The best walks and hikes in the Chugach Mountains

This hike goes between Girdwood and Eagle River. It's a beautiful hike that covers a lot of various terrain.

From Bodenburg Butte you have a great 360° view of the surrounding mountains and the Knik Glacier, which feeds the Knik River of the same name. The butte itself was also formed by glacial activity. The panoramic view is definitely worth the strenuous climb (including a staircase with 527 steps).

Blueberry Knoll is named for the plentiful berries that populate its slopes in autumn—but this is such a popular area that they get picked out very quickly. Blink, and you'll miss them! You'll hike right past the knoll on your way up Flattop, or you can treat it as its own destination, hiking a complete loop around it to enjoy the views in all directions before you head back down.

If you like running stairs, this is the destination for you. The trail up this 874 feet (266 m) butte has hundreds of stairs on it. It's also very popular with hikers and has very little room to pass, so if you're planning to run you might want to aim for a less-crowded time of day. (During the day on weekdays is usually a fairly safe bet. This trail is almost never entirely empty, but it's less likely to be crowded during the day.)

The Eagle River Nature Center is a wonderful facility with lots of educational programming for all ages. The trails around the nature center are always open, even if the building is closed, with one big exception: The Albert Loop Trail is closed every fall to reduce dangerous bear encounters while salmon are running in the nearby river. Please respect these closures. Parking for a car costs $5... but of course parking your bike is free.

This unimpressive rooster comb of rock gets its name from being the second peak in the ridgeline that starts with Flattop Mountain to the northwest. Although the peak itself isn't impressive — in fact, it's a mild, rocky scramble that is guarantee to break your running stride — the views from here are amazing. If you'd heading downhill from here you have access to the (relatively) new switchbacks on the Flattop Sunnyside Trail, which make it possible for the surefooted to maintain a jogging pace on the downhill. Do watch for mud after wet weather — the switchbacks are well-built, but sometimes get a bit slippery. And of course as always, be aware of possible wildlife in the area.

You can feel really good about yourself if you ran to the top of this peak. As you depart the saddle the trail is packed dirt with occasional rocks — generally pretty good footing, but it's also consistently steep enough that you might find yourself struggling not to slip. Happily, there are some amazing views over the neighboring mountains to distract you. Take care on the descent; you'll find yourself needing to almost constantly apply the brakes, as it were, to keep yourself from going out of control. But that's part of the fun of trail running, right?

Just running as far as this saddle is no joke! If you want to keep going up either of the peaks that bracket the saddle, the hard work starts from here as you tackle continuous, steep inclines and sometimes slightly loose footing to get up there. However, it's worth taking a second to enjoy the views from here. This saddle marks the boundary of the winter ski area, so there's a steep dropoff to the other side that produces some wonderful views.