Borough's Tech Departments Release New Trail Maps Online

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB), through its Geographic Information System (GIS) Division, has released maps of the Borough's trails, totaling almost 3,200 miles, and has posted them on their website.

"This is the very first time we have made trails data available to the public," said Heidi Whipple, GIS Specialist for the MSB. She added, "This project has been a priority for our community development team and the GIS team since 2015. The most challenging aspect of compiling this data was the sheer volume and the variety of datasources."

The Land & Resource Management Department and the GIS Division, a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information, worked together to update the borough's information of its 1,200 trails.

The www.trails.matsu.gov website currently lists the following maps available for download:

Bodenburg Butte Trail

Christiansen Lake Trail

Eska Falls Trail

Lazy Mountain Trail

Greenbelt Trail

Mat Peak Trail

Pioneer Ridge Trail

Mat River Park Trail

Rail Trail Trail

Talkeetna Ridge Trail

The PDFs are available now and will be available as paper brochures later this year at the main Borough building in Palmer.

The website also has an interactive map, along with a key to refine the information displayed for a user's needs, such as ATV use, dog sledding, pedestrian traffic, mountain biking and more

The information is for visual reference and recreational use only, and not intended for planning, construction, navigation, or legal purposes. The Borough warns that care should always be taken when recreating along the trails, and as some trails cross private property, that some trails may be restricted from time-to-time and that users of the data should always respect private property owners' rights.

The Borough's GIS Department, Recreation Services and Land & Resource Management Department will continue to work on the accuracy of all the maps, and feedback can be provided to Land & Resource Management Department at www.Land.Management@matsugov.us