One fine Thursday evening in June, we took an after-work jaunt along the Palmer - Moose Creek Railroad Trail. As the name suggests, it's an old railroad bed that winds its way along the edge of the Matanuska River, from the town of Palmer on one end to the Moose Creek State Recreation Wayside on the other end.
The railroad bed used to go all the way out to Sutton and Chickaloon. The Alaska Railroad used the line to collect coal to fuel Navy ships. You can still see the tracks coming up through the trail in places and there's old railroad cars and other bits and pieces of rusty stuff along the way, as seen in the bottom left corner of this photo:
The trail is around six miles one way, although we didn't go nearly that far. It's a nice and easy hike with just a handful of tricky areas where you have to climb across rock slides and an old mudslide or two. It's pretty flat so if you want to get in a really good workout, just hike those six miles really fast. We saw joggers and mountain bikers. Lots of dogs -- they're supposed to be on leashes but I didn't see any leashed up.
The only problem we encountered was that one person in our party was pushing a double-seater Chariot stroller. Things went pretty well the first three quarters of a mile or so till we came to the mud and rock slides.
She turned back there because it seemed a little too tricky to navigate. If you have someone to help you haul the stroller and kids across separately, you should be fine once you cross three or four slide areas. I haven't walked the trail from the Moose Creek trailhead so I'm not sure what the conditions are like down on that end.
In the photo above is a beautiful long green field that runs along the Palmer trailhead.
You walk along bluffs high over the river so bring water for the dogs if you have some along with you. We finally got low enough to climb down to the water after two and a half miles or so. The dogs had a great time splashing around in the shallow braids of the river. Here's Sadie & Sarge yucking it up:
Along the way, there are lots of moose tracks, beaver-chewed stumps and branches, driftwood, and pretty rocks to check out. You can see Bodenburg Butte and the mountains of the Chugach range in the distance. The wild roses were just beginning to bloom and it looked like there would be a bumper crop of watermelon berries later in the summer. Mosquitoes were pretty thick in places so be sure to pack the bug dope.
It's impossible to get lost so you won't need a map but
here's a link to the Mat-Su Borough's trail guide and aerial photo.
You can access this trail either from Palmer or from the Moose Creek.
Directions:
To access the Palmer trailhead, take the Glenn highway into Palmer. Turn right on E. Arctic Ave (a.k.a. the Old Glenn Highway). Drive past Napa on the left. The next street on the left is North Valley Way. Turn left and go to the end of North Valley where it meets Eagle in a "T." Looking straight ahead, you will see a cement barricade marking the trailhead. Park along the side of the road on Eagle or on North Valley. You can also access this trailhead by driving along the Glenn Highway, past the E. Artic intersection, and turn right on Eagle, but I think the trailhead is a little easier to spot if you approach it from North Valley Way.
Or to access from the Moose Creek trailhead, drive six miles past Palmer on the Glenn Highway and park at the Moose Creek State Recreation Wayside. Cross the highway and take the creekside trail to the railroad bed and trail.
Well, I didn't hike there but I still want to share photos of my visit to the newly-opened Eielson Visitor Center in the heart of Denali National Park. "A model of environmentally sensitive construction and sustainable design ... a low-profile building that blends into the landscape ... " It runs off hydroelectric power, solar, and some propane. As if I wasn't excited enough about our road trip to Denali -- I was really keen to go when I learned I'd be among the first to see that center. Totally worth the 8 hour shuttle ride!
As you may have noticed from the view from the windows, we were graced with the sight of a whole lot of rain and fog that day, but alas, no Denali.
The State website says it's working on getting a web page up for the park but it's a little difficult to find much of any info on the trails online at the moment. I haven't been able to find a map so we just wing it.
But the trails! Oh, the trails. They wind around and about, and fork this way and that amongst lakes stocked with rainbow trout and arctic grayling galore. It's real easy to get turned around in there. Every now and then, you pop out of the woods onto a gorgeous green expanse of grass with a mountain view -- one of the many fields belonging to the Experimental Farm that borders the trails. It's a perfect spot for taking photos of your hiking buddies. 
But it's so pretty, it's hard to care if you lose your way momentarily. If you take a dog along, just follow her. The dog always seems to know which fork in the trail to follow and will just shake her head at you when you tell her, "Not that way. This way. Come on!"
The trailhead / parking lot is located within easy driving distance from Anchorage, just off the Glenn Highway around Mile 37 or so, a bit north of the intersection of the Parks and Glenn highways. Watch for a State road sign on the right pointing to the turn-off for the park which is located on the left.
It's not too tough of a trail -- rolling sometimes, flat sometimes. There's a little bit of scrambling up steep spots at times. We were there in early June and the mosquitos were pretty fierce so take along the Deeps Woods Off and wear a hat to keep them from making a feast of the part in your hair.
