The Best Place to Spot a Moose in Anchorage, Alaska

Did you know that you can bike in Alaska?? Like most people when I think of Alaska what comes to mind is glaciers, whales, cold weather and miles of rugged wilderness. But little did I know, they have a decent biking community as well-especially Anchorage. Alaska’s largest city boasts 122 miles of paved paths and being at sea level means the rides are flat for the most part. We’ve been planning an Alaska cruise on Princess Cruise Lines since January and of course I had to Google bike trails on a whim. I didn’t actually think my search would return any viable results other than unpaved roads through bear infested mountains or something. But boy was I wrong! There were great riding options in nearly every port we stopped in. Arguably the most well-known path, however, was the Moose Loop in Anchorage.

The Moose Loop combines the Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek Trail, the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, the Campbell Creek Trail, and the Ship Creek Trail to complete a 32-mile loop around the city. When mapped, the loop resembles the shape of a moose head, hence the name. Well, that and the fact that you have a great chance of spotting a moose while riding since there are about 1,500 moose in the city! Our original plan was to ride the entire loop. But unfortunately, it was dumping rain the day we had planned our ride. Obviously, Alaska is well known for their inclement weather, especially in the winter, but I didn’t realize how much rain they actually get. Southeast Alaska is largely covered by rainforest which causes the rainy temperament.

So instead, we had to alter our plans and just ride the 11-mile Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. This trail is the most popular section of the loop and is known as one of the most beautiful coastal trails in the nation. It cuts through Kincaid Park, past the airport and offers great coastal and mountain views. You can even see the skyline of Anchorage on clear days. It’s nearly a guarantee that you’ll see a moose near the trail so keep your eyes peeled.

There are two conveniently located bike rental shops right near the trailhead in downtown Anchorage. Pablo’s Bicycle Rental and Trek. I would recommend Pablo’s because they had a larger selection of bikes and gave us a nice presentation on the trail map with riding tips. To get from Pablo’s to the trail there is a large downhill on 5^th Ave (which was not fun to climb back up), then cut to Elderberry Park on your right. From here you follow the trail to an underpass and then head left to continue on the Coastal Trail.

The first part of the trail follows the coastline and mudflats when the tide is low. I was surprised to see that the water largely disappears from view for the majority of the ride. Instead, you’re in a beautiful, lush rainforest with pocket views of the ocean. The trail is nicely maintained and smooth. Since it was pouring when we rode the trail wasn’t overly busy but I would assume it is well travelled most days. There are mile marker stakes every half mile and navigation is a breeze-just keep following the trail.

Though most reviews I read and the bike rental people said that the trail is flat, there were a few more rolling hills than I was expecting for the first 5 miles. It wasn’t by any means a difficult ride, but we had a couple less confident bikers in our group this time and they weren’t thrilled by the hills. Look for planes landing just overhead around mile 6 when you get near the airport. They seemed like they were going to land right on the trail they were so close. Unfortunately, it was pretty foggy which obstructed the views further out on the water. But it did clear up a little on the way back and we were able to see the city skyline.

Just after mile 10 there is a pretty steep climb. We made it past the first hill and then when facing another big climb our group decided to turn around. The rain and fog deterred us from another climb effort. Unfortunately, I don’t know what the end of the trail looks like and not gonna lie it kills me to not know. But it looked like we were heading to some kind of lookout at Point Campbell. So if anyone has made it to the end, please drop a comment below and let me know what we missed out on!

The absolute highlight of the ride was that we did indeed see a moose around mile marker 8. Now, I live in Montana so I have seen a moose before but never from such a close distance. It was about 30 yards away basically standing on the trail. It was absolutely massive! It sounds like the most common moose viewing stretch of road is right after the airport to the end of the trail, from mile marker 6 on. It was truly amazing and definitely made the soggy ride worth it.

The return trip did go a bit faster thanks to the downhill grade the last five-ish miles. Keep looking for moose because we saw another one sitting by the trail on the way back. Despite the rain, it was a beautiful trail and I enjoyed the greenery and millions of ferns. The complete Moose Loop will remain on my biking bucket list. Hoping we’ll get back at some point to complete it. Now we have to spend the night blow-drying our shoes so we can wear them again tomorrow. My husband actually dumped an entire puddle out of his right one. Stay tuned for more Alaska biking content!

• Anchorage is Alaska’s biggest city stretching 2,000 miles. It’s larger than the entire state of Rhode Island
• There is no sales tax in Anchorage making it a great place to buy souvenirs!
• It’s home to the highest tidal variation in the world at 32 feet
• The ceremonial start of the Iditarod sled dog race is through the streets of downtown
• Anchorage’s seaplane base is the busiest in the world boasting 1,000 takeoffs/landings each day in the summer months