Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
Managed by United States Fish and Wildlife Service
753 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
C−Outdoors
Outdoors in Sterling
5% of Sterling’s land is conserved: 2,694 acres
3% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 9 acres are parks and preserves, 1.5 per 1,000 residents. 12 miles of mapped trail cross Sterling, 0.1 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
5%
2,694 acres · of 77.7 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
0.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
9 ac
1.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
3%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.9 mi
4.9 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
12
3 boat launches
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Sterling have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Sterling is ahead of 21% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Sterling’s overall grade.
Conserved land5% of the land · typical AK town 15% · U.S. 4%BTrails0.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · AK 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land1.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (9 acres) · AK 15 · U.S. 13C−Parks close to home3% of residents within a half mile of a park · AK 36% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 21%
LessMore
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 2%
Alaska towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Sterling’s 5% is ahead of 20% of Alaska towns, while its trails per square mile lead 20% of them.
NoteFew parks or trails are mapped in Sterling. OpenStreetMap is mapped by volunteers and coverage varies from town to town, so a town with unmapped parks scores low on them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Bing's Landing State Recreation Area
Managed by Alaska Department of Natural Resources
112 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Izaak Walton Campground & Day Use Area
Managed by State of Alaska, Dept. of Natural Resource
10 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
2,694 conserved acres
5% of Sterling’s land. Who manages Sterling’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service1,719 ac
State natural resources1,212 ac
Other state land644 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits44 ac
State Other or Unknown · 1,856 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 1,674 acFederal Other or Unknown · 46 acUnknown Easement · 44 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 5 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenai National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 1,674 | Restricted |
| State Land Disposals - Other Than Municipal State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 699 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Purposes State Other or Unknown | Other state land | 644 | Unknown |
| Kenai River Special Management Area State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 319 | Unknown |
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Entitlements, Mun State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 194 | Unknown |
| Kenai Administrative Site Federal Other or Unknown | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 46 | Restricted |
Things to do
6 places to go in Sterling
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Boat launches in Sterling
3 boat launches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Campgrounds in Sterling
Higher Ground Baptist Bible CampAlaska Baptist Association
DirectionsMoose Crossing RV Park & Campground
DirectionsPlus 1 campground without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 named trail and 12 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 6.0 mi
Jeep Trail0.7 mi
Biking & sports
4.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.9 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
The best walking months in Sterling: 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 | 7.2 | 5.7 |
| High (°F) | 22 | 28 | 33 | 46 | 56 | 63 | 66 | 64 | 55 | 42 | 28 | 23 |
| Rain (in) | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
March is the driest month (0.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 66 °F). 3.5 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Sterling →
Next door
Sterling and its neighbors
Sterling 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | 5% | 0.1 | 1 | 3% | C− |
| Funny River | 31% | 0.1 | 1 | 4% | C |
| Soldotna | 18% | 0.7 | 34 | 94% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Sterling
How much of Sterling is conserved land?
5% 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 Sterling’s trails?
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and Bing's Landing State Recreation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Sterling?
4.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.9 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Sterling?
1,939 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Sterling or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 9 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Sterling have?
Ahead of 21% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Sterling 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 →