Nancy Lakes (Nordic Skate)

Buggy, brushy, and flat--Nancy Lake State Recreation Area is not my favorite destination in the summer. In early winter, however, its myriad lakes and sloughs become an ice archipelago that is ideal for nordic skating. After several months of boot-slogging around at a walker’s pace, it is exhilarating to fly across the ice on metal blades.

Nordic skating has existed for a long time. Before the era of climate change, Swedes would skate across frozen ocean water from island to island near the coast. More recently, nordic skating has become popular in Alaska, particularly as new weather patterns push the ski season farther and farther back. Southcentral’s more extreme tides generally preclude skate-based ocean travel, but when cold weather precedes snow it creates countless skating opportunities. From the Swan Lakes system on the Kenai to Jim Creek in the Mat-Su, there are numerous lake and river systems where Southcentral residents can skate into the backcountry. One of the most accessible is Nancy Lakes State Recreation Area, including the Lynx Lake route.

Nancy Lake Recreation Area is one of the most developed in the state. It has established portage routes marked with orange signs that are generally visible from the lakes. Public use cabins on Lynx, Red Shirt, and other lakes are common glamping (glamour camping) destinations. Though most visitors use boats, skis, or snowmachines to cross the lakes, there is also a hiking trail system that connects many of the lakes and cabins. Though the infrastructure was primarily designed to support summer watersports or winter snow travel, the portage trails and cabins make it exceptionally easy to skate across numerous lakes and sloughs in a day or weekend, with little risk of getting lost. What Nancy Lake Recreation Area provides in convenience and safety, it takes away in loss of solitude. Several of the lakes in the area have private cabins, and the well-marked trail system feels about halfway in between Central Park and actual wilderness. Of course, it is never too far from the backcountry--if you don’t like marked trails, just head southwest into the vastness of the streams and lakes in the lower Susitna basin.

Tanaina Lake trailhead, located four miles from the Parks Highway on Nancy Lakes Parkway, is the most convenient way to access ice skating at Nancy Lakes. It is about an hour and a half from Anchorage, and requires either a day fee or possession of a state park pass. From the trailhead, just walk a few yards down through the woods to Tanaina Lake, checking out the map on the way down. Of course, it is wise to bring a map and GPS as well, though several of the portages have maps posted. Tanaina Lake has portages at its south and east ends, and taking one or the other will determine whether you are skating the Lynx loop clockwise or counterclockwise. This description is of the counterclockwise option.

Like most of the portages, the short walk from Tanaina to Milo Lake only takes about five minutes. Nordic skates (approximately $100 per pair, available at Alaska Mountaineering and Hiking), which detach from your skate ski boots, make the walk much easier compared to walking across on hockey skates. Then it’s another few minutes across Milo Lake before a short portage to Ardaw Lake. Ardaw has a couple of lobes that you can explore; the easternmost leads to the next portage across to Jacknife Lake. One of my favorite parts of the Lynx Lake loop is the series of sloughs and ponds between Jacknife and Frazer Lakes. The narrow channel meanders through sandy-blonde grass, with winter’s low sunlight filtering through the tip tops of lakeside spruce. After skating through this dreamscape, the small channels open up on Frazer Lake, and the series of easy portages and lake skates continues.

It only takes a few hours to skate the Lynx Lake loop that begins and ends at Tanaina Lake. With a little more time, about a half to three-quarters of a day, you can continue south and explore one or more of the Butterfly Lakes. There is a boardwalk-covered slough near the southern end of Lynx Lake that connects to the Echo Ponds. On a map, they look like lima beans that a child strung together with thread. At ground level, that thread is a narrow, wandering iceway that links the ponds together. Several lakes later, skaters arrive at East Butterfly Lake, named for its dual wing shape. Butterfly Lake is a little farther west. On slightly larger lakes such as these, proceed carefully if the cold has not been deep or prolonged. There may be ample ice on smaller ponds but thin ice or open water on larger lakes.

From East Butterfly, more ambitious skaters can make their way west toward Red Shirt Lake, without the benefit of such well-marked and maintained portaged. Leisure skaters can turn back north, returning to the well-marked Lynx Lake loop. The southwest half of the loop first crosses Charr, Owl, and James Lake, small water bodies that pass in quick succession amidst short, easy portages. A slightly longer portage connects James Lake with Chicken Lake, which can sometimes have thinner ice than its neighbors. Whoever named “Big Noluck” and “Little Noluck” lakes, which are to the north of Chicken, clearly was not on ice skates. Big Noluck has enchanting little bays and islands that invite exploration. From Little Noluck Lake, the longest portage of the day--still very short--connects back to Tanaina Lake after a crossing of the diminutive Milo Pond.

The ice skating season can be short in Southcentral. After the snows come, Nancy Lake Recreation Area will be the province of skiers, snowmachiners, and fat bikers. In this early winter interlude, take a day to skate the lakes, meandering through marsh grasses between shimmering frozen pools decorated with intricate ice crystals from last night’s freeze.