Amazing, small ski slopes just outside of Palmer, Alaska in the Hatcher Pass. Most definitely…read morerecommend. Staff were so friendly, lift lines less than a couple of minutes wait time, mountain runs were expertly groomed, and the price was amazing....day pass and equipment rental was around $80. Finally, the ability to access backcountry was unexpectedly easy. Looking forward to returning.

There are still a lot of people that don't realize we finally have a chair lift in Hatcher Pass for…read moreskiing and snowboarding!! In its second season, it's getting busier and busier all the time. My dad bought a season pass and is definitely working towards getting his money's worth and I'm not far behind. If you're familiar with the different resorts around the area, I'd say that as it sits right now, Skeetawk is a mix between Hilltop and Arctic Valley... or Alpenglow if you're not as old school as I am. Anywho... At only 300 vertical feet and I believe 30 chairs on the lift, its a fun ride! It also beats hitchhiking back up the mountain road. As of right now, the offer porta-potties, which is a bit uncomfortable to say the least. A two story yurt houses the newly opened ski rental, which unfortunately, at this time does not offer snowboards. They're working on getting more gear, instructors and tuning... all of which, especially the latter two are quite important and sparse. As for the people... for the most part, pretty cool folks working up there... cashiers, lift attendants and patrol! I'm not going to throw anyone down the hill and bash them, but some could be a bit friendlier... well, one in particular in leadership. It seemed that if you weren't in her age group, not in her circle or something... I can't quite put my finger on why, but it came across that she just didn't care about you, your ability or what you had to offer, even to the conversation at hand. In making suggestions to reach out for a couple different things, I felt a bit of a cold shoulder, which is indeed a turn off when you're local and wanting to get to know people with similar interests and promote a new hill.... even if the only similarity is winter downhill recreation. It is what it is... and I don't see myself joining in on the conversation again. They have a long way to go... and need a lot of money to get there, but for now, it's worth it to go. It's a quick trip from my house, doesn't break the bank and is even nostalgic for those of us that rode backcountry up there and stayed at the Motherload back in the day.

Great trail for a leisurely hike or ride. The trail is not super long but it takes you back to…read moreupper Jim Creek and has numerous overlooks along the way. You can also hike above tree line and get a good view of the knik glacier. When you get to the metal bridge over Jim Creek you can easily hike downstream for a glimpse of some salmon in late summer/fall.

Love this vast area past Wasilla. The drive-in has some of the most beautiful scenery…read more Hatcher's Pass I believe, will be a left hand turn after you've passed the lodge. The road is pretty narrow and as you elevate, it gets tricky with oncoming traffic, especially if you're in a larger vehicle. We recently visited on a sunny day with lots of traffic. We saw multiple paragliders' take off and land. Many hikers and bikers. The weather was perfect. The lake was unsurprisingly still pretty frozen.

Most beautiful experience, good was comforting. Scenery, exemplary! Sitting by a warm fire,…read more eating a very tasty sandwich and hot cocoa what a beautiful memory.

I live nearby and wanted to rent a kayak last minute towards the end of the day. I called and they…read morewere very accommodating and said I could pick up before 6 and keep all night and bring back the next evening or just leave when I finished that night. They had everything I needed, including several kayak choices to pick from. I paid $40 to use from about 5pm-8:30. Rates on door say $10 an hour or $50 per day. I stayed out on the lake about 4 hours and it was a great solo trip! They were doing a class about the time I was going out and the ladies looked like they were enjoying their time. For being so close to town, the lake and location are still tucked away and make you feel like your getting out in Alaska's beautiful scenery. The store is off the Palmer-Wasilla Hwy in a red and yellow building. There's a small port-o-potty behind the building for facilities, otherwise, use Fred Meyer or go before you come. If you have your own kayak, you can put in at his dock for $5 (says a sign). Great experience and plan to come back until I get my own.

Took the 2 hour basic kayaking class with my adult son (22) and two younger kids (12 & 13). Randy…read morewas a great instructor and explained everything clearly and answered any questions we had. Once in the boats he explained each stroke and then demonstrated before letting us try each paddling stroke. Everybody had a good time and we all learned something. The only minor improvement I can think of is to have each student get into and out of a kayak on dry land to make sure everything is adjusted and fitted to them before getting in at the dock. If we had done this I think my kayak might have been better fitted to me. I am a bigger guy at 265-270, 5'10", and not in the greatest shape (unless round is a shape). The kayak I used is what I would call a hybrid kayak with a very large square shaped cockpit. Anyway, the seat was all the way back (I didn't know this when I got into the kayak), and I couldn't reach the foot braces at all - even adjusting them all the way to the shortest position. By the time I realized this, everybody was in their boats and we were moving on with the course. I was able to learn and complete all the different paddling strokes despite not really fitting the kayak very well - I was positioned too far in the stern of the kayak. Definitely plan on renting kayaks from them again in the future - I'll just make sure that I fit the kayak better than during the class. We will probably try out the Cottonwood Lake Family trip sometime this summer.

