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To say Girdwood makes an excellent day trip from Anchorage isn't giving the community along Turnagain Arm enough credit. It's great for a day trip, and then another, and then another, and so on.

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Most visitors don't have time to make repeated trips, so you'll need to pack as much into a day or two as possible.

One of the best places to start is with the Ascending Path (www.the ascendingpath.com, 783-0505). The outdoor enthusiasts can lead you on a low-impact hike through the temperate rain forest that surrounds Girdwood, or onto a glacier high above the town, or on an ice climbing trip to Byron Glacier, or give you a rock climbing clinic.

"There is so much to do here," said owner Matt Szundy. "Ultimately, the valley itself is just spectacular. You feel like you're just surrounded by peaks and glaciers."

On the glacier hikes, guests take the Alyeska Resort tram up to 2,300 feet on Mount Alyeska. A guide leads hikers along a ridgeline to Alyeska Glacier, where hikers don climbing harnesses, ropes and crampons for a trip onto the glacier. The three-hour excursion is $139 and leaves at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily. There are midnight sun glacier hikes from mid-June to mid-July.

Szundy says with global warming, the hikes are changing too.

"The glacier is shrinking dramatically," he said. "We try to educate people on climate change. It's amazing to walk on the glacier and talk with people about how three years ago the glacier was 50 meters lower than it is today. We're seeing it in action."

Szundy's company also is taking advantage of a new whistle-stop train service offered by the Alaska Railroad (www.alaskarailroad.com) this summer in conjunction with the Chugach National Forest. Eventually there will be five whistle-stops in the backcountry along the rail line. This summer, visitors will get dropped off near Spencer Glacier. Szundy said the Ascending Path will lead guided interpretive hikes near the glacier.

Lezlie Murray, director of the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center in Portage, said rangers also will offer interpretive hikes near Spencer Glacier. The hike is approximately 1.5 miles to a viewing platform. From there, the face of the glacier is about one mile away. Murray said work is being done this summer on a trail that takes visitors closer to the glacier.

"Spencer is a really amazing glacier; it is still very active," Murray said. "The landscape you hike through is basically new. It has just been uncovered in the last 100 years.

"Bear and moose also are pretty common sightings. Other things people will see is weather. We encourage people to dress for success -- that means good walking shoes, rain gear and a hat and gloves. If you don't need them you can stuff them into your backpack."

The railroad also offers combination trips to Spencer Glacier, where visitors can also enjoy a raft float or help paddle a replica of an Alaska Native canoe among the icebergs in Spencer Lake ($165 to $185).

Of course, visitors can simply take the train and enjoy spending time at Spencer Glacier without a guide. The whistle-stop train service is $95 from Anchorage or $59 from Portage or Whittier.

Back in Girdwood, you don't need a guide service to find your own way around the trails.

Winner Creek Trail, Crow Pass Trail and a portion of the original Iditarod Trail all are easily accessible from the Girdwood area. They make for excellent one- or two-hour hikes, or they can easily be extended to an all-day outing. The Winner Creek Trail begins underneath the tram at Alyeska Resort.

After a few exhilarating hours climbing on glaciers or enjoying the local trails, maybe a wildlife fix is in order. Then it's down the Seward Highway a few miles from Girdwood to Portage and a visit to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (www. awcc.org, 783-2025).

The Conservation Center is one of the few places in Alaska that can guarantee wildlife sightings. The 200-acre refuge is home to dozens of animals including bears, moose, wood bison, plains bison, musk oxen, caribou, lynx, Sitka blacktail deer, elk, coyotes and a bald eagle. The center takes in orphaned animals. Some animals never leave, but some move on to zoos in other parts of the country or world.

Visitors can drive through the park, but it's more interesting to walk. The animals are kept in large, natural enclosures.

"There are great wildlife-viewing opportunities where people can take great photographs," said Kelly Miller, the center's director of education. "You can't get those opportunities in the backcountry."

Admission to the conservation center is $7.50 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. There is a maximum charge of $25 per car.

Getting to Girdwood, and other points south, is part of the fun of a day trip along the Seward Highway, which was designated a National Scenic Byway in 1998 and is considered by many residents to be the most beautiful drive in Alaska.

On your way south, consider making stops at some of these points:

• The Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge at Potter Marsh. It's the first place you'll come to on the way out of Anchorage on the highway and is one of the best places to look for waterfowl in all of Southcentral. The marsh is home to arctic terns, trumpeter swans, Canada geese, grebes, gulls, ducks and other birds. Salmon return to the waters every summer and the marsh is a great place to see them. There is a walkway over the marsh.

Nearby are the Potter Section House Historic Site, built in 1929 to serve the railroad, and one of the trail heads for the Turnagain Arm Trail. The trail stretches about nine miles and runs parallel to the highway. Hikers will enjoy excellent views of the Kenai Mountains and Turnagain Arm.

• McHugh Creek. It also allows access to the Turnagain Arm Trail. The creek spills down a waterfall next to the highway. It's a great place for a picnic or a short hike. There are picnic shelters and tables available and there are spotting scopes to help visitors look for Dall sheep on the mountains.

• Beluga Point is probably the most accessible place to look for whales. The white beluga whales travel back and forth along Turnagain Arm searching for food. The whales are small, but they're easy to spot because of their color. Their numbers have been declining recently and they are not seen as often as in the past.

Beluga Point also is one of the first places people gather to watch for a bore tide, and it's a great place to view a summer sunset.

• Windy Corner. This is the best spot to see Dall sheep. The all-white sheep cling to the rocks above the highway and sometimes will come down right along the road to eat grass.

There are several pullouts along the highway for sightseeing. Be smart and take advantage of them. Don't look for wildlife while you're driving.

