This Town In Alaska Was The Most Unique Place I Have Ever Been To

Whittier Alaska Interesting Facts

I have been lucky enough to go to many cool and interesting places but there is one place that will always stand out to me. It doesn’t stick out because of it’s beauty, which it has some, or because of the nightlife, which it has none.  Maybe it is the unique entry into town, via driving through a one way train tunnel. Or, maybe, it is that the weather can be widely different after that 5 minute tunnel drive, which we experienced. That probably plays a role, but I think the fact that the entire town lives under one roof, and everything they need in it, may be the deciding factor. We went to Whittier, Alaska to check out a glacier hike. That hike ended up being a walk through the clouds (more on that later), but driving around the town for a few minutes is what I will remember most.  There are a lot of Whittier Alaska interesting facts that I want to share with you as well as what makes it so unique.

Why Go To Whittier Alaska?

Our main reason for heading over to Whittier, Alaska was to hike the Portage Pass Trail to see the Portage Glacier.  We really enjoyed the Exit Glacier hike, and views, so we figured we would do this on the way from Seward to Girdwood. I will say the Portage Pass Trail is a more exhaustive hike compared to the Exit Glacier trail.  The slope at Exit Glacier was gradual over time and didn’t take much effort. The Portage Pass Trail has a steeper inlcine pretty much straight uphill on a stone path.  It took quite a bit more effort going up and more care coming down as well. The fact that there was still snow, and melting snow, throughout the trail didn’t help things either. The dampness made the loose rocks and passing a bit slippery in spots.

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We learned the lesson of how much the weather can be different in Whittier compared to the other side of the tunnel. We left sunshine and blue skies when entering the tunnel (picture at the top was taken shortly before entering the tunnel) and came out to clouds and a misting rain on the other side. Fun fact, Whittier, Alaska is the wettest city in the United States. Pack a rain coat just in case!

Portage Pass Trail Peak

By the time we got to the top of the Portage Pass Trail it was like we were standing in a cloud. We couldn’t see anything, and had no idea which way the glacier was supposed to be. We could barely see 20 feet in front of ourselves.  It was still kind of cool to be that high up what felt like amongst the clouds.  It also gave me my favorite picture of the trip. My son was standing by a pool of water as I went to see if there were any trails on the other side of the peak. It looks like a scary movie poster!

Whittier Alaska Interesting Facts & Details

Now that you know why we headed there we should get into the interesting facts. I knew a little bit about the town before heading there but I was so intrigued while there that I did even more research about it after the fact. I needed to understand what I was seeing!

Getting Into & Out Of Whittier Alaska

Going to Whittier greets you with an entrance that you will not see many other places.  You need to drive through a tunnel cut through a mountain.  That isn’t terribly unique in and of itself but the fact that it is a one way tunnel makes it more unique.  Add on the fact that it is actually a train tunnel that you drive through and you have uniqueness in spades.  The tunnel opens for 15 minutes at a time. It goes 15 minutes into town, 15 minutes of down time to clear traffic and then 15 minutes the other way.  If you time the passage poorly then you could have quite the wait.  There is a schedule posted online.

This schedule is adhered to at all times.  Even if an ambulance is trying to get through, it needs to be scheduled. You better time your emergencies properly!

A Completely Different Weather Pattern

I have already mentioned this above but the weather on one side of the tunnel can be wildly different from the other side.  Whittier, Alaska is the wettest city in the United States but it also is home to the largest recorded U.S. earthquake, measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale. There was also an after-quake tsunami that hit Whittier and reached 43 ft. in height.

The Entire Town Lives Under One Roof

The first thing you will notice in Whittier is the high rise building (Begich Tower) on the back edge of town. By town, I mean like 4 roads running parallel to each other. This is pretty much where the entire 250+ population in Whittier live. The post office, grocery store, doctor, mayor’s office and police department are all inside this building as well. The school is across the street, on the back side of the building, and there is a tunnel underground connecting the two. A short walk to pretty much everything you need. The Alaska Railroad owns 97% of the town, which plays a large role in why there are practically no single family homes really.

There Are Hotels & Restaurants In Town, Surprisingly

After seeing that everything the town needed was located in one building I was surprised to see some lodging options. There were even more than a few restaurants. While I didn’t walk inside the Inn At Whittier it looked pretty nice and had a lodge type feel. I guess there are quite a few fishing charters and boat tours etc. out of the area.  The Anchor Inn Hotel looked quite a bit less inviting and pretty spartan though.

There are 6 restaurants in this small town:

• Swiftwater Seafoods Restaurant
• Inn at Whittier
• Wild Catch Cafe
• China Sea Restaurant
• Anchor Inn
• Valley S Ice Cream & Pizza Parlor

Abandoned Military Building

The last interesting thing I wanted to discuss was the abandoned military building in town. With Whittier being a deep sea port, and being independent of a local power plant, the US Government thought it would be a great place for an outpost during the early stages of World War II. They built a state of the art facility in the 1950s named the Buckner Building. It, along with the Begich Tower, monopolize the town’s skyline.

The building was large enough to house 1,000 military personal and had entertainment options like a movie theater and bowling alley when finished. The project was completed in 1953 and abandoned a little more than a decade later in 1966. That is when the military pulled out of Whittier. Government spending at its finest!

The Begich Tower, originally called the Hodge Building, was also for the military. It was built to house US Army Corps of Engineers. In the early 1970’s the tower was repurposed and turned into condominiums where a vast majority of the town now resides.

Whittier Alaska Interesting Facts – Final Thoughts

One of the Whittier residents recently went viral on TikTok with multiple videos about the building, apartments, the town and daily life. Check them out if you are interested in more detail.

There are a ton of Whittier Alaska interesting facts for such a small town. I found it completely unique and probably the most interesting place I have been. Even though it didn’t have the normal things I look for when visiting an area, or town, I was glad we made the trip. I can’t think of another place that has intrigued me so much after I left that I continued to research it after leaving. I think it is well worth a quick stop on the way out of, or back to, Anchorage. The tunnel drive alone is worth the trip! Hopefully if you decide to walk the Portage Trail you get some better views than we did.

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