (round trip) loop trail for excellent views of the Exit Glacier. Strollers are okay on this trail. |
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| Edge of the Glacier Trail – To get really close to the Exit Glacier, take the 1.2 mile trail that to east side of the glacier. The first half mile is largely level, then it goes up over the rocks to the glacier, even younger kids will find the trail worth the effort to see the glacier at close range. |
