This six-mile trek around Kachemak Bay State Park was the most ambitious hike of my Alaska trip. But, it wasn’t as nearly as strenuous as I thought it would be thanks to the trail being almost completely flat except for the last mile.

You can do a slightly shorter hike by only hiking to Grewingk Glacier Lake and then coming back to where you started. We decided to continue on the Saddle Trail after Glacier Lake to a different endpoint. If you’re up for it, I do recommend the full six-mile route because it’s beautiful and the Saddle Trail is entirely different than the first part of the hike.

The whole 6.1-mile hike, plus an extended lunch break, took Billy and me three and a half hours. The most intimidating part of the hike was its location, not the trail itself, since like I said it’s surprisingly flat.

The nerve-wracking part is getting dropped off on a beach by a water taxi and then just saying “see you later at a different spot!” while you hike through a park with no civilization. That was the biggest leap out of my comfort zone, but I’m so glad I did it because the hike was a trip highlight!

How do I get there?

Via water taxi from the Homer Spit. This is the expensive part of the hike. Round trip, we paid about $70 in 2019 for both of us to get picked up and dropped off. That also includes the state park fee for the two of us. So while technically it’s not that expensive if you consider everything that’s included, I initially had sticker shock.

Taking a water taxi also seemed logistically intimidating, but it actually turned out to be really easy. The night before our hike, we drove over to Mako’s Water Taxi to book our tickets. The staff was super helpful and friendly.

You can kind of pick your pick-up and drop-off times, but they’re trying to make their trips across the bay as efficient as possible, so they may not be perfectly aligned to your schedule. We had to wait about 30 minutes at the end of our hike before we got picked up, but we just relaxed on the beach, watched sea otters play, and snacked. It was actually quite delightful.

The water taxi dropped us off at the beach for the Glacier Lake trailhead and picked us up at the Saddle Trail trailhead in Halibut Cove. This is a pretty common route, and recommended because it’s steep getting up/down from the Saddle Trail trailhead and most people (including me) would rather walk down it than slog up it.

Where do I go?

Once you get dropped off on the beach, you just walk until you see the bright orange triangles denoting the beginning of the trail. This was the first time I got a little anxious about there not being a highly-structured way of doing things. I kept thinking, “But what if we miss the sign? Why don’t they just drop you off right at the sign? How do I know if it’s the right sign?!” etc etc. Right around the time I was worried we had gone too far and missed it, we saw the (very obvious) sign to start the trail.

The entire trail was very straight-forward and surprisingly well marked considering how remote it is. There’s one option from the beach, and every junction had a sign telling you which way to go.

Everyone’s attitude about the outdoors in Alaska is fairly informal. The hike is “about” this many miles, just look for the orange triangle, you get picked up and dropped off on a random beach, don’t worry! This initially made me really nervous because I like to have ALL THE EXACT INFORMATION when I’m doing something out of my comfort zone. But it really did all work out easily and my anxiety was (shocker!) unfounded.

What is the trail like?

The first part of the Glacier Lake Trail starts in the forest on nice, wide dirt trails. Then it turns to a pebble/rocky trail and opens up for most of your walk to the lake. Had it been sunny, this would’ve been very hot. Mostly, it just got a little monotonous until we got to Grewingk Glacier (which was well worth it).

The glacier lake is super cool, with a bunch of little icebergs and obviously the glacier to ogle at over lunch. The glacier is at the opposite end of the lake from you, so you’re not super close, but it’s still very beautiful. The beach itself is rocky, so be careful if it starts raining because it will get slippery.

Once you get on the Saddle Trail, the scenery changes pretty quickly back into the enchanted forest-type experience you had at the beginning. The trail gets a little more narrow and there are more roots sticking up, so just make sure to pay attention.

The descent down to the beach on the Saddle Trail is steep, and I was really glad to have hiking poles for this section. It wasn’t rocky or otherwise technical, but the poles helped me feel like I could control my momentum a little better. There is a short flight of stairs at the end of the descent, which are very steep and made me a little vertigo-ey for a second, but again, the poles helped here. Plus, it was only a few dozen stairs. The picture in the water taxi office made it look WAY worse.

What should I wear and bring?

