Trails... Where do you wheel?

Would be nice to have a list of places to wheel all in one thread. Please post easy directions AND pictures. I will start with a simple one I mentioned in another thread.





About 1 mile past the Hope Junction coming from Anchorage. maybe a mile long? Just something short, pretty easy for 4lo, and fun. Trail is steep and a sharp turn if you are coming from Anchorage. Easier to go past it, turn around and come back.








Hatcher Pass
GREAT place to wheel.
I went on the road to willow, up the first valley to the right (coming from the Independence Mine side) and it doesn't go that far.









Second valley after you pass a mine/repair/machine shop of some kinds has a really fun trail.
**EDIT** After Google mapping this place it apparently has a "road" name Craigie Creek Road**

Take a turn to the right somewhere at the far side of the bottom of the valley. Gated entrance to a dirt road to the left, I went straight out the valley and loved the trail! It looked to go a very long ways up the valley into the mountains, but I didn't have enough time to check it out. You will pass an old mine with various old mine equipment on the right maybe a few miles up (not sure on distance) on the other side of the valley. Beware of the swamp in between the mine and the trail. I parked the truck as I didn't want to get stuck without a winch or anything to winch to!








Here is the video i got from the Hatcher Pass trip, a little shaky though, a GoPro with proper mounts will hopefully magically appear one day, until then this will work!


Part of the way out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV3FD-74JNU


On the way back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LET80Atzreo#t=138

 

I'll just leave this here...

http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/planning/mgtplans/mat_valley/pdf/Ch2_Recreation.pdf

 

So, the trail I went on at Hatcher Pass is named! OP edited, Craigie Creek Road. It was a blast, I want to go back and see how far up the mountain it goes. It might also be an option for the early winter before fathoms of snow come a falling.

 

Which GoPro you running? Do you have it on a homemade mount or a suction cup mount.

 

I don't have a GoPro yet... I just used my Nikon AW110 mounted onto a fat magnet via 1/4"x20 tpi bolt and put a piece of cloth in between the magnet and the truck roof to not scratch it up.

You can kind of see it here

 

These are up hatchers too. Fun stuff.

 

Nice! What part of Hatcher Pass are those taken in?

 

Not really sure how to explain where it is haha. If you're headed up hatchers from the willow side, it's a left turn at the bottom of a switchback before you get to the big buildings/lookout area. Terrible description, I know lol.

 

Is it before the large shop on the right (coming from Willow) and before the road skirts the canyon for a mile or two?

 

Yeah. Just looked at it on a map. Definitely Craigie Creek road lol. I just went to the top. Well at least as far as I know I can make it.






A few years ago I hiked to the top when I stopped and saw this guy posted up. Solid camp setup for weeks. Had 3 25lb propane tanks for cooking so I'm assuming he was there for a while. Notice the chains too. Super boggy at the top. Fine for walking but super soft for a truck. He tore up the ground pretty bad and left huge ruts.



Awesome view from the top though.

 

Wow! That is a great view. I wonder what that guy was doing there? Maybe some small scale mining? Normally 25 lb propane tanks last a long time, like 3+ weeks in my experience using them heavily... And it is illegal to camp longer than 10 days I think. Whatever though! I will have to try and make it all the way up. Probably taking my mom up there on Monday for her birthday. Looks like you went in the spring?

 

I'm sure he was mining. He had a sticker on his truck that had something to so with mining. I went a week or two after I bought my truck so it was mid to late July.

 

Took the day off for my birthday tomorrow, taking the gf to hatchers and hopefully can find this trail. I've only been once and just through the main road. We'll see! Taking some .45 shells to sling too

 

I'm sure you can. Just don't try to mud bog. Text me if you need more directions/questions.

 

Awesome. Have fun out there.

 

I wanna explore theses places on my bike looks like a lot of fun. Some trails I know of are kings river, sutton, buffalo mine, I've been down many more but most of them are random trails along the highway. The best one is when your heading south on the Seward highway and right before you get to the pass there is a sign that says "welcome to the Kenaipeninsula" and a parking lot that has a little trail entrance into some mud that I don't wanna try by myself but I have walked down it and it goes down on the beach and leads along the mountain side it's an awsome place and once you get past the little bit of mud your in the clear it was like concrete. Hope someone wants to go sometime

 

I poked my nose down that a few weeks ago but turned around. I believe you can get to hope by hiking it and timing the tide right. Looks fun.

 

I drove down one of them but backed out of it as I wasn't sure it was a truck trail and not a hiking trail, and the lack of sliders didnt help... We could maybe do a meet there? Kinda a little drive away for us Anchorage guys. I want to check out Kings River and Buffalo Mine. And hopefully I can get a winch and sliders before too long. I need to start installing some parts! LBJs, UBJs, lights, and more hopefully!

 

One of the trails goes about a thousand feet and comes to a little clearing where we like to camp and the other trail down to the beach is on the left before the dead end sign. Im really not sure how far you can drive it but I can defiantly see you being able to get to hope by walking

 

Yeah I should have gotten pictures..

EDIT* from google earth,



I took the trail right next tot he black blob in this picture. Is that the one you took?