Hunter Access
Completed Projects
Compeau Trailhead — Chena River State Recreation Area
Coordinates: 64.891768, -146.687310
Game Management Unit: 20B
Land Manager: Department of Natural Resources (DNR); Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation
Description
The Chena River State Recreation Area (SRA) is a popular destination for hunters harvesting moose, black and grizzly bears, caribou, wolves, furbearers, and waterfowl. The Chena River provides a great place to fish, kayak, or canoe, while a variety of trails in the SRA are frequented by hikers, climbers, runners, and backpackers. Compeau Trail is a multi-use ATV trail located at mile 29.9 of Chena Hot Spring Road outside of Fairbanks.
Prior to the completion of this project, the Compeau Trailhead was a small, primitive parking area that struggled to facilitate safe or sanitary conditions for users, but especially for hunters seeking a location for hunt staging.


Purpose
The project objective was to develop the Compeau Trailhead to improve hunting access by providing managed traffic flow, increased parking, sanitary facilities, orientation panels with trail maps, kiosk, an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) ramp, and other accessible trailhead amenities.
The project objective was to improve hunting access through the development of the Compeau Trailhead. These improvements would increase the lot capacity and provide relevant user information, expand facilities, and provide a loading ramp for ATVs.
Outcome
The project was completed and open to the public in June 2019. The trailhead parking area was paved and expanded to accommodate up to 20 trucks with trailers and an ATV loading ramp was constructed. Sanitary needs were met by installing vaulted toilets and bear-proof garbage cans. A kiosk with orientation panels, trail maps, and informative signs provide users with background for the area.