Exploring the Seward Highway
You might find it hard to believe that a highway can be an attraction, but the Seward Highway is just that. The Seward Highway is one of the most beautiful drives in Alaska and each year thousands of visitors drive it to explore the beautiful vistas, the Chugach Mountains and the waters of Turnagain Arm. This two lane highway is a drive unlike any other. You do have the option to take a train down the highway, but you miss the experience of being able to stop and see things up close.
There are two ways you can drive the highway, you can travel from Anchorage to Seward or you can go from Seward to Anchorage. Each attraction is also marked by a mile marker, so you can catch all of the sites no matter where you’re driving from. If you’re leaving Anchorage and driving to Seward, you will end up at the Portage Glacier, another must see.
The first stop on the high way is at mile marker 117 – Potter Marsh. This is a broad marsh that has been formed behind the tracks of the Alaska Railroad and a bluff. There is a boardwalk here that allows you to walk out over the green grasses, where a variety of different birds live.
The second stop is at mile marker 115 – Potter section House. At the south end of Potter Marsh, you’ll find the section house that was once a maintenance station for the railroad in the early days. Today is the office of the Chugach State Park. Across the road, you will also find the Turnagain Arm Trail.
The third stop is at mile marker 111 – McHugh Creek. This creek is located four miles south of Potter and is a state picnic area that features a very challenging day hike up to Rabbit Lake. The lake is actually a tundra mountain bowl and you can climb to McHugh Peak from here.
At mile marker 110 – you’ll find Beluga Point. Located just a mile from McHugh Creek, you may have the ability to see the beluga whales in the water below. Your chances are improved if the tide is right and the salmon are running, which is late June and early to mid July. There are spotting scopes here so that you can zoom in for a closer view.
At mile marker 79, you’ll find the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. This is a non-profit organization that provides homes to Alaska’s injured and orphaned animals. These wild animals include bears, moose, elk, bison, deer, owls and more. The compound is 140 acres and the enclosures for the animals are as large as 18 acres each.
There are several additional mile marker sites along the highway, but the best is at mile marker 78 for the 5.5 mile spur road and is the Portage Glacier. The glacier has largely melted and now receding out of an 800 foot deep lake. If you’re not going to have the opportunity to see any other glaciers on your Alaska vacation, then this is a must see.
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