Centennial Park
Nature preserve
111 acres1.8 mi of trail
Centennial Park trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Ajohns90 · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Soldotna
18% of Soldotna’s land is conserved: 821 acres
94% of residents live within a half mile of a park. The biggest trail networks: Centennial Park (1.8 mi), Soldotna Creek Park (0.7 mi). 152 acres are parks and preserves, 34 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns · #2 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Conserved land
18%
821 acres · of 6.9 sq mi of land
Trails
5.1 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
152 ac
34 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
94%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.3 mi
2.3 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Soldotna?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Soldotna have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Soldotna is ahead of 92% of U.S. towns, #2 of 41 in Alaska. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Soldotna’s overall grade.
Conserved land18% of the land · typical AK town 15% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · AK 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land34 acres of park per 1,000 residents (152 acres) · AK 15 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home94% of residents within a half mile of a park · AK 36% · U.S. 72%A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 92%
LessMore
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 98%
Alaska towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Soldotna’s 18% is ahead of 55% of Alaska towns, while its trails per square mile lead 70% of them.
Water is 6% of Soldotna’s area (0 of 7 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 18%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would still be 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 Centennial Park, with 1.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Soldotna Creek Park
Managed by City of Soldotna
19 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Soldotna Litttle League Park
Managed by City of Soldtona
37 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 9 parks & preserves
Centennial Park111 acres · 1.8 mi of trail
DirectionsSoldotna Creek Park19 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · City of Soldotna
DirectionsRotary Park8 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsSoldotna Litttle League Park37 acres · City of Soldtona
DirectionsCommunity Memorial Park36 acres · City of Soldtona
Sunrise Park5 acres · City of Soldtona
River View Park3 acres · City of Soldtona
Aspen Park2 acres · City of Soldtona
Farnsworth Park2 acres · City of Soldtona
DirectionsWho protects it
821 conserved acres
18% of Soldotna’s land. Water is left out: Soldotna has 6.9 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Soldotna’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources640 ac
Bureau of Land Management117 ac
Town or city56 ac
Other state land36 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits8 ac
State Other or Unknown · 640 acConservation Easement · 117 acLocal Park · 92 acUnknown Easement · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 125 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 3 of 17 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Entitlements, Mun State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 556 | Unknown |
| Kenai River Special Management Area State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 84 | Unknown |
| Slikok Creek Park Local Park | Other state land | 36 | Open |
| Centennial Park Local Park | Town or city | 23 | Open |
| Soldotna Creek Park Local Park | Town or city | 11 | Open |
| Swiftwater Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Sunrise Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Unknown Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Karen St Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
| Aspen Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
5 places to go in Soldotna
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Soldotna
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Soldotna
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Campgrounds in Soldotna
Centennial Park CampgroundFee · In Centennial Park
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail
Named trails
Unpaved · 1.1 mi
Centennial Park trail1.6 mi
Biking & sports
2.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.3 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
5Baseball
3Tracks
3Tennis
1Football
1Skate park
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Soldotna Post OfficeBuilding · listed 2008
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Soldotna: June and July
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) | 6.5 | 9.0 | 11.6 | 14.5 | 17.2 | 19.0 | 18.2 | 15.7 | 12.7 | 9.9 | 7.3 | 5.8 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 28 | 35 | 46 | 56 | 62 | 66 | 64 | 55 | 42 | 28 | 23 |
| Rain (in) | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 1.7 |
March is the driest month (0.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 66 °F). 4.0 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Soldotna →
Next door
Soldotna 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soldotna | 18% | 0.7 | 34 | 94% | A |
| Kalifornsky | 11% | 0.3 | 64 | 14% | B |
| Funny River | 31% | 0.1 | 1 | 4% | C |
| Sterling | 5% | 0.1 | 1 | 3% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Soldotna
Where can I hike in Soldotna?
The longest trail networks: Centennial Park, 1.8 miles; Soldotna Creek Park, 0.7 miles; Rotary Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Soldotna is conserved land?
18% 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 Soldotna’s trails?
Centennial Park and Soldotna Creek Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Soldotna?
2.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Soldotna?
2,139 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Soldotna or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 152 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Soldotna have?
Ahead of 92% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #2 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 Soldotna 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 →