• At Indian, visitors can get a Gold Rush history lesson or an excellent workout.

Indian Valley Mine (www.indian valleymine.com) dates to the early 1900s. Some of the buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places, and today the family-run business offers gold-panning lessons and guaranteed gold discovery. Buy a bag of dirt for $5 to $50 and do some panning.

If you'd rather pedal than pan, jump on your bicycle (or put on your walking shoes) to enjoy the Indian-to-Girdwood bike path. The path runs alongside Turnagain Arm, a portion of it following the old Seward Highway route.

• Bird Creek area. You can fish and watch others fish at the creek. There is a trail head for a hike up Bird Ridge; it is challenging but it's worth the effort. The Bird Point Scenic Overlook has excellent views of Turnagain Arm and is another good place to watch for a bore tide. You can also access the bike path to Girdwood.

• As mentioned earlier, Girdwood has enough to keep visitors busy for a day or more. Some of the other activities include tram rides, tandem paragliding, sled dog rides on a glacier, flightseeing and downhill mountain biking. Many of those activities are based at Alyeska Resort (www.alyeskaresort. com), a wintertime ski resort.

The 60-passenger tram is one of Alyeska's most popular attractions, offering rides to the 2,300-foot-level of Mount Alyeska. A ride is $16. The resort's Seven Glaciers restaurant is at the top of the tramway.

Girdwood has a number of excellent dining options. In addition to the Seven Glaciers, other restaurants include the award-winning Double Musky Inn (www. doublemuskyinn.com), Jack Sprat (www.jacksprat.net) and Chair 5 Restaurant (www.chairfive.com).

After lunch or before dinner, stop by the Girdwood Center for Visual Arts, a cooperative of more than 40 Alaska artists, on Olympic Mountain Loop. There you will find paintings, pottery, photography, wood turning, glass art and a variety of small gifts.

• The last stop is a combined visit to the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center and Portage Glacier. The best way to see the receding glacier is from the MV Ptarmigan tour boat.

The Begich, Boggs Visitor Center (783-2326) near Portage Glacier is one of the most visited sites in Southcentral Alaska. It is on the Portage Highway off the Seward Highway south of Girdwood. In addition to a view of Portage Lake, which often has icebergs from the glacier, the visitors center includes exhibits about Portage Valley, Prince William Sound, Alaska animals and stories about Alaskans.

Daily interpretive walks include the Iceworm Safari on Tuesday and Saturday afternoons. A guide takes visitors to the toe of Byron Glacier where they search for iceworms.

Special sections editor Steve Edwards can be reached at sedwards@adn.com or 257-4316. Visit his Alaska travel blog at www.alaska.com/alaskology.

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What locals say

"People who are looking for a day trip, this is the perfect thing to do. Drive down Turnagain Arm, look for the Dall sheep, see the water and the tidal flats, go to the wildlife center, go over to Portage. Go see the movie at the (Begich, Boggs) Visitor Center. That trip has everything people want to see -- glaciers, wildlife, beautiful scenery."

-- Kelly Miller, director of education at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Editor's picks

• Get behind the wheel: Particularly on a sunny day, a drive on the Seward Highway from Potter Marsh to Portage can't be beat. Take your time, stop, enjoy.

• Turnagain Arm Trail: It is one of my favorite all-season trails. Sadly, you can hear the traffic on the highway at times, but the views of Turnagain Arm and the mountains are outstanding. The stretch from near Potter Marsh to McHugh Creek is about three miles. I love the smell of the trail in spring.

• Tasty bites: For a somewhat rugged skiing town, Girdwood has some great eating. If you want a snack, stop by Coast pizza along the highway or the Bake Shop near Alyeska Resort. If you want a great sit-down meal, get to Jack Sprat Restaurant, which features some of the most inspiring dishes around. You have to try the yam fries. Chair 5 Restaurant has a bit of everything -- gourmet burgers, pizza and seafood. And if you want super-fancy, head to the Double Musky Inn, an award-winning Cajun place.

• A bit of art: After all the outdoor adventures along the Arm, drop in to the Girdwood Center for the Visual Arts for a taste of finer things. It is a cooperative of more than 40 artists, and you'll usually meet one of them working behind the desk.

Ride the rails

The Alaska Railroad has trains that depart daily from Anchorage. The trips include:

• DENALI STAR: The train stops at Talkeetna, Denali National Park and Fairbanks. It leaves Anchorage at 8:15 a.m. Day trips to Talkeetna include a jetboat tour ($190-$394) or river rafting ($195-$399).

• COASTAL CLASSIC: The train heads to Seward. It leaves Anchorage at 6:45 a.m. The train ride can be combined with several trips aboard day cruise ships into Kenai Fjords National Park.

• GLACIER DISCOVERY: The railroad offers several day-trip excursions. On the Spencer Glacier Float Tour, guests ride the train to Spencer Glacier and enjoy a gentle float among the icebergs at Spencer Lake and down the Placer River; the Glacier Explorer allows visitors to explore the icebergs on Spencer Lake in a modern version of an Alaska Native canoe (each is $165-$185). The train to Grandview includes views of Trail, Bartlett and Spencer glaciers ($99-$102). Other trips can be combined with cruises in Whittier or Seward. This is the trip for the Spencer Glacier whistle-stop.

• FOR MORE INFORMATION: Visit the Alaska Railroad's Web site at www.alaskarailroad.com or call 1-800-544-0552 or 265-2494.

• ANOTHER OPTION: Gray Line of Alaska offers tours aboard its McKinley Explorer glass-domed railcars. They are pulled by Alaska Railroad engines. For more information, visit www.graylinealaska.com or call 1-800-544-2206.