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Eagle and Symphony Lakes: Photo ops abound around these two beautiful lakes

At almost 12 miles round-trip, Eagle and Symphony Lakes is one of the longer trails in the Chugach front range. But its elevation gain is minimal, so this trail’s moderate difficulty comes mostly from its length — and on sunny weekends you’ll find people of all ages happily making the trek out to these two distinctive lakes.

This trail is very popular, and for good reason. If you prefer solitude, you can usually avoid the crowds by ducking onto a side trail into Hanging Valley. Both trails start from the uber-popular South Fork Eagle River trailhead; good luck finding a parking spot on sunny weekends.

Eagle and Symphony Lakes is hike 36 in my guidebook Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska, and hike 35 in my other hiking guidebook, 50 Hikes Around Anchorage.

Round Trip: 11.4 milesNearest community: Eagle River
Elevation gain: 1,515 feetTypical season: May to October
Parking fee: $5 or Alaska State Parks passNearby trails: Hanging Valley, Rendezvous Ridge, Harp Mountain, Rendezvous Ski Loop

Eagle and Symphony Lakes Trailhead Directions

From Anchorage, take the Glenn Highway northeast toward Eagle River. Take the marked exit for Eagle River Loop Road/Hiland Road, turn right coming out of the exit, then turn right onto Hiland Road. Stay on Hiland Road as it changes names repeatedly.

After about 7.5 miles turn right onto South Creek Road, followed by a right onto West River Drive; the trailhead will be on your right. Keep an eye out for the brown Chugach State Park signage that will help guide you in the right direction.

Hiking Eagle and Symphony Lakes

eagle lake

The crowning jewel of the South Fork Eagle River trailhead, this trail takes you on a 5.5-mile ramble to glacier-fed Eagle Lake with its characteristically blue-green, silty water, then another half mile or so to groundwater-fed Symphony Lake, which is a stunning dark blue.

The trail itself is very straightforward, starting on a short section of boardwalk and a gradual uphill before descending back into the valley. Almost 3 miles from the trailhead, you’ll reach this bridge across incredibly photogenic Eagle River:

South Fork Eagle River

…followed by another 2 miles across the valley floor, then a half-mile or so of boulder hopping to reach Eagle Lake. Cairns like what you see below sort of show the way, but the “trail” through the boulder field is so fragmented that they’re honestly not much use.

eagle lake with cairn

You’d do better to home in on the shrieks of indignant seagulls. At least one pair has chosen, for some indecipherable reason, to nest repeatedly in the boulder field. They entertain themselves by dive-bombing (and sometimes pooping on) hikers who manage to find the easiest way through the boulders.

See below for an example of the boulders. They’re relatively mild if you take your time, and most dogs can handle them — but a few folks (dogs and people alike) may be intimidated and decide it’s not worth the bother. Symphony Lake is just on the other side of the obvious spine on the right of Eagle Lake in this photo:

eagle lake and boulders

Two Things You Should Know

One: I sometimes cringe a little when I see how popular this trail is during the winter and early spring, because I’m not sure how many people understand that the walls of this valley do sometimes produce avalanches that cross the usual summer trail.

Two: This trailhead gets ridiculously crowded on sunny weekends, so the temptation to park along the road (outside the actual trailhead) is very understandable. Local residents would really prefer you don’t, though, because this can impede neighborhood access for emergency vehicles. Don’t be the person that keeps a fire truck or ambulance from getting where it needs to go.

If that’s not incentive enough to mind the “no parking” signs here, know that people do sometimes receive tickets for parking in those no-parking places.

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