I have done a hiking/camping trip a few times in the area. Definitely decent areas to bike, more so just outside of Anchorage and plenty of MTB opportunities in Chugach. Go to Downtown Bicycle Rental in Anchorage and talk to Peter...he can hook you up with a bike and has the info on current trail conditions, etc. Not sure about swimming outside but there are a few health clubs/YMCA pools you can swim at. Hiking/camping is phenomenal that time of year. For a real treat, it is worth checking out some of the backcountry cabins maintained by the forest service along the Kenai peninsula that are hike in (they need to be reserved well in advance). Also, if you are up for it, try backcountry camping in Denali. You can ping me for more details...its a great trip.

Anchorage and the surrounding area has a lot to offer in terms of riding. If mountain biking is your thing, then look no further than Kincaid Park. Some very nice single track riding in this very big park. Beginning in June, the Alaska Triathlon Club meets up at Little Campbell Lake within Kincaid Park for some open water swimming. I can't remember if it is Monday or Tuesday nights. Water temps at that time are generally in the upper 50's or low 60's.

As for road biking, you can ride the bike trail on the east side of town beginning at Bartlett High School and head out to Eagle River and beyond. A good hill climb will be Hiland Road just before you get to Eagle River. From the bike trail, you can ride in the residential area behind Chugiak High School for some good hills, turns, etc.

A couple of other options for the road bike are out towards Palmer off the Old Glenn Highway and then of course the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. Very scenic, but very dangerous. I don't ride that road, but there are always folks out there on bikes on the weekends.

Enjoy. Keep an eye open for wildlife.

Watch out for statues of moose standing by or on the trail city trails. They are not statues.

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I've stayed a fair amount in the city (downtown). I ran out to the YMCA pool to swim. It's a typical indoor pool, open year round, but you may want to double check that for your trip time. IIRC the pool is also 25m instead of 25yd. I think the university also has a pretty good pool, but not sure if it is open to the public. Not sure that any natural bodies of water will have swimmable temps in June.

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Some good suggestions on here already. Lots of riding options. Just pick which kind of bike you want to bring. Miles of paved multiuse trails throughout Anchorage and communities north and south. Kincaid Park in west Anchorage as mentioned and then Far North Bicentennial/Hillside Park in east Anchorage along the base of the Chugach front range. Both have miles of ski trails and great singletrack.

The riding south of Anchorage along the Seward Highway is great. If close proximity to traffic bothers you there is a very scenic paved trail along the past 13 miles of the highway from Indian to Bird Point to Girdwood. Highly recommended. Also recommend the Trail of Blue Ice in Portage Glacier Valley south of Girdwood which is mostly paved.
The roads and trails here are great for a road bike, but a cross bike or mtb will allow you to ride more variety. There are also high quality bikes available for rent.

If you want to ride in Denali you'll want to plan ahead. The Kenai Peninsula has some epic mtb riding between the cabins mentioned above, but renting these also means planning ahead. See USFS Chugach Forest. Resurrection Trail, Johnson Trail and Lost Lake Trail are all great rides. In a normal snow year June might be early for these, but snowfall was low this season.

You can stay in about any part of town with easy access to most of town. West or Southeast/Hillside Anchorage will put you closer to the parks and trailheads. Downtown Anchorage will offer more dining and tourism opportunities.

Unlimited hiking opportunities all through southcentral AK. South of Anchorage go see Girdwood, Portage and Seward. Whittier is worth a visit if you want a day cruise or kayak experience. Seward offers this and the sea life center. Homer is a neat visit, but a very long drive.

There are lots of public pools in Anchorage. School and university pools along with a number of sports club pools. The tri club lake swim is fine if you have a wetsuit. Check the FB page for schedule. There are at least two tris in June. Eagle River Triathlon thin first week of June and Tri the Kenai in mid June. Both are pool swims.

June is usually great weather. I won't guarantee anything this season as the weather has been unusual. Have a great trip!

Awesome! Thanks for all the detailed info. I'll follow up with some specific questions once I do some more research.

