Tucked in a pocket of mountains hard against Prince William Sound, Whittier is famously compact. Connected to the rest of Alaska by road, rail and the Alaska Marine Highway, Whittier attracts a large numbers of visitors during the summer looking for the unspoiled wilderness of water, ice and granite that lies beyond its shores. Fantastic hiking opportunities exist and due to the influx of travelers, a fair number of interesting shops are scattered about. Kayaking and scuba diving are superb, and the docks are packed with cruise ships and water-taxis waiting to take visitors into the wildlife-rich waters of the Sound.
Thanks to its location deep in Prince William Sound, tour-boat cruises running out of Whittier are among the best in Alaska. A variety of boats, large and small, depart from the small-boat harbor into the rugged and steep fjords that line the sound, many of them featuring glaciers deep inside most sail so close to a kittiwake rookery you can see the eggs in the nests of the black-legged birds.
Whittier’s history is as alluring as its tourism possibilities. Shortly after the Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands during World War II, the U.S. Army began looking for a spot to build a secret military installation. The proposed base needed to be an ice-free port and as inaccessible as possible. Whittier fit the bill perfectly, thanks to 3500-foot peaks that surround it and keep it hidden in cloud cover for much of the year. The Army built the base that included blasting a supply tunnel out of solid granite, one of Alaska's great engineering marvels, and constructing what at the time was the largest building in Alaska to house more than 1000 people.
The Army maintained Whittier until 1960, leaving behind, among other things, the 14-story-tall Begich Towers, where today most of Whittier’s 190 residents live. While it is still compact, Whittier is not nearly as inaccessible as it used to be. In 2000, the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel was overhauled to accommodate auto traffic as well as the Alaska Railroad. You can now drive the 11 miles from the Seward Highway, the most traveled highway in Alaska, to what was once an impenetrable fortress.
In early June, the town hosts the Walk In Whittier , a geo-caching event and treasure hunt in the harbor. The July Fourth celebration includes fire works, a parade, kids games and entertainment and a free barbeque for all. The Whittier Halibut Derby runs May through September and the Silver Salmon Derby is July through September.