Clear Creek Buttes Loop

Clear Creek Buttes has a new loop ride.

The fires this past summer did some major damage to the Bonnifield Trail through the northern base of Clear Creek Buttes. I took a crew of six out on Feb 4th and we did get it partially opened, just not all the way along the base, but up to the Buttes anyway.

This week three of us got together to try and finish it up, not happening. We cut a bypass through the spruce and though we had it, hahahahaha, got about another mile down the trail and ran into more windblown and burned out large spruce trees, too much for this day.

So we decided to do some exploring and run along the ridge trail on the Buttes and low and behold, someone worked on the southern end of the fire area and opened the trail from the Buttes to where the Bonnifield becomes part of the military access road to the Tanana. I mean they did a LOT of work and my hat off to whoever you are.

So we did put on a nice 45 miles and make a loop of it from Chena Pump Landing, over the Buttes, down the southern end to the military road. From there we rode the road out to the ice bridge across the Tanana by Cushman street, turned down the Iron Dog trail on the Tanana and made it back to the landing.

One note, the Salchaket Slough has lots of slush, we tried it and I don’t recommend it, stay on the Tanana, much better ride.