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Lived there for a few years. Lots of good mtn biking. Side note, carry bear spray. There has been an increase in wolves on the trails and they have been known to take out people's dogs. Mosquito spray too, they are heavy in some areas.

Lots and lots of options. Can rent bikes from many outlets as well. Hiking is endless. Swimming is a little tighter but also accomplishable.

You'll love your trip!

If the road riding is good we'll probably bring our road - not tt - bikes, and potentially just rent mt bikes for a day or two. After reading all of the internet I think we'll try to spend a few days riding and doing dayhikes within close proximity to Anchorage - the internet seems to approve of Crow Pass; East Twin Pass; Pioneer Ridge; South Twin Fork for the hikes.

I think we'd then like to go down to Kenai and do the Harding Icefield hike in the NP. What's riding on the peninsula like? Google streetview looks beautiful, but is riding on the Seward/Sterling/Hope Hwys safe/doable? Do you know if the forest service campgrounds along those roads tend to fill up midweek? It looks like there's a ton of them. Unfortunately - and understandably - most of the cabins are already booked solid. Other places to check out down there? Portage Glacier, Hope area etc?

Incorporating Denali seems difficult logistically due to the buses. I really wanted to do a multi-day trip around Mt Eielson/Anderson Pass, but the 4 hour bus ride to get out to the visitor center sounds really unappealing, and I hear it's difficult to get backcountry passes for that area. Plus I'm a bit concerned about fording rivers in mid-June - even though you guys had a mild snow year. I'm thinking that might be a dealbreaker for my gf. Thinking the Kesugi Ridge trail as an overnighter or massive day hike could be a good alternative, and maybe just go a little ways into the park. Are there cool/rugged dayhikes near the park entrance Savage River area? Everything I'm finding is like a 1 mile paved route for tourists - but looking at the topo map there's no shortage of cool looking terrain there.

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Being from the AK, I always felt that traveling to Denali was not worth the time. The glacier swept valleys right outside Anchorage are nearly as remote and similar in appearance to the geography in Denali. I'd say the ride towards Seward is better TT biking than road biking and it is very safe, from what I've found and no, the campgrounds do not fill up mid-week. A mistake I've seen folks make is traveling too far to get to new areas when there are so many world class hikes (I suggest making them trail runs and mtb rides) within a 50 mile radius of Anchorage. Your time is better spent closer to Anchorage, unless you're going to SE AK, want to see bears on the Kenai, etc.

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I can recommend a great place to blow some money and eat REALLY well.

Simon and Seaforts

It's about 8 kinds of yum. We were only there 2 nights coming into and leaving for fishing in the bush.....but damn their steaks may be the best I have ever had.

The Seward and Hope Highways are great road riding. The Sterling Hwy east of Cooper Landing has plenty of room. I'd avoid riding through Moose Pass unless traffic is really light. Bring taillights if you have them. I find it earns you better clearance from traffic. Traffic can be heavy in the evenings. Riding during the day, during the week should yield a lot less traffic.

The distances aren't so great between Anchorage and Seward that you need to find accommodations in between, but if you're looking there are lodges, b&b's etc. in the small communities along the highway. On the way to Seward: Summit Lake Lodge, Moose Pass, Primrose Creek (SE end of Kenai Lake). Hope Road: B&B's along highway (Sunrise) and in Hope. East end of Sterling Hwy: Sunrise Inn on Kenai Lake, Cooper Landing.

It looks like you picked out some longer hikes. If you have partial days to commit, there great hiking right from Anchorage. I'd recommend the Turnagain Arm (Old Johnson) Trail in southeast Anchorage to McHugh Creek, Rainbow and Windy Corner (4-10 miles). You can also hike south to north from any of these trailheads. This trail provides access to numerous peaks along the Turnagain Arm. It is very scenic and offers southern exposure with better temps and shielded from the wind when many times conditions elsewhere are worse. A couple of climbs here that I'd recommend for your list - Bird Ridge and Alyeska North Face Trail. The Alyeska hike is at the ski resort in Girdwood. You hike up to the tram house and rides down are free. If you time it right you grab a bite and drink at the top. Girdwood is also the southern access for the Crow Pass Trail.