We had a cloudy start that turned into a beautiful, clear day with temperatures in the lower 50s in late May. I run cold, so I wore a long-sleeve shirt, hoodie, and windbreaker with long pants.

I ended up getting VERY hot on the Saddle Trail, since the sun came out and we did have to walk uphill for a little while. But if I had dressed any lighter, I would have been freezing sitting at the glacier lake for lunch. As with every hike in Alaska, dress in layers! And as usual, I wore hiking boots and was glad to have them; Billy wore trail runners and was happy in those. It’s personal preference since it wasn’t very wet.

Bring a meal with you to eat at the glacier and plenty of water to keep you hydrated throughout the day. My go-to combination is a PB+J, apple, and beef jerky. Also, don’t forget your bear spray. Our AirBnb host had some we could borrow – that’s the most convenient option if available since you likely won’t use it and you can’t bring it back on the plane. You’re kind of on your own out there (see the next section) so make sure to bring a first aid kit, too.

Binoculars came in super handy for our entire trip to Alaska, and I was really glad to have them with us again on this trail. We saw a bear (more on that later) and were able to enjoy the sea otters in Halibut Cove thanks to our binos – without them, we wouldn’t have seen any otters and the bear would’ve just been a black blob.

Here’s my list of what to bring on any hike >>

Is it crowded?

In May, it was laughably uncrowded. This was the other beginner-scary part of the hike. There’s a trail log at the trailhead that you fill out in case of emergency, so you know exactly how many people are out there with you.

The day we got dropped off, there was me, Billy, and another guy hiking around. That was it. It was at first kind of unsettling that there was legitimately NO ONE else out there, not even a park ranger. But I knew we had all the supplies we needed and that the water taxi company obviously wouldn’t be in business if they regularly left people stranded at the state park, so I eventually started to enjoy it and not feel so nervous.

We were totally alone until we saw one other group of people once we got on the Saddle Trail who must have started on that side of the park. Then were by ourselves again until the water taxi picked us up. I was pleasantly surprised that I really got into the solitude and enjoyed it. The entire day was definitely out of my comfort zone, but felt like a great step forward for calming my nerves and feeling more comfortable in the outdoors. (Going to Yellowstone first and working through a lot of bear anxiety then may have helped me feel better on this trip)

Anything else I should know?

I know I buried the lede on this one, but we also saw a bear. When you arrive at the lake, there is a fairly long beach you can walk down and find a spot for lunch. Once we were done exploring and turned around, we saw a rather large blob that was (naturally) blocking the trail back.

After observing from a distance for a while (thank you binoculars!) we realized we didn’t want to get stuck on the beach or have the bear come toward us since there wasn’t a way for us to get out of the bear’s way in that scenario.

I had already been singing and shouting and making a ton of noise on the first part of our hike to help ease my anxiety about running into a bear. Billy and I reached an absurd new volume at this point, screeching at the top of our lungs as we walked back up the beach.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep an eye on the bear the entire time because of the curve of the beach. By the time we reached the spot we knew the bear had been, it was gone. I didn’t *want* to see the bear up close, but I would have liked to know just where it went.

We continued scream-singing and made our way back to the main trail, where we quieted down and didn’t see or hear the bear (or any other wildlife) again.

All of this is to say is that if you’re on a trail in Alaska and there’s not many people around, you might see a bear. But it’s going to be okay. They don’t really want to hang out with humans, and if you make a lot of noise, they’ll know you’re coming and won’t be surprised (which is where things typically go awry). Don’t let it stop you from getting out there!

The three-mile round trip hike to Exit Glacier was the most beginner-friendly trek I did during our road trip to Alaska. And don’t worry, beginner-friendly doesn’t mean you lose out on panoramic mountain views and an up-close look at a big ol’ glacier.

The entire hike took me just over an hour, with plenty of photo op stops and breaks to take a breather. Most of the trail is flat (the first half is paved) and there’s really only one steep-ish hill. I hiked it three months preggo and it was definitely the most manageable (pregnancy hack: just use hiking poles all the time) of the hikes we did in Alaska.

How do I get there?

Exit Glacier is conveniently located just outside of the town of Seward. It’s inside Kenai Fjords National Park, so you will have to pay a fee to access it (or be prepared to show your national parks pass!).

