Bore tides, Dall sheep, and a fjord: Alaska’s Seward Highway delivers all of it

The Seward Highway’s best stops

South of Anchorage, a two-lane highway traces the edge of a narrow fjord for about 50 miles, with the Chugach Mountains rising on one side and wide tidal flats stretching out on the other. Bore tides roll in like walls of water.

Dall sheep graze on cliffs barely above the road. And the light shifts fast enough that the scene you pull over for at noon looks nothing like it did an hour ago. The drive doesn’t announce itself.

It just keeps going.

Why it’s called “Turnagain Arm”

British explorer James Cook charted this stretch of water in 1778 while searching for a route through the continent. His crew kept pushing into inlets hoping one would connect to the other side.

This one dead-ended, so they had to turn around and head back out. Early maps even called it the “Turnagain River” before the name shifted.

The valley didn’t stay empty for long after that.

Small gold-rush operations moved through in the early 1900s, and Indian Valley Mine is still out there if you look.

Start your drive at Potter Marsh boardwalk

Potter Marsh sits just minutes south of Anchorage, and it’s worth getting out of the car before you even feel like you’ve left the city.

A wooden boardwalk stretches about half a mile over the wetlands, and if you stop and look down, you can watch salmon moving through the creek below your feet in summer.

More than 130 bird species have turned up here, from ducks to bald eagles.

It’s part of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, and the flat, easy walk makes it one of the most accessible wildlife stops on the whole drive.

White shapes on the cliffs above the road

Around Mile 106, white Dall sheep work their way along the rock faces that rise straight up from the highway’s edge. This is one of the only places in Alaska where you can see them at nearly sea level.

It’s not unusual to spot several at once, picking across rocky ledges just above the pullouts. Binoculars help.

Look for white specks on the snow-free patches below the ridgelines.

Pull completely off the road before you look, since traffic here moves fast and the shoulder is narrow.

The beluga whales that give Beluga Point its name

Beluga Point is a wide, paved overlook with a 180-degree sweep of the arm and spotting scopes mounted at the edge.

The name comes from the beluga whales that push through the water below, usually from mid-July into August, trailing the salmon runs upriver.

On the right day, you can watch them move from the rocks above. When the whales aren’t around, the view still holds up.

You can climb the rocks, walk a short path along the edge, or just stand and take in the wall of peaks across the water.

The bore tide rolls in like a wave with nowhere to go

Turnagain Arm generates a bore tide, which is a single wave that forms when the incoming tide hits a channel that’s too long, too shallow, and too narrow to absorb it.

The water stacks into one moving wall and rolls across the flats. The best place to watch it is somewhere between Beluga Point and Bird Point.

Get there about 30 minutes early and listen for a low roar coming from the direction of the open water. Harbor seals sometimes ride it in.

A handful of local surfers paddle out and chase it for miles.

40 feet of water rise and fall every day

The tidal range in Turnagain Arm is one of the largest in the United States and among the biggest in all of North America.

At low tide, the water drops about 40 feet, pulling back to expose wide mudflats that run toward the far shore. Those flats look solid, but the glacial mud underneath behaves like quicksand.

Stay on shore and watch from the road or a wayside.

The upside of that dramatic swing is that the scene changes hour by hour, so the same stretch of water looks completely different depending on when you stop.

Where Dall sheep and mountain goats share the same ridge

Bird Point Wayside sits around Mile 96 and has some of the best sight lines on the drive, with multi-level viewing decks and spotting scopes aimed at the arm below.

This is also one of the top places to watch the bore tide push through. Behind the wayside, the face of Penguin Ridge climbs up into the clouds.

It’s one of the rare spots where both Dall sheep and mountain goats live on the same slopes. Goats tend to stay on the higher crags, while sheep move through the lower meadows, so scan both levels.

Ride or walk the Bird to Gird Trail along the water

Between Bird Creek and Girdwood, a paved path runs about 12 miles with the arm on one side and cliffs on the other, entirely free of cars. Locals call it Bird to Gird.

You can ride the whole length by bike or walk just a short stretch at whatever pace you want. Waterfalls drop down the mountainsides as you move through, and eagles work the thermals overhead.

There’s nothing between you and the water on the ocean side, and nothing between you and the rock walls on the other. It’s the unhurried version of the same scenery the highway gives you at 55 mph.

Stretch your legs in the mountain town of Girdwood

About 37 miles south of Anchorage, the road swings into Girdwood, a small mountain town that started as a gold mining claim and stayed.

The valley it sits in is ringed by peaks with hanging glaciers draped across their upper faces. It’s a natural place to stop, walk around, and let the drive breathe for a bit.

Forest trails head out from town through spruce and hemlock, and the town itself has an easy, laid-back feel that doesn’t rush you back toward the car.

The tram that lifts you 2,300 feet above Girdwood

From Girdwood, an aerial tram climbs about 2,300 feet up the mountainside to a viewing deck with clear sight lines in every direction.

On a calm day, you can see several glaciers, the peaks surrounding the valley, and Turnagain Arm laid out below. Short walking paths at the top take you through the alpine terrain without requiring a serious hike.

It’s the fastest way to get to a high vantage point on the whole drive, and the ride up gives you a different angle on the same mountains you’ve been passing all day.

Glaciers, blue lakes and the end of the road at Portage Valley

About 11 miles past Girdwood, the road leads into Portage Valley, where glaciers hang in the mountains above a string of clear lakes and creeks.

The Trail of Blue Ice winds through the valley on mostly flat ground, passing several of them. A visitor center explains how the ice carved the whole landscape out over time.

From here, side roads branch toward Whittier and the long mountain tunnel that takes you beneath the rock and out the other side. It’s a fitting end to a drive that kept showing you more than you expected.

Drive the Seward Highway’s scenic stretch in Alaska

You can pick up the scenic corridor by heading south from Anchorage on the Seward Highway, Alaska Route 1, toward Girdwood and Portage.

Key stops along the way include Potter Marsh, Windy Point around Mile 106, Beluga Point and Bird Point Wayside.

Some waysides charge a small parking fee or require an Alaska State Parks pass, so it’s worth having one on hand. Summer gives you the longest daylight and the best shot at wildlife.

Check tide tables ahead of time if you’re hoping to catch the bore tide, and pull fully off the road at every stop.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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