Flattop Mountain Trail

Absolutely beautiful. Very windy towards the top. A lot of incline and we also seen a moose.

This is an adventure for anyone who does not do adventure for a living. Many exciting things…scree, boulders and the satisfaction of climbing to the top of something.
101 course in adventure.

BEST. HIKE. EVER.

Wasn't prepared, but came back a champ.

About 4.5 hrs. roundtrip from parking lot to mountain top and back again.

As a first-time hiker, I learned a lot. My brother and I went out on our own. He's a regular hiker, and he even said it was challenging and worth it!

This 3.4 mile round trip hike is gorgeous and not for the faint of heart. Went during a visit to Alaska at the recommendation of my brother in law who lives here. Also went during the heat wave in June 2019 . The hike starts out with a reasonable incline and then after mile 1 you start to climb stairs and your heart starts pumping and perhaps you start panting depending on how out of shape you are. The last leg of the journey is climbing rocks. I say this because you should not do this hike in flip flops or think it's a leisurely walk. Is it worth reaching that flag at the summit to have 360 degrees of views! See pictures for elevation changes.

What do Alaskans do when it's over 70 degrees? Hike, of course! We made our way to Flattop Mountain. It is the most hiked mountain in our state at 3,245 feet within the Chugach State Park. From various points, you can see a panoramic view of Anchorage (AK's largest city), Denali (highest mountain peak in North America), and the beginning of the Aleutian Islands (a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller ones).

Notes: Parking is $5 and you can with a cc.

It is my understanding that Flattop Mountain is also Glen Alps. Either way, this review is for our viewing of the Aurora Borealis, also known as "The Northern Lights". The opportunity to witness this phenomenon should not be passed up.

It started with our work/vacation to Anchorage, Alaska. Out business took one and a half days, leaving us the rest of the week to explore Alaska. We scheduled a tour which included a viewing of the Northern Lights. Cost for two, $390. How often will we get this opportunity so let's go for it.

Then we met a local who said, "why pay for a tour when you can just drive up here and see it for free". Ok let's do it.

After a late nap we dress really warm and head to Glen Alps. It a long drive up a snow covered winding road to an open parking field. I position our car and wait. The skies are very clear, and it feels like we could just reach out and touch the stars.

Of course there are no promises that we will see them but we have to try.

After about an hour and a half it starts. The sky starts to light up in columns then it dies out but starts again. The lights are almost dancing across the sky. There weren't a variety of colors, just green and white. We learned the green and white are the most common.

To witness this amazing phenomenon was absolutely AMAZING. It was not only a highlight of our trip but possibly of my life. It was 5 degrees out but after the show started it was a non issue.

It lasted about 20 minute, but felt like two minutes.

I could go on and on but I suggest that if you ever have the opportunity to see this awesome sight do not pass it up.

Just a note, there is an app that gives you the daily probability of seeing them, along with other relevant information.

I've stopped taking Flattop for granted, it's a local treasure.

Being able to get off work and go do some snow climbing for 2 hrs, in the dead of winter, and get back down in time to hit Moose's Tooth and get 8+ hours of sleep before work is…incredible.

I treat Flattop like a winter gym.

Best part: it's free! (OK, you need an Alaska State Parks pass but, it's stupid-cheap compared to a gym membership)

We absolutely loved it! I mean the view going up to the parking for the trail was beautiful itself. It was our first time there and we went with our 5 year old so we weren't really prepared for the actual hike but there was an Anchorage Overlook Trail that we checked out instead. Short, simple and scenic trail that got us amazing photos! Maybe next time we'll do the "actual hike" LOL! There are 2 different parking lots and parking is $5. We went mid-October so it was a bit chilly.

We did the powerline trail and had a close encounter with a massive bull moose. He was 100 yards off the trailhead just sitting and relaxing in the sun. Our pictures were so good you would think we were professional photographers. Lots of different hikes available so plan to do a few

GREAT VIEWS, GREAT TRAILS, GREAT GETAWAY IN THE CITY!

Great trails that are pretty nice and maintained until you get to the base of last section before the summit where you get to scramble and navigate your way through the boulders and zig zag along to the top. At the beginning you are in a dense baby forest of pines until you breakout into the open again. Then it is up you go.

This is my favorite hiking trail that located just outside of anchorage. This is not to say there are not amazing hiking opportunities out in the wilderness, as of course the best can be found remotely. But this one doesn't require planning for people in Anchorage.

This hiking spot has a nice parking lots where you will often need to wait a while to find a parking spot as many others agree with me that this place is a good spot.

All in all, this a pretty great spot….

This was all the challenging and awesome that I expected based on what every person told me.

I went in a cloudy, windy, drizzling day. As a result the trail traffic was light. THIS is not a trail I'd want to be on if it was busy.

The trail is not long, but it is challenging. If you're a new hiker, or a person visiting Alaska looking for a "hike" this is not or you.

Going up is intense but going down can be a bit scary. And if it is wet, everything changes.

The views are great. And if you are exta adventurous, go on to Peak 2 and 3.