We love Springer RV Park!! This is our fourth stay. It is small and spacing is close but sites are…read morelevel and ours has FHU. Community fire pit and bbqs available. Showers are an extra $5 and worth it. Campground, laundry and bathhouses are immaculate and coed with private locked stalls. Owners are the nicest folks ever. Highly recommended.

The management here is awful!! I do not recommend this spot, there's constantly planes from 6 AM…read moretill 9 PM. You're better off saving money and picking Matanuska River or Kepler. The laundry also takes well over an hour to run, it's a 3-hour investment. Showers aren't warm, either. Not recommended for the price they want you to pay.

This trail shoots off from the Eklutna Lakeside Trail:…read more https://www.yelp.com/biz/eklutna-lakeside-trail-eklutna To access it, park at the Eklutna Lake parking lot. Get on the Eklutna Lakesde trail, but instead of heading towards the lake, go the opposite direction. In about 500 ft, you should see the trial marker for Twin Peaks. The official trail is about 5 miles round trip. If you're not an avid hiker (or are feeling lazy, or are short on time) a good benchmark is, well, "the first bench". It's about 1.6 miles one-way and offers one of the best places in the Chugach to sit on a bench and take in views. (the "second bench" is another mile up trail, and where the official trail ends) If you are an avid hiker, you have a ton of options: East Twin Peak: this is more of a scramble that a hike, if you're not sure what that means, it's best to attempt it when you do! https://www.yelp.com/biz/east-twin-peak-palmer West Twin Peak: a much easier climb than East Tiwn, but the approach is pretty long and obnoxious. https://www.yelp.com/biz/west-twin-peak-anchorage Pepper Peak: if you leave the second bench and keep going uphill (or, take a "secret trail" that starts at the first bench and goes straight up, with no switch backs), You'll eventually summit this peak. It's only a hike, nothing technical about it. Eklutna High Traverse: This starts at Twin Peaks trail and ends at Bold Ridge trail, hitting a half-dozen peaks along the way. It's over 27 miles long! Protip: This trail is an outstanding place to catch fall colors!

Welcome. Welcome to…read morethe best rock climbing (on the road system) in Alaska! The good news: - Rock quality is good, great for Alaska. - Views are stunning: this area looks like medieval Scottish highlands. You'll keep expecting a bunch of kilted warriors to run out from behind some granite rock band, chasing a wounded Grendel. The bad news: - It's pretty much mandatory to have a high clearance vehicle to reach the good climbing (which is at absolute end of Archangel Rd, past the gate). All trucks can make it, and most SUV's and Subaru's should be able to make the journey as well. Anything else WILL get heavily scrapped. This road is very rough and very rocky. You know how the warnings about most roads in Alaska (Haul Rd, McCarthy Rd, Denali Hwy, etc) are just ghost stories designed to scare tourists? THIS IS NOT LIKE THAT. There are deep ruts and there are large embedded rocks. You don't need 4WD or AWD, the road is flat. But your vehicle better have its belly at least 7 inches off the ground. - The weather. Generally not good. It's wet and rainy here almost all the time. It can be birdies and sunshine and lawn mowin' and crisp Coors Light in Palmer but...be a land of dreary granite buttresses up here. So, what if I don't about climbing? What's in this valley for me? I'm glad you asked. About 2.9 miles down the trail (you can do this in just about any car, if you drive carefully) you'll find a trailhead and parking lot. This is the Reed Lakes Trailhead. It's a moderate hike to some beautiful lakes. It also has pretty good berry-pickin' in the fall, but don't tell anyone! If you drive to the end of the trail you can poke around the Fern Mine: https://www.yelp.com/biz/fern-mine-at-archangel-valley-palmer If you wander at least 0.5 miles away from the road, there are many spots where you are allowed to backcountry camp here. Highly recommended, it's picturesque and it's free! This road gets shut down as soon as the snow sticks, so don't even try it! It is open for winter recreation activities, though.

This is a solid trail that no one apparently knows about…read more If you're tired of crowds on Chugach trails, look no further than here! There are stunning views of Denali from atop Bear Mountain/Peak/whatever its called. It's also really flat on top, great for pitching a tent and watching the northern lights. The trail goes on forever, but I hear the quality deteriorates around mile 12 or so.

Nice easy to moderate hike. The view was nice on the top. It wasn't the best one out of all the…read morehikes that we did but it was pretty nice. Alaska is beautiful no mater where you hike in general. And of course, it wouldn't be called Bear Point without a bear. We were a bit disappointed that we didn't spot any bear on our hike. As we were heading back about 5 to 10 minute walk to our car, we heard a loud noise and a huge black shadow about 15 feet in front of us on the trail. Our dog reacted and started barking. The bear saw us and climbed on the tree near by. We had a staring contest for a good 5-10 minutes before we decided that it was safe to walk under him to be on our way. It was quite an experience to have a bear on the tree right above your head staring at you at you walked by. Pretty awesome! That bear was more afraid of us than we are at him. However, bring your bear spray and gun just in case on any hike in AK because you never know who/what you might run into.