When driving south from Anchorage on the Seward Highway, Hwy. #1, shortly after leaving the city you will come to a very scenic shore with the Chugach Mountains to your left and Turnagain Arm backed by the Kenai Peninsula to your right. The tracks of the Alaska Railway also parallel this route. This is one of the most scenic drives in all of Alaska.
Turnagain Arm was named by Captain James Cook in 1778, when he was forced to "turn" his ship back "again" after failing to find a river. The Arm is actually a glacial fjord filled with intertidal sediment. Here, and at nearby Kink Arm are the only places in the United States where a bore tide (a wall of water coming in with the tide) appears on a regular basis. The bore may be from 2 to 6 feet high and travel at 10 to 15 miles per hour. Depending on the tide, Turnagain Arm may appear as a wide body of water, or the biggest mudflat you have ever seen. Either way, it is beautiful, and deceptively dangerous.
Chugach State Park provides many recreational opportunities in this area. I camped one night in the park on an earlier trip to Alaska, but left because of posted warnings of recent agressive bear activity. The Turnagain Arm Trail through the park is a favorite with hikers.
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