Big Lake is indeed big with 67 miles of shoreline and large enough to support year-round recreation with swimming, camping, boating, fishing, jet skiing and tour boat rides in the summer and snowmobile competitions, dog mushing, ice fishing and cross-country skiing once the surface freezes over. Located on the shore of the lake and spread over 138 square miles is the community of Big Lake, population 3,191, including three-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser and his family.
Many of the residents work in Anchorage, 60 miles to the south, but choose to live in Big Lake for its vast recreation opportunities and the views of Mount Susitna, Mount McKinley and the Talkeetna Mountains that surround them. Although homesteaders began to settle in the area as early as 1929, Big Lake has served as a resort and recreation destination for Alaskans since World War II. A number of lodges and several children's camps were operating on the lake in the 1950s and when power and roads were expanded into the area in the 1960s lakefront lots were being snapped up by Alaskans who worked in the city but wanted to play on a big lake.
Visitors can play as well in state campgrounds, lakeside lodges and houseboats. Big Lake North State Recreation Site is located on the lake and has overnight parking spaces, walk-in tent sites, picnic area, shelters and an outstanding view of Mount McKinley on a clear day. Also in the area is Fish Creek Park, a popular day-use area with a salmon spawning observation deck; Big Lake South State Recreation Site with campsites and a boat launch on the lake; and Rocky Lake State Recreation Site with camping on a lake closed to jet skis, jet boats and air boats.