Is willow side hatchers pass regulated to snowmachining?
- Thread starter m7162
- Start date
As far as I know, it's open.... untill you get to the pass and Summit lake area. I am not sure where exactly the boundary starts though...
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aktreekiller
Well-known member
yeah
I know in the past when we have gone early season there signs saying what was open.
I know in the past when we have gone early season there signs saying what was open.
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AKboondocker
Well-known member
Willow side is unregulated.
Unregulated untill you get to the gate on the road going up to summit lake, draw an imaginary line up the hill from the gate and there you have it.
just wondering if willow side has to be "opened by park officals to ride there". if not when it warms up i think theres some snow hiding up there lol lol
Are you thinking about giving it a try Mike?
Not much snow
I wouldn't get too excited just yet. There is only about 8" up here and not much cushion underneath. Not to mention a lot of rocks that love to eat a-arms. As hard as it is to wait, I'd hold off until we get another snowfall.
I wouldn't get too excited just yet. There is only about 8" up here and not much cushion underneath. Not to mention a lot of rocks that love to eat a-arms. As hard as it is to wait, I'd hold off until we get another snowfall.
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Winter Project
Well-known member
This information above is currently accurate. HOWEVER, as many of you are aware, this management plan is currently under revision. I believe a major revision underway was a consideration to expand the management area(which i personally lobbied against in several letters to the park service). If I remember correctly, most of the expansion area was out near the Arch Angel boundary...
That was the impression I got from all that also. I thought they were going to open up the east side of Archangle to snowmachines again? Anyone heard more on this?
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ak49er
Well-known member
Don't listen to them.....
....go ahead and ride the West Side, just take a couple rolls of survey flagging, and lathe, and mark ALL the rocks you find. And when you're done, I'll be the guy in the parking lot with a handful of A-arms for sale, special 4M price of course.
....go ahead and ride the West Side, just take a couple rolls of survey flagging, and lathe, and mark ALL the rocks you find. And when you're done, I'll be the guy in the parking lot with a handful of A-arms for sale, special 4M price of course.
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Thanks, I was not sure where it starts.....
At our October meeting Wayne Biessel, the Director of HPSP spoke to the Anchorage Snowmobile Club about access and motorized/non motorized areas.
He's a pro-motorized manager and wants(is considering) moving some boundaries on the east side to allow for better traffic flow and possibly widening the Archangel trail to allow motorized and non motorized lanes.
He also wants to widen and redesign the parking lots for better traffic flow. He suggested the possibility of adding loading ramps.
The land on the west side is owned by DNR which comes with it's own issues but Wayne said HPSP is trying to work with them.
Check out the website or call him for clarification
*EDIT* shameless club plug....
The ASC meets tomorrow night (18 Nov) 7pm at the IBEW hall on Denali (across from the Century 16 theater)
He's a pro-motorized manager and wants(is considering) moving some boundaries on the east side to allow for better traffic flow and possibly widening the Archangel trail to allow motorized and non motorized lanes.
He also wants to widen and redesign the parking lots for better traffic flow. He suggested the possibility of adding loading ramps.
The land on the west side is owned by DNR which comes with it's own issues but Wayne said HPSP is trying to work with them.
Check out the website or call him for clarification
*EDIT* shameless club plug....
The ASC meets tomorrow night (18 Nov) 7pm at the IBEW hall on Denali (across from the Century 16 theater)
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Winter Project
Well-known member
Ya hopefully they open a lot more of the East side. They already limit use by letting the snow accumulate to protect the underlying vegetation, which is great. With that in mind plus the number of sleds vs. non-motorized users in the winter... its hard to deny us access. I'm very interested and seeing what they come up with.
If ALL the motorized users across the board use good trail etiquette and common sense, i think there is enough room out there for everyone to get along without the park service having to set up boundaries.... just my ten cents.
Definatley, but you know you have the 10 percent out there that dont and it only takes a handful to ruin it for the majority.
Ive tried to put in my .02 in emails but having a slope job you miss a lot of meetings so I appreciate all of you guys and gals going to these meetings and not only showing support for the motorized users but also to fill me in on what i dont hear
I remember riding the east side of Archangel as a kid before hatchers pass road was even paved it was a blast. When i came back to Alaska all you see is no motorized use signs alon the east side of the trail. Kinda sucks!
If you're going to ride the road up to the pass from the willow side, watch out for Mushers, There's lots of them up there now. I've had a few close calls in the past.
