Portage Pass Trailhead — Attraction in Whittier

RV drivers, you have 2 options. Let me break down the pros and cons.

Option 1: This trail head. Cons: There are potholes. So for RV you need to go extra slow. Parking is limited but you can park along the road like other cars. It is difficult to turn around but there is a Y section at the end of the road so it is doable. Again with the pipes etc under the RV you need to go extra slow and try to avoid the potholes, but it is doable (guess why I say so). Pros: super close to the trail.

Option 2: City of Whittier Campground. GPS location 60.77922674186525, -148.718009097834

Cons: 10 more minutes of walk on flat land. Pros: Wide open huge lot with plenty of parking. Google map shows "no overnight camping" sign but it is outdated. We did not see that sign when we were there. Many RVs are there for the night. The lot is next to the water with great views. So it is a perfect spot for RV to park for the whole day, go hike the trail, and come back and rest for the night by the water. You can see the lot in the center of the photo below.

Which one will you choose?

Recommend to hike all the way to the lake. Either don't do it or all the way. It would be such a waste if you only do the half. 6, 8, 9 year girls in our group can do it...

This is an essential hike. To me this was quintessential Alaskan scenery. It has some decent incline and if we had more time we could have gone down past Divide Lake and up to the edge of Portage Lake. The view down to Whittier was amazing, but seeing the blue ice in Portage Glacier was breathtaking. Definitely go on a sunny day so you can really see the blue. We spent a good 30 min at the ridge just relaxing and enjoying the view. The trail is dog friendly. Our dog was beyond excited sniffing everything along the path.

The trail is free but unfortunately you will need to pay the toll to get through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. Check times for crossings before you head out so you minimize the wait time. Also when we went a month ago, park services had the road closed before the creek crossing. That made parking nearly impossible since this is a very popular trail. An ornery local was hounding people that parked on the straight away beyond the turn; he claimed it was a private road. Clear legitimately marked signs would be helpful for parking alternatives. We ended up parking close to the City of Whittier Campground and walked the extra half mile to...

This trail is great, easy to follow, and leads to beautiful scenes of Portage Lake and Glacier. We drove out here from Anchorage around noon and got here around 1-ish. There is not a "parking lot," but there is a wide gravel road to park on the side of, but, be warned- there are a lot of potholes in the gravel and we were in a rental car, so be careful! We parked, started hiking, and spent a while going up because of how steep it is. I am not the strongest or fastest of hikers, so it took me a while to get all the way up to the 800ft elevation point, but once we got there, it was incredible! You can see the glacier from that point! Lots of people stop at the top to see the glacier and then turn around and head back to the car, but we hiked further all the way down to the lake and touched an iceberg! The trail is very easy to follow all the way there and back, even in the snow. It took us about 2.5 hours to hike out and back with a total of 4.5 miles roundtrip. Great way to spend Memorial Day! Definitely worth the time and exhaustion if you love...