Mountain Top Trail

Dogs Off-leash

Features River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers

If you take the tram from the hotel to the Upper Tram Terminal, you have to pay. If you run up to the Upper Tram Terminal, you can ride the tram back to the hotel for free.

The trail follows a road, so it is wide and free of obstacles.

The Mountain Top Trail begins at the Upper Tram Terminal that can be accessed from the Hotel Alyeska. Parking is available at the resort and you can either run to the Upper Tram Terminal or take the tram. Once there, the Mountain Top Trail follows a gravel road that leads from the Upper Tram Terminal to the top of the Glacier Bowl Express ski lift.

The trail winds gently up the hillside before climbing more steeply up into the glacier bowl. At 0.25 miles, the trail approaches a stream fed from snowmelt from the glacier bowl. As you work through the bowl, you can see the remnants of the glacier. Most of the remaining glacier is covered with dirt and rocks carried by melting snow in other areas of the bowl.

The trail climbs a little more until it levels off at the top, where the Glacier Bowl Express ski lift is. From here, you can get great views of the surrounding mountains and the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. You can enjoy the view for a while before descending via the road or following the Mighty Mite trail back down to the Upper Tram Terminal.

When you get to the Tram Terminal, you can take it down to the hotel, even if you went up and didn't pay for a ticket. Runers get to ride the tram back to the hotel for free.

Due to the proximity to the tram station, there isn't a lot of wildlife in the area. The trail climbs through a glacier bowl, so while some wildflowers are starting to grow, the majority of the area is all rock and snow.