One of the ironies of the recent “improvements” along Chilkoot River road is that money spent there for nothing could have gone to provide something very important at Chilkat State Park – access.
I recently drove to the end of the Chilkat park road to share a bonfire and a sky full of stars with a friend, but it wasn’t easy getting there. Starting on Mud Bay Road, a mile before you even enter the park, the road surface is a veritable minefield of potholes.
I drive an old truck that I don’t baby and I live on an old logging road that requires some clearance and guts to navigate, but is there a reason that the road leading our valley’s prettiest park matches my donkey trail?
Remarkably, once you drive into the park, the road gets even worse, becoming a steep and winding washboard that could be compared only to a very long succession of speed bumps. A driver who truly hated his car wouldn’t subject it to that road.
Compounding the irony is that Chilkat is a park like few others in the state. Located on a scenic inlet and overlooking two glaciers, it offers two idyllic campgrounds, a seven-mile beachfront hiking trail, a boat launch and hundreds of acres of forest and beach to play. Put down in Michigan, it would be a national park jammed with campers, hikers and fishermen.
Due to the short-sighted morons who dominate the Alaska Legislature, Chilkat Park has lost some of its luster. A float along its boat ramp was removed years ago, due in part to the fact that it wasn’t used much, which was due in part to the fact that boaters didn’t like banging down the washboard road.
A 14-mile loop trail planned when the park was built was never finished, leaving hikers with a seven-mile in-and-out that includes rocky beach sections that can be tough on ankles. Finishing the loop would put hikers on softer terrain and on the high mountain ridge there, providing unparalleled views.
Existing trails in the park always lag for maintenance. There are even areas for new campsites, but with low visitation already, what would be the point?
In the late 1980s, when Haines supported four RV parks, the Haines Chamber of Commerce regularly wrote letters to the State of Alaska, pleading for improvements to the park road. RVers were upset. They loved the park but hated what it did to their vehicles.
As COVID-19 subsides, Haines tour officials say they expect to see a big jump in traffic by RVs and independent travelers, the kind of visitors that locals appreciate.
A decent road to Chilkat State Park and increased maintenance would transform that park into a gem that would attract and keep visitors here, increasing town revenues and enhancing the town’s fame as an outdoors paradise.
To start, the Haines Chamber of Commerce, which prides itself as an engine for sensible development, needs to write some letters to the morons in the state legislature, maybe even to our dopey governor.