The Glen Alps trailhead is a hub for several hikes and picnic areas.  Flattop Trail is located to the east of the parking lot.

When I asked some of my local Anchorage friends what their favorite local hike was they all said Flattop Mountain.

Flattop Mountain is a very popular trail in the Anchorage area.  Once you reach the summit you will see why this trail is popular – the amazing views of Cook Inlet and Anchorage itself.  The hike is named flattop, because as you can imagine, it has a flat summit.  The whole area is the Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountain Range.

If you have extra time, I would take the short loop trail to the west where you can get an amazing overlook of Anchorage!

The day I hiked, it was busy!  From the parking lot it felt like I was at the visitor center to some national park – there were people everywhere!  This didn’t deter me because I quickly realized that this area is the hub for several hikes.

Flattop mountain is directly west of the parking lot and you will see the signs pointing you that way.  You will be hiking through thick bushes for the first portion.

The trail isn’t too steep at the beginning but it steadily climbs until you circle around the backside of the first few hills.

From the sign above, the trail will get steeper but the state park put in some stairs to make it easier to traverse.

You will be hiking above the timberline so there are no more trees.  I noticed the wind was picking up right around this spot too.

It wasn’t really a hard hike but if there is ice or snow, it can make things slippery and tricky once you are almost to the summit.

You will come to one more saddle before you make the last steep climb to the summit.  From here, you will be hiking on rocks, boulders and near some potentially dangerously steep areas.  If you are hiking with children or adults please keep an extra eye on them.   I hiked this in the snow and I made several mistakes and had to backtrack because I mistook a random side path as the main trail.

Take some time to admire the Chugach mountains!  This area is beautiful with all the mountains, valleys, and rivers.

Once you are near the summit, it will get a little bit more steep and then it will flatten out completely.  You will notice the flag pole right by the trail when you first summit the mountain.  It was very windy up here.  Be aware of the very steep north side too.