Towering over Seward at 5,318’, Mount Alice is not a mountain that can be missed. But, up until recently, this hike was a local secret. It’s still not a well-known trail, but seeing as how it’s on Alltrails (“Alice Mountain Lookout Trail”) and Google maps, at this point, I don’t feel like I’m giving anything away.

Most people only go up about halfway (approximately 2.5 miles), but you can go further up without it being very sketchy until the last section. If you’re tempted to summit, just know it’s incredibly dangerous due to the absolute garbage rock on the last steep incline. It requires class 4/5 scrambling and you can’t trust a single hold.

I do a lot of crazy hikes, but this summit almost killed me (rock broke off and I fell down the cliff side 10’ or so). But don’t let that scare you off from reaching the glacier view. The hike isn’t dangerous until almost the end, which you don’t have to even come close to for the view of Resurrection Bay and Godwin Glacier.

How to get to the trail head and up to the views

Alltrails can route you with specific directions (or type “Mt. Alice trail head” into Google maps). A quick drive around Resurrection Bay in Seward will take you to the trail head, which is directly across from a pull off area. There are two trail heads, but they meet up after a short while, so take whichever one you want. The trail gets steep pretty fast, but the views are worth it. I’m usually dying to get above the tree line, but this trail is in a rain forest with beautiful trees and is quite picturesque.

After about a mile and 1000’ of elevation gain, Alltrails will have you hang a right just before it opens into a meadow. If you somehow miss this turn, just keep going into the meadow until you see a trail on your right that, heading up the ridge. It’ll soon merge with the other trail (prepare to get your feet wet as water is often running down the trail). Once up, you get a really good view of Resurrection Bay and Seward.

Don’t stop now – an epic view of Godwin Glacier is just ahead

I suggest going up higher and further back than where the trail ends on Alltrails, as you would otherwise completely miss out on a spectacular view of Godwin Glacier, which sits a few miles behind Mount Alice. Towards the end of the Alltrails route, it opens up. From here, you need to go further towards the East, and climb up a large, rocky hill. It’s not the most fun terrain to hike up, but trust me, it’s worth it.

Explore the bowl or head back down the trail you came up

You can also wander into the bowl from around the same area on the ridge where Alltrails will tell you to make a hard right near the end. Instead of going to the right, head northeast, down the ridge into the bowl. When I made my descent into the bowl from the summit, I ran across a lone mountain goat (which is why you shouldn’t drink water from the streams in the bowl – because you have no idea who has dropped a turd in them).

Whether you explore the bowl or not, you have to head back down the same trail. If you missed the right turn on the way out of the tree line, you can take this short cut (now, on your left as you descend) to avoid going back through the meadow area. And that’s about it. Have fun exploring!