Tanana Valley State Forest
Managed by Alaska Department of Natural Resources
47 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Salcha
More than half of Salcha’s land is conserved: 59%
59% of Salcha’s land is conserved, about 28,278 acres. 54 acres are parks and preserves, 66 per 1,000 residents. 9.4 miles of mapped trail cross Salcha, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Conserved land
59%
28,278 acres · of 75.2 sq mi of land
Trails
9.4 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
54 ac
66 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
2%
of residents within ½ mile
Lakes & rivers
3
1 boat launch
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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
28,278 conserved acres
59% of Salcha’s land. Who manages Salcha’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources28,240 ac
USDA easements (NRCS)38 ac
State Other or Unknown · 28,193 acState Resource Management Area · 47 acConservation Easement · 38 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 38 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 4 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Tentatively Approved (tad) State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 10,218 | Unknown |
| State Patented State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 7,585 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Other Than Municipal State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 5,435 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Purposes State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 4,954 | Unknown |
| Tanana Valley State Forest State Resource Management Area | State natural resources | 47 | Open |
Things to do
6 places to go in Salcha
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Salcha
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Salcha
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Picnic areas in Salcha
Salcha River State Recreation AreaFee
DirectionsCampgrounds in Salcha
Salcha River CampgroundFee · State of Alaska, Dept. of Natural Resources
DirectionsTrails & water
4 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Winter Trail5.9 mi
Old Valdez Trail1.4 mi
Bessie Barnabas Trail1.1 mi
Butte Creek Trail0.2 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
1Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Salcha: 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) | 5.2 | 8.3 | 11.5 | 15.0 | 18.5 | 21.4 | 20.0 | 16.4 | 12.9 | 9.5 | 6.2 | 4.0 |
| High (°F) | 0 | 11 | 25 | 45 | 61 | 71 | 72 | 66 | 54 | 33 | 10 | 3 |
| Rain (in) | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
March is the driest month (0.3 in) and July the warmest (highs of 72 °F). 2.7 inches fall in July, the wettest month. The climate in Salcha →
Next door
Salcha and its neighbors
Salcha has the most mapped trails of the 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salcha | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Harding-Birch Lakes | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Eielson AFB | 14% | 0.2 | 3 | 19% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Salcha
Are dogs allowed on Salcha’s trails?
Tanana Valley State Forest doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Salcha?
67,617 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Salcha or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 102 of them inside the town line.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Salcha 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 →