On occasion, the most significant concepts start with the most mundane efforts. They might simply start with a single missing mile.
That’s what Anchorage is preparing to build this summer: a roughly 1-mile connector between the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and the Ship Creek Trail, closing one of the most irritating gaps in the city’s trail system. When finished, it will create a continuous 14-mile multiuse path along Cook Inlet, extend Anchorage’s 32-mile Moose Loop and link downtown Anchorage more directly to the future Alaska Long Trail.
The Coastal-to-Ship Creek connector is a local project. It will make the stretch of trails safer and easier to navigate for cyclists, pedestrians, skiers, commuters, tourists and anyone else who would rather not thread through downtown traffic and railroad crossings just to stay on a trail. It is also one piece of a much larger vision: the Alaska Long Trail, a proposed 500-plus-mile braided trail system connecting Seward and Fairbanks through existing and planned routes across mostly public land. The Alaska Trails organization describes the vision as a “world-class trail system” linking Alaska communities and landscapes from the Pacific to the Interior.
That vision of an Alaska trail on par with the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail needs continued support, not because it is some boutique amenity for the fleece-vest crowd but because it is practical infrastructure.
Trails of this magnitude are more than just a path from here to there. They are transportation, recreation, tourism drivers, neighborhood connectors and economic development mechanisms. Alaska’s trails are one of the reasons people choose to live here and raise families here instead of packing up for someplace with cheaper groceries and warmer winters.
They also matter more in a modern world that keeps pulling us indoors and onto screens. Trails give us a way to reconnect with the physical world and with something closer to our true human nature — movement, fresh air, risk, wonder and the pleasure of being outside.
That is especially important to note at a time when the state is still fighting outmigration and struggling to keep young residents. A state that sells itself on mountains, water, wildlife and outdoor opportunities should not treat trail connectivity as an afterthought. It should treat it as part of the basic design. If you live here, you should be able to get outside safely, often and close to home.
The Alaska Long Trail is not one giant wilderness sidewalk being imposed from above. That caricature misses the point. The proposal is incremental and braided. It would connect many trails and routes that already exist, while filling gaps where communities, land managers and property owners agree it makes sense. The Bureau of Land Management says the proposed route encompasses about 500 miles from Seward to Fairbanks, made up of existing and proposed routes across varied land ownership patterns. Congress directed BLM to study whether the route could qualify as a National Scenic Trail, and BLM has emphasized that the study itself does not authorize construction or make management decisions. Congress alone would decide whether to designate a new National Scenic Trail, and it should.
That distinction is important because some of the pushback has been fair. Interior Alaska residents and some government officials have asked some obvious questions: Who maintains it? What happens when a trail leaves borough boundaries? What about emergency services? What about private property? What about motorized users? What about Native corporation lands? What about costs after the grant writers go home?
Sure, creating the Long Trail will require figuring a few things out. In the face of logistical challenges, the answer is not to abandon the trail project but to plan it carefully and build only the pieces that have landowner consent, maintenance plans and local support. It could take years, but we should start now.
BLM’s draft feasibility review showed exactly why that matters. According to reporting on the draft study from public media station KUAC FM 89.9, BLM found there was not yet a suitable end-to-end Seward-to-Fairbanks route for the National Scenic Trail designation, partly because not all affected landowners supported the current concept. The Native corporation Ahtna opposed a section through its lands over trespass concerns, and the study indicated that two shorter segments — one south of Ahtna land and one north of it — could meet the objectives even if a full continuous route does not yet.
A trail plan must respect property rights, subsistence, motorized access, emergency response realities, winter conditions and local land-use priorities. It must also recognize that “multiuse” means different things in different places. Some segments may work best for hikers, bikers and skiers. Others may accommodate snowmachines, ATVs, equestrians or other uses. The Alaska Trails organization says the National Scenic Trail designation does not automatically set specific use restrictions, and decisions about usage would remain with land managers such as municipalities, boroughs and state and federal agencies.
The Anchorage connector shows the right model. It was identified decades ago, moved through years of public process, used funding from local, state and federal sources, and is finally ready for construction. It is not cheap — roughly $15.6 million for about a mile — but difficult urban infrastructure rarely is. The route must fit between Cook Inlet mudflats, railroad tracks, Ship Creek and downtown Anchorage. It also includes plans for a plaza and public art recognizing the Dena’ina significance of the area.
That is not just a path. That is city-building. And if Anchorage can close this gap, Alaska can keep closing others.
The Alaska Long Trail does not need to be finished tomorrow to be worth supporting today, but it is the kind of investment the state should want to make. We have spent decades arguing over megaprojects that promise transformation someday. Here is a project that can improve daily life one segment at a time.
So build the connector in Anchorage, and keep planning the Long Trail. Work around landowner concerns instead of bulldozing through them. And then keep going.
Alaska does not need to choose between big vision and practical progress. The Alaska Long Trail is both.