Kepler-Bradley Lakes trails

The trails at the Kepler-Bradley Lakes State Receation Area are a bit of a mystery to me. I've gotten lost there twice -- once in the winter and once in the summer. Well, maybe 'lost' is too strong a word. You're always within view of Pioneer Peak so you know exactly which direction you're headed in at all times and if all else fails you could go off trail and head straight for highway. If you absolutely must be back to your car at a certain time, you might want to try a different trail. This one takes some patience.

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.

My trusty sidekick, Sadie, swimming amongst the lily pads:

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!"

Here are some of my wintertime photos of Kepler-Bradley -- it's June now, and I don't even want to look at snow but I'll include them anyway!

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.
Here's a link to a Google map of the area. As you can see, there's a whole mess of lakes in the area and the trails wind in and around them. The lakes are landlocked, pooled in deep crevasses amongst morraine ridges formed by glaciers. Follow the trails here long enough and they'll eventually link up with the trail system in Crevasse-Morraine park -- I'll have to tell you all about it one of these days. Together the two parks form a great little network of trails to explore by bike or on foot or skis. A great article on mountain biking the area can be found here.

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.