Non-Motorized Transportation System (Mt Dewey Trail Extension)

This project is a partnership between local, state, and federal agencies to enhance non-motorized access to Wrangell.  The project concentrates on Phase I of Wrangell’s Outdoor Recreation plan, which serves to enhance trails that serve as an access point, for local recreationalists and visitors traveling to Wrangell, to approximately 118,000 acres of land on Wrangell Island (of which approximately 110,000 acres is federal lands) and an additional 1,597,021 square miles of Tongass National Forest lands that lie within the Wrangell Borough. 

The Non-Motorized Transportation System consists of a non-motorized multi-use trail project connecting the existing Mt. Dewey Trail by way of an extension to Bennett Street for access to the US Forest Service District Ranger Station and Visitor Center.  It also includes a connection from the existing Volunteer Loop Trail to Ishiyama Drive and design of a trailhead parking area on Bennett Street. 

This project will create off-road parking and new connector trails (a combination of gravel and boardwalk) by providing hardened and delineated pathways to a network of existing informal footpaths, making them passable for practical, secondary transportation purposes.

Funding comes from the Federal Highways' Federal Land Access Program (FLAP), in-kind contributions from the USFS, and from City and Borough of Wrangell in-kind contributions and monetary contributions.

Public Walk-Through and Information Meetings - October 13, 2022

The public was invited to walk through the new route of the upcoming Mt Dewey Trail Extension project with Borough staff and the PND design team last week on Thursday, October 13, 2022, 3:00 p.m. The walk will began at the existing Mt Dewey trailhead on Third Street. The walk will follow the existing boardwalk for a period and then drop down the backside of Mt Dewey hillside and through the muskeg below where the natural terrain is steep, brushy, and boggy. Rubber boots were encouraged to be worn for walking through the muskeg.

Following the field walk-through, a public information meeting to review the Mt Dewey Trail Extension project was held Thursday, October 13, 2022, 5:30–6:30 pm at the Nolan Center.

At this meeting, the PND Engineers and Corvus Design team for this project provided an update on the design of the trail having incorporated feedback from a previous public meeting. The project area extends from the existing Mt Dewey Trail to Bennett Street, near Ishiyama Drive. The project also includes a connector trail from the existing Volunteer Loop Trail to Ishiyama Drive.

For questions about the meeting, please contact Amber Al-Haddad, 907-874-3902, aal-haddad@wrangell.com