2024 Work is Underway!

Beginning in June 2024, the Chugach Park Fund tackled another perennially muddy section of the park trail. This time the focus is on sections of the Hidden Lake Trail, uphill from the German Bridge (named after donations from the German Club of Anchorage) that have standing water, mud, and a growing number of trail braids. Alaska Trails had a crew installing new boardwalk, fixing drainage issues and building up gravel sections of trail. It will lead to a much easier hike to Hidden Lake, to Ship Pass and beyond.

We are grateful to the Carr Foundation, Bass Pro Shops-Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, and Best Storage South (Art and Anna Davidson) and the Atwood Foundation who have contributed towards this project.

The Alaska Trails crew will also be on the move around the park working on some smaller projects that Chugach Park Fund is sponsoring. These include McHugh Creek, the South Fork of Eagle River, and the Golden Grass Trail. The Fund is also sponsoring seven volunteer events this summer; sign-ups are through Alaska Trails (https://www.alaska-trails.org/current-volunteer-opportunities)

Thanks to a $12,000 grant from ConocoPhillips Alaska, we are investing in the engineering and design work to prepare for larger projects in 2025 and beyond. We expect work on the Williwaw Lakes Trail to be our first priority in 2025, and improvements to the Lost Cabin/Wolverine Bowl trails (between the Basher and Prospect Heights trailheads in 2026. With 280 miles of trail in Chugach State Park and very little State of Alaska funding for maintenance or improvements, we have many possible projects!

 

 

A Productive 2023 and More to Come in 2024

The big project for 2023 – rebuilding the second half of the South Fork of Eagle River Trail – was completed in a single summer despite Mother Nature throwing a lot of wind, rain, and snow at the trail crew. The three-mile section of trail now either bypasses previously muddy areas by heading to nearby high ground or crosses the muck on hefty wood planks. Kudos to the Alaska Trails crew for pushing this through to completion!

And, of course, thanks to our project funders: Rasmuson Foundation, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Subaru of America Inc., Athletic Brewing Company, Chugiak-Eagle River Foundation, and many other generous individual and corporate donors. The resulting work will be appreciated by Alaskans and our visitors for years to come.

We also funded brushing work along the Gasline between the Prospect Heights trailhead and the Upper O’Malley trailhead, wrapped up the last bit of the Rabbit Lake Trail brushing, and sponsored six volunteer work events.

Earlier Accomplishments

2022: The Chugach Park Fund focused on one major drainage project on the Rabbit Lake Trail and brushing projects — cutting back the multi-year growth of alders and other vegetation that made many trails dangerously narrow and challenging to navigate. Bruising work took place on the Anchorage Hillside trails, Penguin Creek and Eklutna Lakeside Trail.

2021: The Chugach Park Fund spearheaded a complete re-route of the Little O’Malley Peak Trail, a  project that provides a sustainable, family-friendly trail to the alpine ridge, the Ballfield, and beyond. The work spanned two years, beginning in 2020 – the park’s 50th Anniversary.