September 24, 2026
Whittier is one of Alaska’s most unusual towns—a small port tucked between steep mountains and Prince William Sound. Developed as a military port during World War II, its history and isolation help explain its unusual buildings and tunnels.
Heavily damaged during the huge 1964 Good Friday earthquake, Whittier rebuilt, but condensed into two primary living quarters – the 14-story Begich Towers (originally built for military housing) and Whittier Manor. Individual homes are pretty much non-existent.
The tall white building in the back center is Whittier Manor, one of two housing units.
There are underground pedestrian tunnels that connect the living quarters to the school which allows children to reach class without facing the harsh weather. There is also a public pedestrian tunnel beneath the railroad tracks connecting the waterfront side of town with the main residential area.
Our bus tour today was aimed at driving us through the mountain tunnel (more on that in a minute), along Turnagain Arm, a viewing stop at Potter Marsh, and a visit to The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
We had a few extra minutes before our scheduled time slot for the tunnel, so our bus driver gave us a quick (and I do mean quick) “tour” of the town. We went up one road, turned, came back down the other street and we had seen it all.
The Whittier Tunnel (Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel) – The town itself is completely cut off, except by a 2.5 mile, one-way tunnel that serves car, truck, bus and train traffic. The key here is that being only one lane, there is a controlled entry time for each direction. For example, we left town in the 10:00 exit slot, and were scheduled to reenter on the 2:30 inbound slot. Trains have a priority.
This link about the Portage Glacier Highway has some more interesting information about the tunnel for anyone interested.
After going through the tunnel (dark, very narrow and a little confining for anyone with claustrophobia), we took the Seward Highway towards Anchorage. Off to our left was Turnagain Arm, a long, narrow branch of Cook Inlet. And to our right, as shown below, amazing but harsh landscape.
After roughly an hours ride we arrived at our first stop, Potter Marsh.
Potter Marsh is a peaceful wetland at the southern edge of Anchorage, where elevated wooden boardwalks allow visitors to explore without disturbing the habitat. Part of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, it offers opportunities to spot waterfowl, bald eagles and occasionally moose.
I think we were a little late in the season. I managed to spot two ducks…
Time to turn around, and retrace our path. Seeing the scenery from the bus window was truly a highlight of this excursion. On the return, Turnagain Arm was on my side of the bus.
The final stop was at The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a nonprofit sanctuary that cares for injured and orphaned wildlife, including animals unable to survive independently in the wild. It is home to bears, moose, a grey wolf (it’s actually white), musk oxen, wood bison, caribou, reindeer, a wise owl and a very cute marten.
I don’t particularly care to photograph animals through a wire fence and much prefer seeing them in their natural habitat. However, I made an exception for this sweet looking marten.
The Wildlife Center has a wonderful success story of raising and reintroducing wood bison back into the wild. If you have been fortunate to have seen the American Bison in Yellowstone NP, you will appreciate how big they are. The endangered Wood Bison is 15% larger!
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I’m grateful for having the opportunity to witness the amazing beauty and grandeur of Alaska. I also appreciate the wonderful work that the Wildlife Conservation Center is doing to take care of orphaned animals as well as helping rebuild the threatened wood bison population.
That little marten is adorable. I have not been to this part of Alaska. The scenery is stunning.
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Wasn’t he cute. I really dislike seeing animals in cages, but I do understand that they would not survive on their own and do appreciate those who are caring for them, attempting to give them the best life possible. Yes, the scenery exceeded my expectations. Stunning is the perfect word.
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Beautiful mountain settings.
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I think so too! Thanks for stopping by 👍
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My pleasure. I’ve never been to Alaska, and would love to go.
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Stunning views. Turnagin is a great name. I can’t think of the name of the author right now, but there’s a series of mysteries that take place in an Alaskan town that sounds very much like the one you described with new individual homes, the underground passageways, etc. As for that adorable Martin, cute but very ferocious.
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I love the sounds of a mystery novel set in Whittier (or similar) town! Sounds like a story I would enjoy, especially after visiting here. I’ll have to do some research to see if I can find it. The Marten looks too cute to be ferocious. Darn, guess we won’t be cuddling any time soon 🤣
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They’re shy and avoid people but they’re ferocious hunters and people are told to keep pets was from them. But they are darn cute!
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Away from them.
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I think I found the novel (with some help from my AI buddy) – “Yes! A very strong match is City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita (2023). Its fictional town, Point Mettier, Alaska, was inspired by Whittier.” I’m going to see if there is a Kindle version and if so, add it to my reading list. Thanks!
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That’s it.
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You have brought back memories from 2015 when we flew even further north to Wiseman way up in the Arctic land. We are cruising on the La Lyrial to the Antarctic area over year end. Follow us for that adventure. https://gr8l1f.blog/
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Colin, how exciting that you will be getting down to Antarctica! That is my remaining continent and I’m very hopeful that we will manage to get there in the next couple of years.
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Having lived in Anchorage for three years in the 80s all of your sights are quite familiar. I stopped frequently at Potter Marsh and spent a lot of time hiking and backpacking in the mountains to your right as you drove toward Anchorage. Once I led one of my 500 mile bike treks from Anchorage to Valdez and took the ferry across the Prince William Sound to Whittier where we loaded our bikes onto the train to go thought the tunnel and then biked back to Anchorage along Turnagain Arm. All in all, you had a good introduction the that part of Alaska!
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Wow! That bike trek of 500 miles sounds both awesome and incredibly intimidating! What an amazing way to truly experience Alaska’s beauty and grandeur though. Impressive!
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The back of a bike is a great way to experience beautiful places. When I was in my mid-40s, I took a few months to do a 10,000 mile solo bike ride around the US and Canada.
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10,000 miles! Now that’s an epic bike trip!
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That it was, grin. Really tough at first! But it became easier by the end where I could do a hundred mile days in relative comfort. 50 at first about killed me. Grin.
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