Tanana Valley State Forest
Managed by Alaska Department of Natural Resources
6,855 acres36 mi of trail
Harrington's TrailRosie Creek ConnectionChristmas Tree TrailLogging Road Loop+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailheadWebsite ↗
Photo: RadioKAOS · CC BY-SA 3.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Chena Ridge
More than half of Chena Ridge’s land is conserved: 55%
55% of Chena Ridge’s land is conserved, about 12,763 acres. 74 miles of mapped trail cross Chena Ridge, 2.0 per square mile of land. The biggest trail networks: Tanana Valley State Forest (36 mi).
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns · #21 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Conserved land
55%
12,763 acres · of 36.4 sq mi of land
Trails
74 mi
2.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
10 ac
1.7 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
13%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.7 mi
0.7 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Chena Ridge?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Chena Ridge have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Chena Ridge is ahead of 59% of U.S. towns, #21 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 Chena Ridge’s overall grade.
Conserved land55% of the land · typical AK town 15% · U.S. 4%A+Trails2.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (74 mi) · AK 0.5 · U.S. 0.4APark land1.7 acres of park per 1,000 residents (10 acres) · AK 15 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home13% 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 59%
LessMore
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 50%
Alaska towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Chena Ridge’s 55% is ahead of 80% of Alaska towns, while its trails per square mile lead 88% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. 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 Tanana Valley State Forest, with 36 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bee Field
Managed by Koponen Homestead
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
12,763 conserved acres
55% of Chena Ridge’s land. Who manages Chena Ridge’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources12,592 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits351 ac
State Resource Management Area · 6,858 acState Other or Unknown · 5,733 acUnknown Easement · 351 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 172 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 12 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanana Valley State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 6,858 | Open |
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Purposes State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 2,021 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Other Than Municipal State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 1,965 | Unknown |
| State Patented State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 1,747 | Unknown |
Things to do
2 places to go in Chena Ridge
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Scenic views in Chena Ridge
2 scenic views without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
16 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.3 miUnpaved · 65.4 mi
Harrington's Trail2.1 mi
Rosie Creek Connection1.7 mi
Christmas Tree Trail1.5 mi
Logging Road Loop1.4 mi
Lookout Trail1.4 mi
Logging Road 5 Mile Extension1.0 mi
Kaponen Homestead Onward Trail0.9 mi
Chena Ditch Trail0.8 mi
Chinook Conservation Park0.8 mi
Otter Slide0.5 mi
6 more trails
Kaponen Homestead Ligonberry Loop
0.4 miParks Hwy Trail Head Connector
0.3 miKaponen Homestead The Chute
0.2 miJoan's Jog
0.1 miKoponen Homestead Access
0.1 miPasture Path
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.7 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Chena Ridge: May to August
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) | 1 | 12 | 25 | 46 | 62 | 72 | 73 | 66 | 55 | 34 | 12 | 4 |
| Rain (in) | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
April is the driest month (0.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 73 °F). 2.3 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Chena Ridge →
Next door
Chena Ridge and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chena Ridge | 55% | 2.0 | 2 | 13% | B |
| Ester | 56% | 2.1 | 2 | 2% | B |
| College | 3% | 5.2 | 19 | 71% | A− |
| South Van Horn | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Chena Ridge
Where can I hike in Chena Ridge?
The longest trail networks: Tanana Valley State Forest, 36 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Chena Ridge is conserved land?
55% 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 Chena Ridge’s trails?
Tanana Valley State Forest and Bee Field don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Chena Ridge?
0.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.7 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Chena Ridge?
76,268 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Chena Ridge or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 6,981 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Chena Ridge have?
Ahead of 59% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #21 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 Chena Ridge 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 →