Ptarmigan Valley Trail is a 3.1 mile out and back trail located near Chugiak, Alaska and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for hiking and is best used from June until August. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
kid friendly
hiking
This trails goes so much further that listed. The forest is so lush don't expect to get any good views until you get much higher
agree with other reviewers, moderate difficulty at least.
David M.
Good trail.
Not “easy”. Some steep inclines and it never ends.
Very thick wooded trail made me very cautious.
At the clearing before the trail head is a party/dump spot, lots of broken bottles, trash, needles. Do not let kids and dogs run around there
Not a beginner trail- was a lot of uphill hiking - It is hard to determine where the trail ends unless you have the app - we hiked 2 miles in and went to the left up the summer trail - there is a beautiful viewpoint there.
Good hike, uphill most of the way there. The trail doesn’t really end, and by the time I checked back with the app I had overshot what it said was the end by over a mile. And that was totally worth it!! Amazing views. But wasn’t expecting to hike that long.
Great hike, had some spots that were steeper than expected. Carried my almost 3 year old, so it felt more intense. Made it 1.5 miles in and turned back, it was a great workout. My 5 year old hiked it too, and did great!
Great trail with lots of nice views. Really pretty in the spring.
Easy walk/jog
The trail is nice though the markings are not necessarily clear when it comes to the fork to go left unless you are familiar with the trail.
Quite an enjoyable hike. Was able to go all the way to Baldy and down it from this trail. Though if you ever decide to the same go the other direction. Baldy to Ptarmigan. Would have been much easier going downhill instead of up the whole time.
great trail with a good incline when you get to the look out point option to go to three different mtn ranges! great day hike!
This Is a great trail that starts in Chugiak. The trail map says it goes 6 miles back but this trail can connect all the way to Baldy or black tail which ever you prefer. The first mile of trail is up and down with steep to gradual inclines. Once you get a mile back you get into the valley flat and easy going another mile for this bit. Once you reach the large water crossing with a bridge you'll start climbing elevation slowly. You'll come to a flatter area when your up in the mountains if you look to the North (directly behind you) you'll see the valley and mountains, to your left (east) you'll see round top. Continue on the trail to baldy after that. I would recommend mapping out the last bit of the trail portions of the trail might be difficult to find.
We Hiked this one last night after work and it took us about 4 hrs to the top before you keep going on to baldy.
I led a hike here once a week for several months (September/October/November) with hike it baby anchorage (mommy/baby hiking group) and it is one of my favorites. Small hills through dense trees and high grass for the first .75miles then goes into a semi-deep fault line. After that it starts to ascend up for about 2 miles then it clears and there are beautiful views of the inlet. I've only made it 3 miles out on the trail but i plan on doing the whole trail this summer. If done at a good pace you could make it a workout if you wanted to. The solitude is the best part, in the trees it has a very peaceful feeling to it