Hiking High Above Cordova, Alaska

High above the little town of Cordova, 1000+ ft up on tripod hill. Eyak lake spreads out below, and the beginning of the Copper River Delta stretches out to the far horizon.

With a population of less than three thousand, and no road access at all, the tiny town of Cordova is seldom visited by tourists. However, we are no ordinary cruise ship. Here on the Safari Explorer, we want to take our guests off the beaten track. Usually we stay out in the wilderness, however, the town of Cordova is too good to pass up.

We scored a historical walking tour of the town from Ashley Biven, the director of the Cordova Museum. We learned about the 1964 earthquake, which lifted the entire coastline here about 12 feet. They filled in a bit more and created a new part of town and a huge harbor. The harbor can fit over 700 boats now! We checked out the museum, some old churches and bars, but I was really cracking to get some hiking in. And Cordova, being surrounded by the Alaskan wilderness, has great hiking in droves.

We chose to climb up the trail to a peak called Tripod Hill. It is about 1,200ft in elevation, over a pretty short distance. Our legs were burning a bit on the way up, but that helped keep our temperature steady. The views from the top were incredible. The sky was overcast, but the clouds stayed nice and high, so we could see mountain tops all around us.

Check out the photos below for some of the best, and most interesting views from my day in Cordova, Alaska.

Heading into the harbor of the small Alaskan fishing town of Cordova.

First Street, Cordova. Little shops and coffee spots, a brewery, grocery store, and a bank all line First Street. Its a pretty easy town to explore in a few hours, but you could explore the surroundings for days.

A few guests of mine stopped in and tried some of the local micro-brews. They all gave thumbs up.

This building is a one-stop-shop for all your needs.

We got a historical town tour from Ashley, the director of the Cordova Museum.

One of the oldest buildings on First Street is the Alaskan Hotel. The Bar is down below. And the sign, which fell off during the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, was put back upside down and remained that way ever since.

I liked some of the old signs, like this one, still up and about as you walk around Cordova.

This is a memorial, overlooking the harbor, dedicated to all the fishermen who have been lost out at sea.

For the best tacos in town, check out the Baja Taco. This was a food truck, revamped into a sit down restaurant. Maybe not the best tacos in the world, but certainly best tacos here.

For an incredible hike, with even better views, take the trail just out of town to tripod hill. I found the geo marker at the top of tripod hill.

There is a rocky trail that leads up tripod hill, or you can walk up the ski trail.

The church of St George is one of the oldest buildings remaining in Cordova.

We were lucky with the weather this morning. The drizzly cleared up, and the clouds lifted. I felt like we could see for miles!

It was a real leg burner heading up the eyak ski hill to the top of the lookout.

The old school house. No one in town knows what will happen with this building. I heard the man who owned it just passed away last year, and this building is locked up in his estate filings now.

The Safari Explorer sits down below at sea level, while we hike way up Tripod Hill, in Cordova, Alaska.

This is the offshoot trail that takes you down to the back of town.

We found some really cool trails on our way up the mountain.

The ultimate panorama from the top of our hike. Looks at those views!

Alaska is so beautiful. Just beckoning the adventurous traveler. So get out there. Take photos, and keep posting!

-Dai Mar