Ptarmigan Valley Trail is a 10.8 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Chugiak, Alaska and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking and cross country skiing and is best used from June until August. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Chugach State Park charges a $5 daily parking fee. You can also purchase an annual parking pass for $60.
Little muddy but otherwise awesome! There is a summer and winter trail route. The winter trail is the route you follow based on the All Trails app.
Great trail but overgrown in late summer. We only got about 2.5 miles in when we decided to turn back because of the overgrowth. We found the Summer Trail mentioned in previous reviews and that became impassable after a short distance. We'll put it on our list for June next year!
Gorgeous. Recommend ice cleats, would have had to go much slower without them, def mud trail. I only went in for an hourish. If you can take longer, do. Just got more lovely every step after hitting the “summer trail”
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