Girdwood, Alaska

Girdwood hides in a rainforest valley at the head of Turnagain Arm, forty miles south of Anchorage, where the Chugach Mountains rise directly from the sea in a wall of glaciated peaks that would be the centerpiece of any other state's tourism campaign. In Alaska, Girdwood is simply one more spectacular place. Originally a mining town named for Colonel James Girdwood, who staked gold claims here in the 1890s, the community was devastated by the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake—the most powerful ever recorded in North America—which dropped the townsite six to ten feet and forced its relocation two miles inland. The resilient community rebuilt and eventually attracted Alyeska Resort, which today anchors the town as Alaska's premier ski and summer destination.

The town itself is a deliberate contrast to Anchorage's urban sprawl. Population hovers around 2,000, and the atmosphere is that of a mountain village where the coffee shop doubles as a community center and the local bar hosts live music that draws audiences from across the Kenai Peninsula. Dense Sitka spruce and western hemlock forests crowd the valley floor, giving way to alpine tundra and glacial ice above the tree line. The Alyeska Aerial Tram carries visitors 2,300 feet up Mount Alyeska in seven minutes, depositing them at a viewing platform where the panorama encompasses Turnagain Arm, the Kenai Mountains, and—on clear days—the volcanic peak of Mount Redoubt across Cook Inlet.

Girdwood punches well above its weight culinarily. The Hotel Alyeska's Seven Glaciers restaurant, perched at 2,300 feet with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking seven named glaciers, serves refined Alaskan cuisine—king crab, halibut, reindeer tenderloin—in one of the most dramatic dining rooms on the continent. Jack Sprat, a local favorite in a cozy cottage, offers creative farm-to-table dishes with a Southeast Asian influence. The Double Musky Inn, a legendary Cajun-Alaskan fusion restaurant that has drawn diners from across the state for decades, requires reservations weeks in advance and accepts no credit cards—a testament to its cult following.

The surrounding wilderness offers experiences that define the Alaskan adventure. The Crow Pass Trail, a twenty-three-mile route over Crow Pass through alpine meadows and past glacial tarns, is considered one of the finest hikes in the state. Portage Glacier, twenty minutes south, provides close encounters with tidewater ice. Turnagain Arm itself is a phenomenon—its bore tide, a wave generated by the extreme tidal range (second largest in North America), surges up the inlet and can be surfed by the adventurous. In winter, Alyeska Resort receives an average of 669 inches of snow annually, creating powder skiing conditions that draw cognoscenti from around the world.

Girdwood is typically visited as part of Anchorage-based Alaska itineraries or as a complement to Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound cruises. The best time to visit for summer activities is June through August, when daylight extends past 10 PM and temperatures hover in the comfortable sixties. Ski season runs from November through April, with February and March offering the best combination of daylight and snow conditions. The shoulder seasons of May and September bring fewer visitors and the dramatic transitions of an Alaskan landscape shifting between winter and summer.