This trail is heavily trafficked and fairly easy—it's a good spot for me to jog with my pup and I see lots of wildlife despite the crowds. The view is always great and provides easy access to Peak 2 and 3 beyond the Flattop Summit. It's 2 miles north of my house so the proximity is awesome, too!

Like others have said, this is a must-do when you come to Anchorage. There's a shuttle that charges a fee to come here or you can drive here yourself in a jiff! Be careful because Google Maps takes you to the more difficult trail. We relied on my GPS and ended up on the strenuous trail by mistake where all of the intense people run. There is an easier way up. We could never figure it out, but encourage others to do some research if they want to avoid the strenuous trail. The fee for the parking near this trail is $5 (and definitely worth it). Beautiful views and close to town make this a great hike.

Nice hike. Blueberry Hill was full of big berries when we went (aug 8). The trail seems to end just before the last ascent which was more like climbing than hiking to a novice like me and my kids. My 16yo was not comfortable pressing on but my 12yo saw the flag and had to finish. It was well worth the extra effort to get to the top.

I love Flattop Mountain , it's so accessible and the trail system is great . It was cold and windy today but the view was beautiful . There is a 5.00 parking fee but it goes to the State Parks so I can't complain . If you come often a season pass is the best deal . If you come dress warm !

Tough hike but super worth it for the photo ops! In whatever weather, you will get the most amazing pictures while here. Everything is beautiful and majestic.

It was icky weather. Very cold, & raining well I should say snowing since the rain turns to snow on the hike!!! All that being said, it was a blast. Gorgeous (hazy) view, no one else was on the trail. I read so many mixed reviews I wasn't expecting much but it didn't disappoint. Driving from anchorage to the trail was very easy. Good trail for a family since it wasn't very long

I have to admit, I get lost super easily and could not figure out how to get to the summit. The "parking lot" that Google Maps led me to is basically a long, dead-end street, where cars park on the side. The trailhead is not exactly at this dead-end, but just a tiny walk back from where you entered. The smallest of trailhead signs sits on the ground, which I totally missed at first. I kept looking for a place to pay the $5 parking fee, but couldn't find one. I asked three people and they all said "I don't think you have to pay for this…"

Although I couldn't find my way to the summit, I did see people hiking near the top and thought to myself "holy crap that looks steep." I probably saw about eight people hiking this trail and it was a Friday late afternoon in May with a slight drizzle. I ended up just heading out after walking around the valley part of the mountain, which still has decent views.

After reading through some reviews, I'm convinced that Google Maps led to me to alternate entrance, and I'll have to keep this on my to do list.

Great hike with amazing views
Mountain has alot of ice and snow last 1000 feet but worth the climb.

It's a tourist must climb in Anchorage. Tons of people climb this every year and on summer solstice a group of people meet at the top. I like that you can climb peak 2 and peak 3 behind flattop. Also, a nice view of Anchorage just up the trail in the parking lot. When I climb flattop I usually take the left trail at the beginning as opposed to the right.

AMAZING hike. hardcore though. I was not fit when I did this hike and certainly complained all the way up the mountain and almost face planted all the way down. We dressed warm, and thank God because it was so windy up there. Incredible view. I miss this place. Great last hoorah before leaving Alaska.

First day in Anchorage and our AirBnB host recommended this trail to hike. We googled it and Google took us to the 'back way' up the trail. It was a tough climb for these flatlanders' first hike in Alaska. It was a challenge in places with the steep climb on small gravel and loose dirt but we loved it. We missed a few moose by an hour according to a local trail runner.

When we got to the top we could see we were so glad we went the back way as there were dozens of people on the trail coming up the front side.

We went onto three other peaks gif more views and it was beautiful! Amazing panoramic photos!

Took 1 hour 15 min to get to the top and total hike was just over 3 hours. We took the valley trail down and definitely recommend that

Highly recommended! We did this hike on our last day in Anchorage and we were not disappointed. It was challenging enough and offered the most amazing views of Anchorage. There were so many friendly locals, offering advice and tips along the way.
Try to stay on the trail- we went off course and saw a lot of moose droppings. Another couple told us they saw a moose and it actually charged at them.

I would definitely recommend this hike! It was somewhat of a challenge, but the views were amazing. We started where blueberry hill was and took the new trail that had the steps. As you go up, you will definitely have to climb up some rocks, which is fun and makes the time go by fast! There is another trail that is more difficult because there are no stairs, and it is straight incline, with rocks and soil that are somewhat slippery. We took this route the 2nd time & did not make it to the top. On the way down, pick some blueberry from the blueberry hill 🙂

This was a visually stunning hike, you can't put it into words. It was quite challenging going up, but a lot of fun. Coming down… not so much, lol. My boyfriend and I almost made it to the top but I chickened out on the stairs basically right before the top. I just couldn't hang anymore. It was too steep and those stairs with the rocks gave me anxiety. 🙁 I knew coming down was going to be awful.

If you make it to Anchorage, do it! We saw moose when we came down, too!