Portage is hardly a place any more, and that is part of what makes it interesting. It lies at the head of Turnagain Arm, about forty miles south of Anchorage, where the Seward Highway runs along the flat, silty edge of the inlet with the Chugach Mountains rising steeply behind. The town was a railroad stop and farming settlement until the Good Friday earthquake of 1964, which struck with a magnitude of 9.2, dropped the land by several metres and let salt water flood the area. The grey drowned forest, bleached trunks of spruce standing in tidal flats, is still visible from the road, and the ghost town has long since been abandoned.
The Arm has some of the biggest tides in North America, with a range of up to nine metres, and at certain times a bore tide, a wave a metre or so high, rushes up the inlet. The mud flats are dangerous, like quicksand, and people should stay off them. Beluga whales sometimes chase salmon into the arm in summer, and Dall sheep graze on the cliffs above the road. A short way along is Portage Valley, with the Begich, Boggs Visitor Center and a boat trip across a lake to see the glacier, which has retreated greatly in recent decades.
The riding is a good one. The Seward Highway is a designated scenic byway, with smooth tarmac and gentle sweeps between water and rock, and it runs south toward the Kenai Peninsula through spruce forest, past lakes and mountain passes. Speed limits are enforced, and traffic is heavy on summer weekends, with RVs and fishing parties heading to Seward. Weather in Alaska changes fast, with rain and cold wind arriving even in July, and a waterproof layer matters. Moose are a real danger, particularly at dawn and dusk, and a collision with one is serious.
There is nothing for fuel at Portage itself. The nearest services are at Girdwood, about fifteen kilometres to the north, with a few shops and restaurants and the Alyeska resort, and Anchorage has everything. Further south, Moose Pass and Seward have stations, but gaps are long, so fill when you can. Mobile signal fades in the valleys.
The best season runs from late May to early September, with long days and good light. It feels like a landscape still being made, with a clear sense of how recently the ground moved.