Chena River Lakes Recreation Area
Managed by Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks and Recreation
2,057 acres5 mi of trail
5.5km Trail4km Nature TrailRiver Loop2.5km Cutoff
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: RadioKAOS · CC BY-SA 3.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Badger
15% of Badger’s land is conserved: 6,109 acres
67 miles of mapped trail cross Badger, 1.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Chena River Lakes Recreation Area (5 mi). 12% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns · #29 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Conserved land
15%
6,109 acres · of 65.8 sq mi of land
Trails
67 mi
1.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
77 ac
4.1 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
12%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
15 mi
15 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 beach · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Badger?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Badger have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Badger is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #29 of 41 in Alaska. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Badger’s overall grade.
Conserved land15% of the land · typical AK town 15% · U.S. 4%A−Trails1.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (67 mi) · AK 0.5 · U.S. 0.4A−Park land4.1 acres of park per 1,000 residents (77 acres) · AK 15 · U.S. 13CParks close to home12% of residents within a half mile of a park · AK 36% · U.S. 72%C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 52%
LessMore
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 30%
Alaska towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Badger’s 15% is ahead of 50% of Alaska towns, while its trails per square mile lead 75% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Chena River Lakes Recreation Area, with 5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
6,109 conserved acres
15% of Badger’s land. Who manages Badger’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources6,034 ac
County76 ac
State Other or Unknown · 6,034 acLocal Park · 76 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 5 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Patented State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 2,353 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Purposes State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 2,232 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Other Than Municipal State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 1,449 | Unknown |
| Newby Park Local Park | County | 73 | Open |
| Kendall Park Local Park | County | 2 | Open |
Things to do
14 places to go in Badger
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Badger
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Badger
8 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Badger
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Badger
East Lake Picnic AreaIn Chena River Lakes Recreation Area
DirectionsPlus 1 picnic area without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Badger
Lake Park CampgroundFee · In Chena River Lakes Recreation Area · FNSB
DirectionsTrails & water
16 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 5.1 mi
5.5km Trail3.2 mi
Jeep Trail3.2 mi
Peede Road Extension3.0 mi
4km Nature Trail1.1 mi
Left bank trail to Freeman1.1 mi
Section line1.0 mi
River Loop0.8 mi
Bob's winter trail0.7 mi
Powerline trail0.5 mi
River trail0.5 mi
6 more trails
Trail
0.5 miSnowmachine trail
0.3 miCutthrough
0.2 miSummer bypass
0.2 miOld rut trail
0.2 mi2.5km Cutoff
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
15 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
15 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
2Soccer
2Basketball
2Hockey rinks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Badger: May and June
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 5.0 | 8.3 | 11.5 | 15.0 | 18.6 | 21.6 | 20.1 | 16.5 | 12.9 | 9.5 | 6.1 | 3.8 |
| High (°F) | -2 | 12 | 26 | 46 | 62 | 72 | 73 | 66 | 55 | 33 | 10 | 2 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
March is the driest month (0.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 73 °F). 2.6 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Badger →
Next door
Badger and its neighbors
Badger has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Badger | 15% | 1.0 | 4 | 12% | B− |
| North Pole | 23% | 1.9 | 15 | 69% | A |
| Steele Creek | 36% | 0.5 | under 1 | under 1% | C+ |
| Fairbanks | 6% | 2.3 | 15 | 84% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Badger
Where can I hike in Badger?
The longest trail networks: Chena River Lakes Recreation Area, 5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Badger is conserved land?
15% of its land, against a typical 15% for an Alaska town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Badger’s trails?
Chena River Lakes Recreation Area doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Badger?
15 miles of bike routes are on the map: 15 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Badger?
27,464 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Badger or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 240 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Badger have?
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #29 of 41 in Alaska. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Badger neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →