Girdwood, Alaska

Girdwood is a popular resort town near the end of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, about a 45 minute drive from Anchorage on Seward Highway.  The town lies in a valley in the Chugach Mountains, surrounded by seven glaciers — so dominant are these glaciers that the town was originally named “Glacier City”.

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The town was founded to supply miners during the Turnagain Arm gold rushes of the 1890s.  When the Alyeska Resort was built along the slopes of Mount Alyeska, the town became a travel destination.  The town now is a year around resort, with dog-mushing, snowboarding and skiing in the winter and hiking, biking, fishing and rafting in the summer.

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We only stopped briefly in Girdwood to look around a little.  The mountainous setting is dramatic but there is definitely a homey flair to the town as well.

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