Private Scenic Turnagain Arm Glacier Tour from Anchorage
Description
Experience Alaska your way on this fully private and customizable tour. Enjoy the freedom to set your own pace, request photo stops, and personalize the day to match your interests. As your local guide and photographer, I’ll capture the highlights—scenic views, wildlife encounters, and candid group moments—then send you a curated gallery of edited photos. When people picture Alaska, they imagine wild animals, towering mountains, and endless glaciers. Turnagain Arm offers all of that—just a short, scenic drive from Anchorage. This breathtaking inlet is famous for its massive tides, rugged mountain backdrops, and the rare bore tide, where a single wave sweeps across the entire inlet. We’ll journey the Seward Highway, one of North America’s most scenic drives. The road hugs the coastline, offering endless views and chances to spot moose, bald eagles, Dall sheep, and potenitally beluga whales. With private transportation and a flexible itinerary, this is about making the most it.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Beluga Point is one of the first scenic stops along the Turnagain Arm, just 20 minutes south of Anchorage. Perched above the dramatic tidal flats, it offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and the chance to spot Dall sheep on the cliffs and, during certain times of year, beluga whales following schools of hooligan fish through the inlet. It's a perfect introduction to the wild beauty of Southcentral Alaska and a favorite photo stop for guests.
Girdwood is a charming mountain town nestled in a lush valley surrounded by the Chugach Mountains, about 40 minutes south of Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm. Known for its vibrant arts scene, alpine scenery, and as home to Alyeska Resort, it’s a perfect place to stretch your legs, grab a coffee, or enjoy a meal. With towering spruce trees, cascading creeks, and cozy local businesses, Girdwood offers a peaceful, small-town atmosphere with big Alaskan character.
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) is a non-profit sanctuary located in Portage Valley, approximately 47 miles south of Anchorage along the scenic Seward Highway. Nestled between the Chugach Mountains and the Turnagain Arm, the center spans over 200 acres of natural habitat dedicated to the care and conservation of Alaska’s native wildlife. Visitors can observe a diverse array of animals, including brown and black bears, moose, wood bison, muskoxen, wolves, lynx, caribou, and bald eagles. Many of these animals are rescues—injured or orphaned—and now serve as ambassadors for their species . The center offers a 1.5-mile loop accessible by foot, bike, or car, providing opportunities to see animals in spacious, naturalistic enclosures. As a key stop on the Turnagain Arm tour, AWCC combines wildlife viewing with breathtaking scenery, making it a memorable highlight of any Alaskan adventure.
Portage Valley, located within the Chugach National Forest, is a glacially-carved corridor rich in natural beauty and one of Southcentral Alaska’s most accessible places for glacier viewing. Just a short drive from the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, this stunning valley is surrounded by towering peaks and multiple hanging glaciers, including Explorer, Middle, and Byron Glaciers. The Begich, Boggs Visitor Center offers interactive exhibits on glaciology and local ecosystems, while nearby trails like the Byron Glacier Trail provide an easy hike to views of glacial ice up close. It’s a must-see stop for those wanting to immerse themselves in Alaska’s wild, icy landscapes.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Please share the name of your hotel pick up point.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(22)
We hired Blueberry Tours to pick us up at the port in Whittier the morning after our cruise, show us around the area, and take us to the Anchorage airport in time for our 8:30pm flight. Since it was a private tour, we were able to customize the itinerary in anyway we wished, stopping whenever and wherever we wanted to. The driver, Shane, is an Alaskan native, born and raised in Anchorage, so he was extremely knowledgeable about EVERYTHING. He showed us many interesting sights, made several stops, and recommended a great place for us to have lunch (while he ate his lunch in the car). We even saw a moose and her calf up-close in the wild! He drives a very clean, comfortable mini van stocked with water and snacks—which was much better than riding in a tour bus with other passengers, IMO! Highly recommend!
Wow! What can I say? Blueberry Tours was exactly what we needed for exploring the breathtaking area around Anchorage. Shane was amazing, sharing so much of the natural beauty that surrounds the Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage. From the moment he picked us up in a stylish minivan, everything felt easy and thoughtfully planned. He provided water, snacks, and field glasses for us to use along the way. We visited so many beautiful places and took in wildlife, waterfalls, glaciers, animals, and incredible flora. Around every bend there seemed to be another jaw-dropping view: mountains rising around us, water sparkling beside the road, and Alaska showing off in the most unforgettable ways. I was traveling with my aging parents, and Shane was so gentle, patient, and accommodating with them. He was willing to adapt the tour as needed, while still having a wonderful lineup of stops ready for us. We especially loved hearing his perspective as an Alaskan local. If you are looking for the perfect way to spend a day in the Anchorage area, be sure to book with Blueberry Tours. You won’t regret it!
