Eagle River Nature Center

Rarely do two lakes lie with­in a few feet of each oth­er. For­tu­nate­ly, the trail to see this geo­log­i­cal rar­i­ty begins just a 30-minute dri­ve north of Anchor­age. From the trail­head for South Fork Eagle Riv­er Trail, it’s a grad­ual 4.8‑mile (one-way) climb up a wide val­ley, lead­ing to a nar­row isth­mus between the green waters of Eagle Lake and the blue waters of Sym­pho­ny Lake.

Short, flat hike to access main braid of Eagle Riv­er. Walk is approx­i­mate­ly one mile through woods. To the right of the park­ing lot is a small­er braid of the riv­er that blends into main chan­nel in about 1 mile as well. The riv­er at this point can be float­ed very eas­i­ly, but unless you have expe­ri­ence with rapids, rec­om­mend you get out at the bridge. Although the bridge is only 5.5 miles from where you put in as the crow flies, the riv­er is…  ...more

This trail is less than a mile, and very kid friend­ly. Two view­ing decks offer views look­ing down the impres­sive val­ley, and wildlife is often seen here. Beaver Pond is also part of the show, and salmon spawn­ing can be seen in late August through Sep­tem­ber. This pop­u­lar trail is usu­al­ly packed with walk­ers, strollers, and the fam­i­ly dog — all eas­i­ly accom­mo­dat­ed. The trail is wheel­chair acces­si­ble and begins on a wide, slight­ly down­hill path to  ...more

Salmon work hard to make their annu­al appear­ance at the Eagle Riv­er Nature Cen­ter’s salmon view­ing deck, leap­ing the aban­doned beaver dam, among oth­er obsta­cles. Over the years, this view­ing deck has sup­port­ed hun­dreds of pho­tog­ra­phers cap­tur­ing moose, bears, eagles, and unpar­al­leled views.

If you don’t mind the 45-minute dri­ve from Anchor­age up to the Eagle Riv­er Nature Cen­ter, where this trail begins, this trail is one of the most scenic easy hikes any­where near Anchor­age. You’ll walk a well-main­tained loop that pass­es through beau­ti­ful for­est, over a cou­ple nice wood­en bridges, past beaver deams, and along the swift­ly flow­ing glacial waters of Eagle River.

The creek­side view­ing deck is accessed via the Albert Loop Trail.

The Dew Mound Trail runs par­al­lel to the his­toric Idi­tar­od Trail. This easy 7.0‑mile loop trail offers three return loop options along the way to short­en the hike, should you decide to head back soon­er. The trail pass­es through a vari­ety of plant com­mu­ni­ties show­cas­ing tall grass­es, shrubs and thick­ets, and beau­ti­ful spans of spruce and birch trees. Large boul­der fields and rocky ravines add to the adven­ture of this hike. Inter­est­ing things…  ...more

This trail is off of Albert loop and exists to pro­vide access to the Riv­er Yurt. It is a trail in the sum­mer or, you can walk on the riv­er in the win­ter. The Yurt can be rent­ed out most months for 7 days at a time. The trail only increas­es in ele­va­tion by about 15 feet. For thse who wish to hike all day then sleep trail­side that night, this is the place for you!

This rus­tic log cab­in nes­tles into the for­est about 1.5 miles up the Idi­tar­od Trail off on a side trail. It has the feel of an old-time Alaskan trapper’s home. Although perched at the edge of hard-core wilder­ness — deep inside the moun­tains — this cab­in is close to trails main­tained by the Nature Cen­ter itself, giv­ing fam­i­lies with small chil­dren the option of com­bin­ing short hikes with edu­ca­tion. The facil­i­ties can also be used as a  ...more

This trail is part of the Eagle Riv­er Nature Cen­ter Trail Sys­tem. Bear and moose are often sight­ed along this trail. These trails allow dogs to be on leash­es as you mean­der through the scenic trails of var­i­ous lengths.

