A Walk to Anchorage’s Kincaid Beach: The nicest (and only) sand beach in town

Once upon a time, the sand beach in southwest Anchorage — typically known as Kincaid Beach — was a bit of a secret. To get there, you had to take a few carefully calculated shortcuts through the park’s labyrinth of unpaved trails.

But now, the beach is so well-known that there’s an official trail down to it, with a sign and everything. That’s pretty fancy treatment here in Alaska. And in a place where most beaches are made of rock and mud, this type of easy-access sand is a pretty special thing, too.

Wildlife encounters are very common in Kincaid Park, so please be on your best bear- and moose-aware behavior.

This is part of hike 28 in 50 Hikes Around Anchorage.

Hiking to Kincaid Beach (with Photos)

To find that spiffy new trail to Kincaid beach, start at the Kincaid Chalet which also serves as the endpoint for the paved, multi-used Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. Follow said trail downhill from the chalet for just under a mile. Right when the trail makes a sharp turn to the right past a bench, you’ll see a small, marked trail leading off to the left. Follow that trail to the beach.

You can walk along the beach itself, of course, but stay off the mudflats that are exposed at low tide — they might feel firm underfoot when the water table is low, but they turn to quicksand as the fast-moving tide comes back in.

Speaking of the tides, don’t let them catch you unawares. Alaska has fast-moving and extreme tidal differentials, and if you don’t keep the water in mind, an unusually high tide could trap you against the bluffs.

The sandiness of beaches like this tends to vary by the season. It’ll look, and feel, a lot sandier once summer rolls around. If you’re the sort who enjoys watching planes come in at Point Woronzof, the beach offers another nice perspective on some of the arrivals.