Biking Anchorage, Alaska's Area Trails
Anchorage has several dedicated bike trails as well as roadways with bike lanes. This map shows the Coastal Trail (#1 below) following the shore of Cook Inlet and Knik Arm along the left side of this map, and the Chester Creek Trail (#2 below), the greenbelt area starting at the Knowles Trail about an inch from the top of the photo and heading to the right. I was also able to ride the Gird-to-Bird Trail (#3 below) south of town.
1. The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail
This 11 mile trail is named for the former governor of Alaska and former mayor of Anchorage, Tony Knowles, who was instrumental in the creation of this trail. The downtown is seen in this photo as the trail approaches the intersection with the Chester Creek Trail, and beyond that, the end of the trail near downtown at 2nd Street.
It also passes through Earthquake Park which commemorates the 1964 earthquake with a sculpture and various information signs.
The trail passes through many forested sections, offers occasional vantages of the water, goes uphill to follow a bluff line and across the property of Anchorage International Airport, and then ends at Kincaid Park, a cross country skiing paradise, which has a myriad of uphill/downhill trails open to mountain biking. The six foot wide paved trail in is decent shape though there are frost heaves on occasion.
2. The Chester Creek Trail
The trail branches from the Coastal Trail and follows Chester Creek, passing through several parks and forested areas, then circles around Goose Lake to the campuses of the University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University, around Northern Lights Boulevard and UAA Drive.
The trail crosses the creek several times and the forest areas are home to a number of deer which I saw. There was quite a bit of traffic on the trail the day I biked it, and other than the expected frost heaves, the surface was in good condition.
3. The Girdwood Trail (Gird-to-Bird)
The Girdwood Trail runs from Girdwood to Bird Point (hence its nickname). The 9.6 earthquake of 1964 was the second largest in recorded history and lowered the ground here 8 feet, putting the forest that was here below the high tide line of Turnagain Arm and flooding the spruce forest with saltwater, killing all the trees. But since salt is the best preservative, the trees remain intact, supported by the three feet of silt deposits which were left by the tide. The area is now called the "Ghost forest."
This 105 MM recoilless rifle (M27A1) was used to relieve the snow load before potential avalanches could crash down the mountain and destroy the Seward Highway and the Alaska Railroad tracks at its base. Ultimately, the highway and tracks were moved west to the shore of Turnagain Arm to prevent avalanches from blocking them, and the old road was turned into the bike trail.
Here the trail rises onto a shelf above the rerouted highway, giving good vantage points to the sea. There is an elevation gain of 275 feet on the trail. Interpretive signs, restrooms, and even free telescopes are placed along the trail. An addition to the bike trail was under construction when I biked here, and will add 3.5 miles and connect it to another segment in Fall, 2004, creating a 17 mile trail from Girdwood to Indian.