Prospect Heights Trailhead
 The Chugach Mountains offer a number of wonderful,
well maintained hiking trails. There are
a number of different accesses to the trails near Anchorage. Prospect Heights is one such access that not as many people
use. Nevertheless, it is one of the
best maintained and easier hikes. There
are a number of different adventures that await an explorer when coming through
these trails, and the trails are longer than those leaving from Glen Alps
further to the south.
To find the Prospect Heights Trailhead from downtown, drive
south on either Minnesota (L Street) or the New Seward Highway (Gambell).
Minnesota will hook to the left and become O’Malley where it meets the
New Seward Highway. Continue on O’Malley Road east up the mountains.
O’Malley will hook to the left and become Hillside Drive.
Once it does this, take the first right, which will be Upper O’Malley
Road. When Upper O’Malley ends, take a left on Prospect Drive.
Prospect Heights  Trailhead is at the end of this road in the parking lot
on the left.
Although there is a sign indicating no camping, this may
mean only at the parking lot. Several
years ago I tent camped along the side of the trail, and I imagine that nobody
will bother campers who are not visible from the trail itself.
There are toilets at the beginning of the trail.
There is also a large sign showing maps of the trail system and how
Prospect Heights connects to the other Chugach Mountain trails.
The state charges $5.00 per day to park here.
Claimjumper and I have explored the lower part of these
trails on bicycle. It is an easy
trail for hikers, but we rate it as moderate for bicyclers due to the long
assent up. There may be some points where one would prefer to walk the
bicycle up a hill. The trail starts
out wide enough to drive a truck through for the first mile or two.
The trail descends into the valley and crosses a creek via a sturdy
wooden bridge. Then it begins a
long steady assent up into the hillside. The
branches of the trail system are clearly marked.
Eventually, one must leave the bikes if one wishes to continue higher.
Be careful to keep eyes and ears open for moose.
Just about every time I’ve been on these trails I have seen moose.
They prefer the lower forested areas, so usually you will hear them
crashing through the brush before you see them emerge.
One jumped out on the trail not more than ten feet from Claimjumper and I
during our assent in July 2000. Fortunately,
we had heard it coming and stopped our bikes to watch.
The trails are quite woodsy and insect repellant is
recommended. We also recommend
bringing good hiking boots. If you
do plan to bicycle the trail, but you wish to continue with a hike, we recommend
bringing waterproof hiking boots as there are some mucky areas on some of the
trails. This is one of the best
places to see wildflowers. We were
amazed at how many monk’s hood flowers (one of our favorites) we found along
the way.
For more information, check out the State's info posted at www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/chugach/hillside.htm
Last Visited: July 2000
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