Flattop Mountain Shuttle
In Anchorage, Alaska on 4th Ave between C & D
at Downtown Bicycle Rental

For Anchorage visitors without rental cars who want to hike flattop mountain

SERVICE RUNS ONLY FROM mAY 15 TO SEPTEMBER 15

Round-Trip - $23

Group of Four or More - $21

One Way with your Own Bike - $16
12:30 to 4:30 once a day excursion. 

In a nutshell, this is a 30-mile low-key circuit tour of Anchorage
and an unguided mountain HIKE above it for only $23. (Includes $1 Chugach State Park tax.)

 
 
Click here to
reserve seat(S).
no deposit required

No Deposit except for group of four or more: See FAQ 3

Located at:
Downtown Bicycle Rental™
333 W.4th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 99501

SUMMER SCHEDULE

TIME EVENT MORE SPECIFICALLY
Morning or
Noon to 12:15		 Muster Check-in at Downtown Bike Rental, pay, sign hike release, get trail direction sheet. To bide your time before departure we suggest you take the glass elevator across the street to the top floor of the parking garage where there is a 360 degree view and you can see Flattop. Be back at bike rental no later than 12:15. Another way to bide time is to walk through the free 1964 Earthquake exhibit inside the blue mall where our store is located.
12:15 - 12:30 Trigger Wait List
Load Van
Depart 		If between 12:15 and 12:25 someone who reserved a seat is still not here, if we have a wait list we trigger it, load the van and depart.  We depart as close to 12:15 as possible but no later than 12:30. A low-key Anchorage city tour for only $22
1:00 to 1:15 Arrive Trailhead Van arrives at Glen Alps in Chugach State Park. Elevation: 2,200 feet. Click here for live web cam shots of Flattop and the parking lot.
About 1:00 - 4:00 HIKING Time Van remains parked at trailhead. Driver does his own hike. Everyone meets back at van at or before 4 pm.
4:00 or before* Leave Trailhead Hiking in Anchorage, Alaska  departs taking a different return route back to make a circuit tour of the city.

4:30 or before*

* If everyone finishes hike before 4, van can leave early and arrive downtown early.
Arrive Downtown
Van arrives @ DBR. Flattop t-shirts for sale at our store. Free water refills.
  • If after hiking you decide to rent a bike you'll save $2. We call this the HIKE/BIKE SPLIT.
  • If you rented a bike prior to going on the hike, you receive a $2 discount on the shuttle price which would make it $21. This is the BIKE/HIKE SPLIT.

 

Flattop is Alaska's most frequently climbed mountain

3-mile round-trip hike

Elevation gain: 1,350'

Elevation: 3,350'

Great views


A scenic, safe, affordable, independent outdoor afternoon excursion. We drive you 16-miles (37 minutes) from downtown Anchorage (sea level) on the longer more scenic route through the university to the Glen Alps trailhead in Chugach State Park.  (Elevation 2,200')  Van remains parked for about 3 hours while you HIKE  by yourself.  Click here for How to Hike Flattop direction sheet.
 

Great views reward each footstep.  On average it takes one hour to HIKE from the parking lot to the summit. This allows most people ample time to walk around the mountain's flat top.  It takes about 45 minutes to descend. Because there is no guide you can hike as far and as fast or as slow and as little as you like.

A slow or tired hiker can turn around wherever and whenever they want.  Fast, fit hikers can get to the top in as little as 35 minutes so they sometimes run up to the second or even the third peak behind Flattop. Up there you can run along a ridge line and unlike on the Flattop trail, up there you will likely be completely alone.

Hikers must begin their descent by 3 pm so that they are back in the parking lot at or before 4 pm which is when the van departs.  We take a different, faster, more direct route back to downtown that passes the Alaska Zoo where we can drop you off if you want.  The Zoo has a free hourly shuttle to downtown that runs until 8:30 p.m.  Adult admission to the Zoo is $15.  If you don't get off at the zoo and stay with the van, we arrive back downtown at or before 4:30.

If you want to rent a bike and take it to Flattop on the back of our van you won't be on a schedule because you can ride downhill back into the city whenever you want.  HIKE/BIKE COMBO - $50 OR $60.

 

Commercial Operating Permits

Chugach State Park.
Municipality of Anchorage Transportation Inspection Division.

$1 of the $23 fare is a tax or user fee we collect on behalf of Chugach State Park.
The municipality regulates our service as a Vehicle for Hire ("VFH"). Each spring van must pass a 19-point inspection, obtain $700,000 in commercial insurance, and pay a $712 VFH fee.

Memberships and Affiliations

  Visit Anchorage                                            Alaska Trails