Drive to Portage Lake and Whittier, Alaska
March 4, 2001

-- Click on any image to start the slide show --

Portage Lake: Looking for a nice drive with spectacular scenery for a blustery late winter (optimistically speaking, early spring!) day? The Chugach range at the head of Portage Valley makes a spectacular, magical backdrop, swathed in wispy clouds. Portage Glacier has retreated about 5 miles leaving a lake which is reportedly 650 feet deep. Small icebergs lodged in the lake ice viewed from the parking lot of the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center. The visitor center is operated by the US Forest Service. (Visitor Center Hours)

Whittier: Since the state replaced the railroad shuttle with one-way driving access to Whittier, we drove to Whittier. The one-way controlled access starts a couple miles past the Portage Visitors Center. Whittier is nestled among spectacular mountains and an ice-free arm of Prince William Sound. It is breathtakingly spectacular and looks like a great place to launch a boat.

Driving Directions: Drive south from Anchorage on the New Seward Highway approximately 50 miles. You'll follow Turnagain Arm until the highway starts the broad U around the end of the Arm. Turn left on the Portage Valley Road and go approximately 5 miles. Where the road branches to Whittier or the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center, stay to the right to go to the visitor center.

Update on Begich, Boggs Visitor Center Hours

Virtual Tour of Tunnel courtesy of Alaska DOT/PF

Tunnel Schedules

Toll Rates

Current Weather at Portage

This page updated June 4, 2006