My wife and I liked to hike the trail years ago. We camped at the lake three times and have just done the trail to the bridge several times.The bridge is a little more than half way to the lake. Nice spot fore lunch. It is a beautiful place.
Pristine nature, Bald Eagles, saw 5 bears, caught limits of Sockeye. Fly over a volcano and a glacier to get there. Awesome.
Beautiful setting, awesome cabin on the lake, crystal clear water, great fishing, amazing nature...rude, intrusive, condescending hikers/residents of Alaskans who were all too eager to repeatedly remind me about their firearms.The trails are easy to navigate and very easy to travel--so much so that bikes are able to traverse with no hindrance.Dead wood is plentiful for cutting/splitting.Mountain goats are observed in the high peaks, as are bald eagles(charmingly referred to as "scavenging buzzards" by the same residents).I wasn't disappointed with the land in any capacity, but I was very disappointed with the careless attitudes and absence/lack of environmental stewardship exhibited by the the people who live in such an incredible and unique location. A reminder: if you don't have a permit for the cabin, but you see people at the cabin, well the people you see at the cabin typically have the permit and don't want visitors; therefore, be considerate and stay out of areas you do not belong--there are plentiful tent camp areas all around the lake.
Nice trail, not as strenuous as Sky Line. Could take the dogs along. Great views, good fishing. Fun day!
I've visited Crescent lake a number of times in the past, it's accessible by a trail that goes by Crescent lake from the north, or by another trail from the south. There is a public use cabin about halfway along the length of the lake, and another one where the south side trail meets the lake, I would imagine it is necessary to reserve them as far in advance as possible. The Chugach National Forest has an online system for doing so, I think all of the National Forest facilities that require reservations use this system. The Chugach N.F. used to have little one-page information sheets giving information on all their trails as far as length, level of difficulty, etc., and I would imagine this information is available online also.