Twin Peaks Trail (Eklutna Lake-Chugach State Park)

Hike Name: Twin Peaks Trail (Eklutna Lake-Chugach State Park) Location: south AK Length: 5.2 Submitted by: pinkbubelz Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Alaska trail reviews Alaska national parks Alaska state parks
For more trail descriptions and topo maps, try a Free Trial Offer from Trails.com

Description
A 5.2 mile day hike (2.6 miles oneway) up towards a view of the Twin Peaks.

There is a fee for day use of the area and also for camping. There are pit toilets and no showers or running water, but there is a small, privately owned ice cream store & showers (for a fee) available about 1 mile West of the campground (just before you enter the campgrounds.)

The trail is well maintained and pretty popular and has many switchbacks. At the lower end, the hike has a moderate incline. Towards the top, it gets steeper once you start to emerge from the treeline. Much of the lower 1/2 of the trail is in a nice wooded area, however, if the weather is warm, it can get a little buggy (mosquitos).

As you hike, you can even see an abandoned car (who knows how it got there--it looks like it's been there for decades) off the side of the trail!

Along the way (at about the 1/2 way point) there is a bench for a fabulous view of the glacier-fed Eklutna Lake--it appears a greyish green due to the amount of glacial silt in the waters. If you're lucky and there is no smoke or haze, you can see quite far into the surrounding mountains.

At the end of the trail there is a 2nd park bench. You can view the Dall sheep on the opposite mountain tops and if you want to (they look like little specs of white against the vegetation and rocks). You can also decide to continue to climb to the top of the mountain (we didn't do that--and there is no trail from there.)

At the top of the trail, you can also hear the rushing of water from a glacier or spring-fed stream maybe about a couple hundred of feet below the top end of the trail....(not sure if that water is clear enough for drinking--if it's a glacier-fed stream, it will be too silty for drinking water.)

Lots of wildlife reside in the area-- most of Alaska has cautions about bears (we saw a few "old" patches of grass from what looked like a place that a bear had once slept.) Along the trail, you can also find edible berries, and birds, as well as an occasional viewing of a Willow Ptarmigan (Alaska's state bird-- it is a type of grouse-- looks kind of like a cross between a small turkey and a pigeon!)

Views are best at the 1st bench where you can see the lake... unless of course you decide to go all the way to the top of the mountain, where I'm sure you'll be able to see all of the surrounding hills and mountains!

In addition, you can also rent kayaks and boats for Eklutna Lake at the campgrounds.

Most of the campsites are wooded, there is also an "overflow camping" lot, which is gravelly and open (no trees). A campground host is there to welcome you as well.

Directions to Hike
North of Anchorage in the northern end of the Chugach State Park at the Eklutna Lake campgrounds.

The campground is about 8 miles East of the main Highway 1. The trail head is located at the back of the campground.

Contact Information
Chugach State Park
HC 52 Box 8999
Indian, AK 99540
phone: (907) 345-5014

submit a new trail review

---

About Our Reviews

Many people ask us to recommend a place to go hiking. Instead of us deciding what places are best, we let the backpacking community help out. The reviews on budget-travels-tips.com have been submitted by our viewers. Some reviews are positive and some are negative. If you don't agree with a review, feel free to submit your own trail review.