This was honestly the best thing we could’ve done to experience Alaska from a native. We got to see beautiful views, have a beer and some curry, and walk a trail straight out of a winter wonderland. I absolutely recommend this tour to anyone wanting a genuinely amazing tour.
Perfect Day! I’m so glad I found Shane and Blueberry Tours, every part of our day was amazing. There were 11 of us, grandparents, daughters and son-in-laws, 5 grandkids, ages 10-66. We started out as the 6 hours tour, but we added more stops and sites as we went, ended up 9 hours. That might seem long, but it wasn’t, we could have kept going, so much to see! Shane is so helpful, experienced, friendly, highly, highly recommend doing this. From the start, it was so easy booking, communication throughout was perfect. He customized everything for us. The van was comfortable, clean, he even had snacks and water. Throughout the day and all the stops he explained the area and history which made it so special. Very organized, he had a spotting scope so we could see Dahl sheep, he had extra binoculars, then on top of that, he took family photos throughout. Our day couldn’t have been better, the weather was perfect a clear sunny day! From Potters Marsh, Beluga Point, Alaskan Wildlife Center, Portage Glacier Cruise, Virgin River Falls, Flat Top Mountain, amazing, amazing, AMAZING!!! I wouldn’t have changed anything, our day, the experience, the sites, perfect! The price, so affordable, Blueberry Tours offers a flat rate, we chose to add on the extra hours too. Very organized, very experienced, very helpful. Thank you Shane for this absolutely perfect tour!
My husband and I had a great time on the 6 hour private tour being driven around in a minivan by Shane to tour the Turnagain Arm area. We stopped at Potter Marsh, Beluga Point, Girdwood, Alyeska Resort, and the Wildlife Conservation Center, along with several other stops. It was the perfect combination of riding and getting out and walking to see and photograph the wildlife and scenery. Shane also takes great photos with his own personal camera and sent them to us immediately after we completed our tour. He also had water and snacks for us. He is very accommodating to make sure we went to the places of most interest to us. He has great knowledge of the area. It was a very pleasant, laid back and informative tour of the area.
Shane took our family of four and our niece who lives in Anchorage, along the Palmer Hwy to Matanuska Glacier. The opportunity to hike around this phenomenon was just dreamy. Shane was so sweet because the 1st few miles, we were catching up with our niece …we were quite loud, so he is quite the gentleman. We loved hearing about his life. Shane is an exceptional driver…too careful for us mad max Houstonians ! He stopped for several times for photos with mountain vistas. You can’t go wrong with this personalized tour operator. He is very accommodating. We are booked for another trip tomorrow!
This could not have been a better tour for us. The guide was great and we saw a tremendous amount. A must do
My family and I had a great time on this tour. Shane is an absolutely wonderful tour guide and we would highly recommend him. This tour included seeing Girdwood, the Conservation Center and a short hike to a frozen waterfall. Our favorite part was the hike as it was a little adventurous. Shane took many photos of us on the tour which helped capture the memories.
This tour was amazing, and honestly the best way to explore. Shane is such a great guide, he is personable and knowledgeable and fun to be around, He was able to give great suggestions for ways to tailor our itinerary to our interests and ways to accommodate my mother’s mobility issues, which allowed for such an enjoyable experience! We felt so taken care of, and really enjoyed how the private tour allowed us to spend the time our way- and that the views and ability to stop at any time gave us ability to get so many great 0ics! Shane would also take pics of us and the scenery and his photos are amazing which really helped us be able to stay in the moment and enjoy! We had such an enjoyable time that we booked an additional day and did the Hatcher pass tour which was also amazing with stunning views and if you have time I would also strongly recommend!
This was one of the most enjoyable tours I have taken! Shane was a wonderful guide who was so knowledgeable about the area. Shane was able to customize the excursion to suit my mother who uses a walker and we felt so spoiled and taken care of the ENTIRE TIME! This was so much better than previous experiences on big group tours because we could take our time and adjust stops, and felt luxurious and more personal. We enjoyed it so much we even booked a different tour to Hatcher pass for an additional day and that also exceeded our expectations. His photography skills really allowed us to be in the moment and have the ideal photos to take home as well!
