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Haines Area State Parks

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Haines Area State Parks

Haines is not only one of the few Southeast Alaska communities accessible by road from the mainland but it's also one of the few to boost Alaska state parks, state recreation sites and state marine sites. Not one or two but six, making this town of 2,300 residents an outdoor playground for the thousands of visitors who pass through during the year.

The largest at 6,049 acres and most developed unit is Chilkat State Park 7 miles south of Haines. Other parks include 80-acre Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site northwest of Haines, 7-acre Portage Cove State Recreation Site within town and 5-acre Mosquito Lake State Recreation Site 27 miles northwest of Haines off the Haines Highway.

Haines also has two undeveloped state marine parks. Chilkat Islands State Marine Park is a group of islands just south of Chilkat State Park that cover 6,560 acres. Further south of Chilkat Islands is Sullivan Island State Marine Park, a 2,720-acre unit that sits at the south end of Sullivan Island. In both marine parks beaches are rocky and anchoring is very difficult, making kayaks the best way to visit them since they can be carried onshore and have a shallow draft.

Haines Area State Parks Map

Facilities
Chilkat State Park's 32-site campground in a mixed forest of evergreens and deciduous trees at the edge of Chilkat Inlet along with a picnic area, boat launch and a log cabin visitor center that provides incredible views of Chilkat Inlet and both Rainbow and Davidson glaciers. The center also has wildlife spotting scopes so visitors can spot marine wildlife, such as seals, porpoises, and whales in the inlet or spy on bears and goats in the mountains.

The park also serves as the trailhead for Seduction Point Trail, an easy 6.5-mile hike that follows the coast, and Battery Point Trail another easy route along the beach. One of Haines' post popular hikes, the Mount Riley Trail, can also be picked up in the start park and followed to the stunning views at the top of the 1,760-foot summit.

The Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site features an 80-site campground in a beautiful stand of Sitka spruce along with a picnic shelter and boat launch. The recreation site is near the outlet of Chilkoot Lake into the Chilkoot River and is also known for having some of the best salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska, with four salmon runs from Mid-June through mid-October.

Portage Cove State Recreation Site overlooks Chilkoot Inlet and the surrounding mountains near downtown Haines and offers nine campsites for cyclists or backpackers only. Mosquito Lake State Recreation Site, a quiet campground of 5 sites is nestled next to Mosquito Lake in a Sitka spruce and western hemlock forest with a dock and boat launch to access the lake.

Fees
There is a nightly fee to camp at Chilkat State Park and Chilkoot Lake, Mosquito Lake and Portage Cove State Recreation Areas.

Accessibility
All the parks are accessed by road from Haines, a community that is connected to the Alaska Highway as well as to other Southeast Alaska ports by the Alaska Marine Highway (www.ferryalaska.com) and regularly scheduled flights from Juneau and Skagway. Portage Cove is 2 miles from the downtown area along Beach Road and Chilkat State Park is 7 miles south of Haines on Mud Bay Road. Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site is 10 miles northeast of Haines via the Lutak and Chilkoot River Roads and Mosquito Lake State Recreation Site is 27 miles northwest of Haines off the Haines Highway.

Denali is reached at Mile 237 of the George Parks and at its entrance area is Riley Creek Campground, the Alaska Railroad station, the Denali Visitor Center, the interesting Murie Science and Learning Center and Wilderness Access Center (WAC), which serves as the park's transport hub and campground-reservation center. From the entrance the 92-mile Park Road heads west through the heart of Denali, passing Eielson Visitor Center and five backcountry campgrounds including Wonder Lake Campground where on a clear day campers enjoy a reflection of Mount McKinley on the mirrored surface of the lake. The road ends at the old mining settlement of Kantishna, now the site of several wilderness lodges. Visitors with vehicles can only drive to a parking area along the Savage River at Mile 14 of the Park Road. The rest of the Denali is reached by the park's wonderful shuttle bus system. Buses begin leaving the WAC at 5:30 a.m. with many making the run out to Wonder Lake, providing one of the best wildlife viewing experiences in Alaska. Day hikers can get off the bus anywhere along the Park Road and at the end of their trek can flag down any bus for a ride back to the park entrance. Campers have their own bus. For many visitors Denali is the opportunity to escape into the backcountry for a truly Alaskan experience. Thanks to Denali's rigid restrictions and permits, backpackers can trek and camp in a slice of the wilderness all their own, even if it's just for a few days. The park has few trails; most hiking is cross-country over open terrain such as gravel river beds and tundra ridges. Other activities at Denali or just outside of it include sled dog demonstration, even during the summer, rafting the Nenana River, mountain biking on the Park Road and flight seeing. In Talkeetna the National Park Service maintains its Mountaineering Ranger Station (907-733-2231) for climbers from around the world who arrive to scale North America's highest peak. In the winter activities include dog mushing, cross-country skiing, snow machining and Northern Lights viewing.