If you’d like to spend the night lis­ten­ing to the rush of a wild riv­er, vis­it this snug yurt over­look­ing Eagle Riv­er with spec­tac­u­lar views of the sur­round­ing moun­tains. Locat­ed less than two miles form the Nature Cen­ter off the Albert Loop Trail, the yurt sleeps up to four, with two on wood­en bunks and two on the floor. It fea­tures a deck, two chairs and a table, plus a wood stove with fire­wood stacked in a shed. Eagle Riv­er is your water  ...more

Want to feel like you’ve ven­tured deep into the moun­tains with­out walk­ing all day? The Rapids Camp Yurt grabs some of the best views in the Eagle Riv­er Val­ley. The yurt and its view­ing deck are perched high, giv­ing their inhab­i­tants a feel­ing they are stand­ing among the peaks around them. In sum­mer, the sound of the riv­er run­ning pro­vides a sooth­ing white noise.

The Yuk­la Yurt can be used as a first-night stop for peo­ple doing the Cross Pass Cross­ing to Gird­wood. It’s also a great base for explor­ing the val­ley or for tak­ing a hike on the upper half of the Dew Mound Trail. The area will be qui­et: no motor­ized recre­ation allowed. This yurt is the fur­thest from Nature Cen­ter, with a more remote feel than Rapids Camp Yurt.

Hik­ers on the Crow Pass Trail may stop and take a brac­ing dip in Glac­i­er Lake on a warm sum­mer day. The lake’s posi­tion at the base of Eagle Glac­i­er means there is often ice float­ing in it.

Cab­in is near Crow Pass in the Chugach Moun­tains, 3 miles from the Crow Pass Trail­head and is locat­ed 500 yards East of the Trail at the old cab­in site 

Con­sid­ered to be one of the best hikes in all of the Chugach Moun­tains, Crow Pass fol­lows a por­tion of the orig­i­nal Idi­tar­od Trail, includ­ing its high­est point. End to end, it’s a 21-mile trail, which most peo­ple do in 2 days, but just the first 4 miles will lead you past some breath­tak­ing scenery. Along the way you’ll find glac­i­ers, water­falls, wild­flow­ers, wildlife, mine ruins, and berries (in late August and Sep­tem­ber). Hik­ing is not  ...more

The Eagle Riv­er ford point is one of the biggest chal­lenges for hik­ers on the Crow Pass Trail. It is advis­able to cross the riv­er ear­ly in the day, before the riv­er ris­es from glacial melt.

One area on the Eagle Riv­er, known as the con­stric­tion point, nev­er freezes, as it is too nar­row and deep.

Ici­cle Creek feels like a dozen foot-numb­ing creeks to hik­ers on the Crow Pass Trail. At the cross­ing point, the creek fans out into mul­ti­ple run­nels that must be ford­ed individually.

Three miles out the Crow Pass Trail from the Nature Cen­ter, Echo Bend is a pop­u­lar put-in spot for pack rafters. Boul­ders make the route espe­cial­ly chal­leng­ing dur­ing low water.

The Class­room Yurt is home to a num­ber of edu­ca­tion­al and recre­ation­al pro­grams, and it sits just a quar­ter mile from the Eagle Riv­er Nature Cen­ter, off the Rodak Trail. Accom­mo­dat­ing 45 peo­ple, it is also a pop­u­lar rental facil­i­ty for par­ties and spe­cial events.

The Cen­ter’s view­ing scope gives vis­i­tors a detailed look at the area’s flo­ra and fau­na. Moun­tain goats are a pop­u­lar sub­ject in the springtime.

Just a few years ago, the beaver view­ing deck over­looked a busy con­struc­tion site. The beavers have since moved fur­ther into the Eagle Riv­er Val­ley, aban­don­ing their dam and lodge.

Why Take This Hike If after reach­ing the crest of Crow Pass you want to go far­ther, hike 3 miles down the far side of Crow Pass. You’ll end up at a bridge over Raven Gorge, with the waters of Raven Creek echo­ing in the deep, dark recess­es below. Though Raven Gorge takes some time to reach — it’s near­ly a 7‑mile hike one way — you’ll be on a fine trail with great scenery almost the whole way. The Details The jour­ney to Raven Gorge offers as many…  ...more