The drive there is completely flat and all on paved roads (with stunning views, may I add). I recommend stopping for breakfast crepes at Le Barn Appetit. We were in town early in the tourist season (mid-May), and Le Barn Appetit started out being our last ditch attempt at finding a breakfast place that was open (and, I still wanted breakfast at 11 am). It turned out to be a super cute and delicious stop pre-hiking. Word of warning: the crepes are no lie a foot long, so Billy and I split one and were both full at the end of breakfast.

After Le Barn Appetit continue on Exit Glacier Road until it dead ends at the national park. It’s pretty much impossible to take a wrong turn; there are a few campgrounds and overlooks along the way, but just stay on the main road and it will dump you right into the main parking lot.

Where do I go?

There’s only one option from the parking lot, so that makes it easy! The Lower Trail leaves from the nature center (which in Mid-may was unfortunately closed) and continues to the base of the glacier (or, at least, where the base of the glacier used to be). Don’t worry, the bathroom at the trailhead is open year-round!

The Harding Ice Field Trail is a more advanced trek that in May was still mostly snowed in. You can always hike up part of it if you’re there later in the summer; it’s supposed to be beautiful!

The Lower Trail turns into gravel after starting out for the first 3/4-mile or so on a wide, paved path. The map at the trailhead makes it look like the glacier overlook is super far away, but it’s about 1.5-miles of mostly flat trail to the overlook. We stayed on the main trail and didn’t take any turns, following the sign for Exit Glacier Overlook.

On the way back, we took an extra little loop by following signs that said they took you to the parking lot. Admittedly, the trail loop names were a little bit confusing and not consistently marked like they are on the map. Besides the Harding Icefield Trail, everything is a loop that will eventually get you back to the parking lot, so you can’t get too lost.

The other half of the loop we ended up taking went down ti the riverbank, which provides another really beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and forest. Plus, the river water is a super weird, milky color that was cool to see up close!

What should I wear and bring?

Most of the hike isn’t in the shade, and we happened to have a beautiful, clear day with temperatures in the lower 50s in late May. I run cold, so I wore a long-sleeve shirt, hoodie, and windbreaker with long pants. You won’t work up too much of a sweat on the trail, since like I’ve said, it’s pretty flat. But the wind seems to always be blowing, so I was very glad I was dressed as warmly as I was. I recommend a windbreaker layer on top of whatever you wear.

I wore trail running shoes, and there’s not really any reason you need hiking boots or any waterproof footwear. The one water crossing has a a nice, wide board for you to walk over and half of the hike you’re on the paved path. I even saw one woman doing it in Uggs!

I brought water and food even though the hike was “only” an hour because I was pregnant and eating every four seconds. You’re probably fine not bringing a backpack or much besides your car keys and phone (and a camera and binoculars). But I’m not an expert, so bring what makes you feel comfortable. Here’s a great list that I’ve put together >>

Is it crowded?

A cruise ship bus dropped off about 50 people right as we were on our way out, and it definitely felt crowded with all of them on the trail at once. I imagine it’s much worst in the main tourist season when there are multiple cruise ships in town at once. That’s why we decided to go in May!

Even early in the season, this was one of the more well-traveled hikes that we did, but I never felt annoyed or crowded until we ran into the cruise ship group. I try to remember that everyone’s just experiencing the outdoors in the way that works for them, and we’re all lucky to get to see this crazy cool place in real life!

Anything else I should know?

Exit Glacier is a prime example of why you shouldn’t procrastinate going to Alaska any more than you have to. The park’s interpretative signage does a remarkable job at highlighting how the glacier has changed, and how those changes have accelerated as our climate changes.

For example, I was wondering why they built this fancy seating area with such a crappy view. Then I read the signs nearby that explained that the benches had a perfect view of the glacier when it was built. It’s receded since then, and the forest grew up in its absence. There are also signs throughout the park that mark where the glacier used to be in previous years – the one from 2010 really threw me for a loop.

Plus, the Exit Glacier Overlook only keeps getting further away every year. The park used to “chase” the glacier by extending the trail as needed, but at this point they’ve decided to stop. The view is still incredible, but changing all the time! If nothing else, make global warming the reason you prioritize going to Alaska for your next big trip.