With 60 full hookup sites, showers and a laundry on site, you can concentrate on your summer…read morevacation without the need to search around for the facilities you need. If fishing is your preferred pastime, the campground is adjacent to the famous Little Susitna River. There is even a small boat launch beach area in the rear of the campground. At different times of the year you can fish for all five species of Alaskan salmon (Coho, King, Sockeye, Chum, and Pink) here on the Little Susitna. Ken and Sheila have been managing this campground for many years and have developed a clientele of regular campers. This makes the campground atmosphere a bit friendlier than other campgrounds. It is not uncommon to have an impromptu pot luck with your neighbors. When the fish are running this campground can fill up quickly so calling ahead to make reservation is recommended.

This is a beautiful park in Willow with a lot of new features. It's really intended for locals,…read morebut if yoy happen to be in the area (for example at Nancy Lake camping) this is a nice little park. The pond has some interesting bird activity so I recommend binoculars if you have them. There's also several trails and disc golf.

A few notes: 1. The…read moremap location on this is wrong. Here is a link to Google Maps. https://goo.gl/maps/2tCGimSECBKfwTj48 2. The trail is called Fishhook on the sign and on Google Maps, but I've also heard of it referred to as Marmot. 3. This trail is rated a variety of ways. It isn't long at 1.3 miles (one way), but it is steep. My Garmin registered 2000 feet of elevation change. I would rate the trail as moderate for distance and technical skills. There are some moments where the trail is pretty narrow. I would rate it as hard for exertion level. Locals will see it as a short and little difficult. Out of towners may view it as hard to expert. 4. Bring sunscreen on sunny days and bug spray if it is not windy. I saw a mosquito the size of a quarter on several occasions. Luckily, it was a bit windy. It is roughly .7 miles to the top of the first rise. Nothing is as steep after the first .7 miles, but the trails does meander up along a ridge until it reaches the top. It took me about 80 minutes to make the summit. I stopped along the way for pictures and taking in the views. Going down was faster, but tough on the toes and the bottoms of my feet. Hiking poles would have made the descent a lot easier on my toes. When I hiked in late June, it was very dusty and sandy. It was easy to lose footing on the ascent and descent if you are not careful. Nearly the whole hike rewards the traveler with 360 degree views of Hatcher and even down in to the Valley to Pioneer. There's a black tube at the top with a journal and pens. Sign your name, write a note. See who has been there before. The last .6 miles included lots of ground squirrels . If you stop and sit for a while, you will almost certainly see them running about, munching on vegetation, or licking rocks.

We hiked this in late October. It is absolutely gorgeous, but it's a rigorous hike with very steep…read moreparts. There was lots of ice and mud, so we were slipping a LOT. We could not make it to the top. Made it about 3/4 of the way. It was the first hike we haven't finished.

Let's get something out of the way, right away. There is no "s" in Hatcher Pass, between the…read more"Hatcher" and the "Pass". Correct: Hatcher Pass Hatcher NO!: Hatcher's Pass Hatcher's Anyway, this is one of the shortest "real" trails in the large area above/between Wassilla/Palmer/Willow known as "Hatcher Pass". In case you're not confused yet, this trail is located right at the actual pass of Hatcher Pass. That's right. It starts from Hatcher Pass, located in "Hatcher Pass (East Management Area)" Anyway, this trail is about 2.2 miles roundtrip and has 800 ft of elevation gain. It tops out on the summit of Hatch Peak. It's a great hike to take people that are a little bit adventurous, but maybe don't consider themselves "hikers". You'll pass a couple beautiful alpine lakes that are perfect rest stops. The trail eventually gains a rock ridge that leads right up to the summit. On a rare day with good weather, the views are stunning. You can see a large chunk of the greater Hatcher Pass area, Denali, and look back towards the Chugach Mountains near Palmer. (Pioneer Peak is particularly prominent) It's a favorite jumping off point for paragliders. It's a gravel road to get to the trailhead, but it's pretty well maintained. Any car will do.

This is a very short, but very strenuous, hike with incredible summit views of the Twin Peaks, Bold…read morePeak, and Bashful Peak (the highest mountain in the Chugach). It is usually starting to melt out in April, although it can be done year-round with the right equipment. Micro spikes are useful for snow in the winter and snow and mud in the shoulder seasons. No five stars for Gold Star because the summit contains a lot of stuff that I would consider litter. Man-made trinkets that take away from the beauty of nature. But, it is outside the boundary of Chugach State Park so I don't think it's illegal or anything. I would expect it to take the average hiker 2-4 hours up, half that down.

