Mat-Su Trails Passport offers prizes for visiting borough trails

What you need to know:

• The Matanuska-Susitna Borough has introduced the free Mat-Su Trails Passport, encouraging residents and visitors to explore nine designated trails and parks, collect trailhead stickers or log visits online, and enter a raffle by July 19.
• Borough officials say the passport is part of a marketing effort to promote Mat-Su's outdoor recreation, which continues to attract visitors and residents alike. The borough reports day-pass sales have doubled compared with the same period last year.
• Participants can win prizes including tickets to a wrestling event in Big Lake, a Salmon Berry Tours trip to Independence Mine State Historical Park, and admission to Alaska Raceway Park. Officials hope to launch a second round of the challenge later this summer.

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PALMER — Park and trail users in Mat-Su can enter a raffle to win prizes this year by logging a series of visits to outdoor spots as part of a challenge organized by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

The new Mat-Su Trails Passport is designed to connect locals and tourists with basic information about some of the region's top recreation areas while also adding a competitive spirit. 

Users log their visits to one of nine designated stops by adding stickers stashed at the trailheads to a printed parks passport book available for free at a series of borough-owned facilities. They can also use a digital log on the borough’s website.

When they’re done, they can enter the raffle by dropping off their booklet or finishing their online visit tally, said Andy Mergens, a borough parks and recreation manager.

Users hoping to win a prize as part of the challenge need to turn in their completed books or log their results by July 19, he said.

While that date falls in the middle of peak trail visiting season, Mergens chose the deadline because some of the raffle prizes are for events or experiences happening before the end of the summer, he said.

Prizes include tickets to a wrestling event in Big Lake, a Salmon Berry Travel and Tours-led visit to Independence Mine State Historical Park, and tickets to Alaska Raceway Park in Butte, he said.

Mergens selected the nine trails included in the book based on their popularity and accessibility for drive-up parking. They are Cravasse Moraine, Settlers Bay Coastal Park, Matanuska River Park, Lazy Mountain, Butte Trail, Pioneer Ridge, Government Peak Recreation Area, and Talkeetna Lakes. Eska Falls in Sutton is included as a bonus 10th destination but is not part of the official challenge because the trailhead is difficult to access due to road conditions, Mergens said.

Users are welcome to set their own rules for when they check off a destination, he said, and visitors are not expected to fully complete each trail. Some destinations, such as Pioneer Ridge, are very challenging, while others, such as the system that runs through Cravasse Moraine, are very long.

"The intent is to get people out to them. They can then elect how far and how much they want to take on," he said.

The passports are part of a renewed marketing effort within the borough's community development office, Mergens said. The borough spent $3,500 to print the books and stickers used to mark the sites, he said.

Parks and trails are among the top attractions for both visitors and residents in Mat-Su, Mergens said, a trend reflected in the revenue the borough receives from parking passes. During the first eight days of this month, the borough sold 1,200 day passes, about double the number sold during the same period last year, he said.

"The borough wants to bring revenue and people into the things that the borough does," Mergens said. "One of the things that we thought was, well, what do they come out here to do? And a lot of people come out to the trails."

Those statistics match what local tourism officials are seeing in the region, said Casy Ressler, who leads the Mat-Su Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"Trails and outdoor recreation are a huge draw and something that visitors are interested in," he said. "It's also a huge draw for locals trying to get out and recreate in Mat-Su."

Mergens said he hopes to run another round of the passport challenge during the second half of the summer, with prizes that could include borough parking passes or other donated items.

The program is also similar to one spearheaded by the city of Wasilla for park users. Introduced last year, the city's passport books are designed primarily for youth and include details about park locations and specific features found at each one. Unlike the borough's effort, the program does not include prizes.

The city printed 1,000 booklets for this summer, Wasilla Recreation Director Scott Bell said in an email. They are available at locations around the city, including City Hall, the Wasilla Public Library, and the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, he said.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com