Chugach State Park

Chugach State Park covers 495,204 acres (2,004 square kilometers) immediately east of the Anchorage Bowl in south-central Alaska. Though primarily in the Municipality of Anchorage, a small portion of the park north of the Eklutna Lake area in the vicinity of Pioneer Peak lies within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Established by legislation signed into law on August 6, 1970, by Alaska Governor Keith Miller, this state park was created to provide recreational opportunities, protect the scenic value of the Chugach Mountains and other geographic features, and ensure the safety of the water supply for Anchorage. The park, managed by Alaska State Parks, is the third-largest state park in the United States, and consists of geographically disparate areas each with different attractions and facilities. Only Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California and Wood-Tikchik State Park in western Alaska are larger. Hunting and fishing are permitted in the Chugach under regulations established by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for game management unit 14c.Target practice is not allowed within the park boundaries. In January of 2017, Chugach State Park was named the best state park in Alaska.

The Lakeside Trail travels 12.7 miles (20.4 kilometers) along the shores of Eklutna Lake until it reaches the mile-long Eklutna Glacier Trail that leads in short order to the moraines at the foot of the colossal blue ice of Eklutna Glacier. In the summer, travelers go on foot, by mountain bike, ATV or on horseback, past the lake by way of largely flat trail to the glacier. A traverse with three huts maintained by the Mountaineering Club of Alaska begins at the end of the trail and heads over the tops of the Eklutna, Whiteout, Eagle and Raven glaciers, and ends 31 miles (50 kilometers) away at Crow Pass near Girdwood on the opposite side of the park. In wintertime, trail users are able to travel the same route by snowmobile (snowmachine), snowshoes or cross-country skis as permitted by regulation and weather conditions. As most of the trail is an old roadbed, the trail is a popular winter destination for skijoring and dogsledding. There are two remote campgrounds in the area in addition to a frontcountry campground open during the summer. Two public use cabins are available for rent on the Lakeside Trail. Non-motorized boats, and boats with an electric motor, are allowed on Eklutna Lake. The tallest point in the park, Bashful Peak, towers over the lake at a height of 8,005 feet (2,440 meters).Bush planes are able to land on the far (southern) side of Eklutna Lake at the unpaved Bold Airstrip. North of Eklutna, the southern summit of Pioneer Peak can be reached from Knik River Road via the Pioneer Ridge Trail beginning outside the park boundaries in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

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