Chester Creek (Alaska)

Chester Creek
Overview of Anchorage, Chester Creek is on the right hand side
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Municipality	Anchorage
Source
- location	Chugach Mountains
Mouth	Knik Arm, Cook Inlet
- coordinates	61°12′30″N 149°55′29″W / 61.20833°N 149.92475°W / 61.20833; -149.92475Coordinates: 61°12′30″N 149°55′29″W / 61.20833°N 149.92475°W / 61.20833; -149.92475
Length	21 mi (34 km)
Basin	30.5 sq mi (79 km2)
Discharge	for Arctic Blvd
- average	21 cu ft/s (0.6 m3/s)
Location of the mouth of the Chester Creek in Alaska Show map of Anchorage Location of the mouth of the Chester Creek in Alaska Show map of Alaska

Chester Creek is one of several streams that flow through the city of Anchorage, Alaska. It runs for 21 miles (34 km) from the Chugach Mountains to the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet.

The creek connects a number of parks, open spaces and lakes to form a green corridor running from east to west through the city. A paved trail follows the creek for part of its course through the areas from Goose Lake to Westchester Lagoon.

The watershed of the Chester Creek includes a number of tributaries, the upper reaches are known as the South Fork which is located within Fort Richardson of the Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson base. The Middle Fork emerges from Russian Jack Springs in the park of the same name, the North Fork drains a smaller area to the west of the Middle Fork, and the Lower Chester Creek is the area downstream of the confluence of the North and South Forks to the outlet of Westchester Lagoon into the Knik Arm.

Before English speaking settlers came into the area, the Dena'ina were the inhabitants. They were known to use Chanshtnu, or Grass Creek, as a salmon fishing camp. The word Chanstnu was later transcribed to Chester, giving us the name we now use.

The areas surrounding the creek were developed as Anchorage expanded east in the first half of the 20th century, although some portions were also designated as green spaces. In 1971, as part of the reconstruction following the 1964 Alaska earthquake, existing parks were connected with other land, older plots and some new purchases, to create one of the oldest urban greenbelts in the country, connecting Russian Jack Springs to Cook Inlet. This included the area around the outlet of the creek which had subsided during the earthquake, which meant that it now became partly submerged at high tide. The decision was made to create a lake protected from the sea by a new embankment, to form the Westchester lagoon, with the remaining area being rehabilitated as parkland.