Dock Point
Park
23 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dock Point Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the trailhead
Photo: Joseph from Cabin On The Road, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Valdez
More than half of Valdez’s land is conserved: 95%
95% of Valdez’s land is conserved, about 128,714 acres. The biggest trail networks: Dock Point (0.6 mi). 66 acres are parks and preserves, 17 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns · #15 of 41 in Alaska. What drives it
Conserved land
95%
128,714 acres · of 211.7 sq mi of land
Trails
38 mi
0.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
66 ac
17 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
54%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
12 mi
12 mi paths
Highest peak
5,427 ft
Mount Francis
Lakes & rivers
6
2 beaches · 2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Valdez?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Valdez have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Valdez is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #15 of 41 in Alaska. Conserved land holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Valdez’s overall grade.
Conserved land95% of the land · typical AK town 15% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (38 mi) · AK 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C+Park land17 acres of park per 1,000 residents (66 acres) · AK 15 · U.S. 13BParks close to home54% 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 67%
LessMore
Alaska towns of 2,500+ (41)Ahead of 65%
Alaska towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 15%; the U.S., 4%), so Valdez’s 95% is ahead of 95% of Alaska towns, while its trails per square mile lead 25% of them.
Water is 22% of Valdez’s area (60 of 272 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 75%.
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 Dock Point, with 0.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Meyring Park South
Park
8 acres0.4 mi of trail
Park Strip Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Goldfields Softball Complex
Park
16 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Meyring Park North
Park
6 acres0.3 mi of trail
Park Strip Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 6 parks & preserves
Dock Point23 acres · 0.6 mi of trail
DirectionsMeyring Park South8 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsGoldfields Softball Complex16 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsMeyring Park North6 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsNellie Juan-College Fiord Wilderness Study Area527 acres · United States Forest Service
Ruth Pond Park2 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
128,714 conserved acres
95% of Valdez’s land. Water is left out: Valdez has 211.7 square miles of land and 60.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Valdez’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources96,384 ac
U.S. Forest Service19,400 ac
Bureau of Land Management14,247 ac
Other or Unknown Federal Land20 ac
State Other or Unknown · 91,233 acNational Forest · 19,043 acNational Public Lands · 14,073 acState Conservation Area · 5,151 acConservation Easement · 551 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 213 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 15 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 | 72,821 | Unknown |
| Chugach National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 19,043 | Open |
| State Land Disposals - Municipal Purposes State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 15,230 | Unknown |
| Glennallen Field Office National Public Lands | Bureau of Land Management | 14,073 | Open |
| Shoup Bay State Marine Park State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 3,751 | Restricted |
| State Land Disposals - Other Than Municipal State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 2,545 | Unknown |
| Jack Bay State Marine Park State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 1,400 | Restricted |
| State Tentatively Approved (tad) State Other or Unknown | State natural resources | 636 | Unknown |
Things to do
41 places to go in Valdez
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Valdez
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Valdez
6 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Valdez
2 boat launches without a name on the map.
Waterfalls in Valdez
Anderson Falls
DirectionsBridalveil Falls
DirectionsHorsetail Falls
DirectionsRudleston Falls
DirectionsPlus 6 waterfalls without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Valdez
Duck Flats Viewpoint
DirectionsKeystone Canyon
DirectionsRobe Lake Viewpoint
DirectionsValdez City Viewing Point
DirectionsValdez Glacier Lake view
DirectionsPlus 3 scenic views without a name on the map.
Peaks in Valdez
Mount Francis5,427 ft elevation
DirectionsMount Thomas4,324 ft elevation
DirectionsSugarloaf Mountain3,484 ft elevation
DirectionsPlus 4 peaks without a name on the map.
Picnic areas in Valdez
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Campgrounds in Valdez
Allison PointFee · City of Valdez
DirectionsAllison PointFee · City of Valdez
DirectionsAllison PointFee · City of Valdez
DirectionsAllison Point CampgroundFee · Fort Greely MWR
DirectionsPlus 1 campground without a name on the map.
Trails & water
4 named trails and 6 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.7 miUnpaved · 10.9 mi
Shoup Bay Trail7.1 mi
Bridal Veil Falls Trail4.0 mi
Dock Point Trail0.4 mi
Park Strip Trail0.3 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
12 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
12 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Baseball
4Softball
4Basketball
2Tennis
1Skate park
1Football
1Tracks
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Valdez: 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) | 6.4 | 8.9 | 11.5 | 14.6 | 17.4 | 19.3 | 18.4 | 15.8 | 12.8 | 9.9 | 7.1 | 5.5 |
| High (°F) | 29 | 32 | 37 | 46 | 56 | 63 | 64 | 62 | 55 | 45 | 34 | 31 |
| Rain (in) | 6.6 | 5.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 3.9 | 7.0 | 9.8 | 8.0 | 6.1 | 7.7 |
June is the driest month (2.4 in) and July the warmest (highs of 64 °F). 9.8 inches fall in September, the wettest month. The climate in Valdez →
Questions about parks and trails in Valdez
Where can I hike in Valdez?
The longest trail networks: Dock Point, 0.6 miles; Meyring Park South, 0.4 miles; Goldfields Softball Complex, 0.3 miles; Meyring Park North, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Valdez is conserved land?
95% 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 Valdez’s trails?
Dock Point and Meyring Park South don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Valdez?
12 miles of bike routes are on the map: 12 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Valdez?
112,167 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Valdez or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 14,260 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Valdez have?
Ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #15 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 Valdez 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 →