Located in between Anchorage and Palmer is Peters Creek DGC located just off of the Old Glenn…read moreHighway (right next to the Glenn Highway). This 18 hole course plays through heavily wooded areas with some of the holes on the back 9 playing near or along Peters Creek. This was my first and only disc golfing experience while I was up in Alaska. And one I had heard very little about as far as on DGC Review website or by word of mouth. Actually, my golfing buddy suggested I make the trek out to downtown Anchorage to play Westchester Lagoon but it's been closed during the summer due to clashes between golfers and other users of the park. Since I was staying in Palmer, I decided to give this course a try. There's two parking lots to choose from when entering the park. The closest one (near the course's bulletin board) is located near the path to hole # 1, while the other parking lot (through the gate) is closer to hole #10...so depending on where you want to start your round, parking in either of these lots will accommodate your plans. While I played early (10 AM) on a Wednesday morning the course and parking lot was pretty empty, I did do some reconnaissance the evening before on the way back from dinner in Eagle River. I noticed that the course and front lot can get crowded, especially in the summer evenings when it doesn't get remotely dark-ish until Midnight or 1 AM. A short walk from the front lot down a path into the thick forest of Birch Trees is where the tee for hole # 1 awaits. As a California disc golfer and a first time player of this course, I stood for a while trying to take in the path and overall set up for the first basket. It's not too often you play a course in California with this many trees in your line of sight. Courses in CA tend to be a bit more wide open. I can imagine this is what those on the east coast have to deal with when playing some of their heavily wooded, tight fairway courses. After the shock, I started my round...hitting a share of trees but making Par on most holes on the front 9. Aside from the trees, you have quite a few holes that tend to play extremely short (some as short as just over 150 feet) but hook hard to the right, meaning if you're not left handed, you need to have a disc you can turn over or have a decent side arm game. This course definitely forces you to break out of your normal throwing game if you want to have a shot at some birdie opportunities. Most of the front 9 plays through the maze of Birch trees, with a few holes giving the player an opportunity to power out some throws on a few open fairways (holes 4,5,6 come to mind as they play along side of a rocky hill and down what looks like a dirt fire lane path.) Hole 7 is an straight away up-hill shot with a drop off to the left side (another good hole for something understable or a side arm shot for RHBH throwers). Hole 8 proved to be one of the more exciting holes on the course for the fact it's the only downhill shot in all 18 holes. With a mandatory on the right side, it's a straight and slightly to the left 237 foot hole that could easily lead one to empty their bag because it's such a fun hole to throw on. Much like the front 9, the back has a mix of tree laden holes as well as quite a few long holes as well. You can also hear Peters Creek throughout the back 9, making the atmosphere quite relaxing. Hole 15 is likely what many consider the courses signature hole, especially since this is where we get our first sight of Peters Creek. It's the longest hole on the course (375 feet) with a long and wide fairway and a basket nestled in a grove of thick trees to the left. But BEWARE! There's a drop off beyond the basket (both behind it and to the right...where the fairway leads you) into the "creek". The "creek" runs more like a river in the summer due to the snow / glacier melt from the nearby mountains. Chances to loose a disc to the creek come into play on holes 17 and 18 as well. I finished 4 over on my first 18 and 3 over on my second 18. Not bad considering this was my first time here. Some other thoughts... - Perhaps the only reason why I didn't give this course a perfect rating is due to the fact that there are no tee pads. Some tees were muddy and unplayable (had to throw from one side or the other on some holes). This is honestly the only complaint I could come up with. - Along with tee signs at every hole, there was a garbage can attached to the tee at every hole as well. It's something we need to see more of in CA. Unfortunately I did see some trash while walking the course. Seriously??? It's fucking Alaska! Show some respect! - While there are tee signs at each hole, navigating the course could be troublesome if you fail to bring a course map with you (map can be found at the link at the top of this business page). - During the summer the mosquitoes are relentless, so be sure to bring some repellent with you. - Look out for wildlife (saw moose prints in the mud).

Every year we do an annual Christmas Eve carriage ride in downtown Anchorage with a group of…read morefriends. The Horse Drawn Carriage Company offers a fantastic experience as you tour the city via sleigh or carriage. Highly recommended! The horses are safe and totally bomb proof; the drivers are highly professional.

We had a great trip. We were very thankful for the provided blankets since it was in the single…read moredigits.

Looking for a well groomed, mostly flat, road to learn how to nordic ski?…read more Well look no further. Archangel, normally the road out to the Reed Lakes Trail in the summer, is a wide, well groomed trail in the winter. The space for skate skiing is broad. The grooves for classic (or is it Nordic?) are deep. Sometimes the classic grooves are over run by the skate skis. Here, the space for the skate skiers seems so wide, the classic grooves are clear. There is a parking lot at the beginning of the road. It's a state park fee lot. Five dollars to park per day or the annual pass. The trail goes 7.5km (one way) according to signage. On the way out, there are views, almost immediately, of the Gold Mint Trail and the Little Susitna River. On the way back there are clear views of the Pioneer Range in the distance.