Mapping the Valley's trails

Valley Life editor

If you are looking for a comprehensive, detailed topographic map of Valley trails, the Mat-Su Borough may have the answer -- and you can thank voters in the 1981 election.

Tomorrow, the Mat-Su Borough will have on sale color topographic maps, printed on waterproof paper, of most of the trails in the Valley. The map project is part of a long-term project that began with funding from a bond package approved in 1981.

"It's more of a life-long project," said Ron Swanson, the Mat-Su Borough director of community development. "First we started identifying trails and trail systems, and then we had to prioritize them in terms of the amount of use they get. Throughout the years, we've been surveying and mapping them, and now we're getting those maps to the public. It'll be an ongoing project in that we'd like to update one or two individual trail maps a year."

The trails are on a single map, with varying scales. Swanson explained that the larger trails, in the more visited areas, are more detailed than the outlying trails.

"There are a lot of trails on the map. Obviously, the map doesn't have every single trail in the Valley, but it has the trails you can be out on, legally," Swanson explained.

The maps were printed on waterproof paper, making them handy for backpackers who don't let weather slow them down.

"They'll stand up to the water weather that we have during the summer," Swanson said with a chuckle. "And you can roll them up and swat at mosquitoes while you are out there, too."

Initially, the maps will be on sale at the Mat-Su Borough building in Palmer, probably for $8 Swanson said -- just to cover the printing costs. Swanson is hoping to have them available through distributors, but that is still in the planning stages.

In the next few years, Swanson said the borough would like to have maps of individual trails available. For now, though, this year's project helps replace older maps of trails.

"Basically, those maps were like great Eagle Scout projects, but that's as good as they were. I'm not knocking Eagle Scouts projects, but they weren't comprehensive, detailed maps. They were outdated."