Portage is worth a visit. You can hike, run or mtb the short trail system that parallels the creek out of the valley. The campgrounds in here are great. Go see the visitors center. There was an active lodge here, but economics make it hit or miss for what is open or offered, month to month.

I don't like to discourage people from seeing anything in AK, but I'd agree with milesthedog on Denali. It is locked down by NPS and geared towards tourists. I know folks that have been flown in to Wonder Lake with their bikes and made a very long day trip riding back out which was epic, but logistically difficult. Our strange season continues. We received a lot of late season snow in just the past week or so. Backcountry that was unskiable most of the year has now opened up for spring skiing. So keep that in mind. Crow Pass is an awesome hike, but does have a significant creek crossing.

... and don't forget Kincaid for running: top notch, wildlife everywhere, can get feeling remote pretty quick and just awesome.

bars: Pioneer. HS best friend, Mike, just bought it and he knows AK inside and out, in case you get up there and there's strange weather and need some advice.

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Great hiking Crow Creek Pass, Portage Glacier, and even check out Lost Lake Trail since you will be heading that way. Harding Icefields will be a treat...cross your fingers for nice weather. It can get brutally windy and rainy.

You will be able to find camping spots mid week in June all along the Seward HWY from Anchorage to Seward or down to Cooper Landing, Soldotna, Homer, etc.

Hope, AK is a cool place for camping, and you can get in a good ride on the Hope Road just off the Seward HWY. As I mentioned previously, I wouldn't ride my bike on the Seward HWY, but there are folks out there every weekend. Just too dangerous for me.

My thoughts on Denali mirror what others have said. Unless you are dead set on going there, it really isn't anything you will miss.

Sounds like you are planning out a good trip. It has been mentioned by others, but it can't be stressed enough - it is in your best interest to carry bear spray on any of the trails you have listed. Odds are you won't see bears at all, but we see on the news about a half a dozen times each summer where tourists/hikers are attacked within an 80 mile radius of Anchorage.

Very helpful info! Thanks a ton. Good thought on the southern exposure component. I was thinking June we'd be good, but it'll be good to have a variety of hiking options if the weather tends to vary in the nothern areas vs south. And thanks for clarifying on Denali. Given the pretty much universal agreement that it's a pia, we'll stick around Anchorage and play in the Kenai and Chugach ranges.


I'm looking forward to the long daylight hours - I think the limiting factor most days will be exhaustion not daylight!


Do you think there will still be things worth skiing come mid June? I hadn't considered it, but we've gotten so much snow in the northeast this winter that I've backcountry skiied and ice climbed every weekend since xmas, and plan to right up until we leave in June. Low avy danger and lovely corn snow has allowed us to ski some pretty awesome stuff the last few weekends (though our mountains are small, there's still some great alpine terrain - including 4k work of vert from top of washington to the car):
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Awesome - thanks again! Yeah I was planning on picking up bear spray once we arrived. This will be the first place I've been where the bears aren't terrified of you the minute you cross paths with them, so it's definitely been on my mind.

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I would guess no on the skiing. Too much hassle to get to elevation. We have limited roads and more limited access to elevation.

The problem with bear encounters is it usually takes a surprise by both human and bear for it to occur. Bear spray and firearms are generally ineffective in these situations. Bells are probably a better investment. Bears avoid humans in most situations. We have them all over town and all through the southcentral backcountry. Attacks are rare. Cubs or a moose kill can make them defensive. Personally, mtb riding is where I most often worry about an encounter due to approach speed.

If you have the time, driving up north on either the Parks Hwy or Glenn Hwy can be very scenic. More of this available closer to Anchorage on Glenn. Matanuska Glacier access. Look up Hatcher Pass for some great hikes. Reed Lakes and Mint Glacier. The terrain and geology in the area is much different than south of Anchorage.

It sounds backwards, but going north the temps can get much hotter (hot being relative to AK temps!) than Anchorage and south because of the coastal weather. Just be prepared for the possibility of chilly temps. Thermal shirt, wind breaker and light hat are a good idea for any trek over an hour or two.

You won't run out of daylight! Have a great trip!

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