The best traffic-free bike rides in the Kenai Mountains

The multi-use trail along Elmore Road starts off looking very urbanized, marked by a curved pedestrian bridge over the first major road intersection. But the farther north you follow this paved trail the more interesting it gets, passing through greenbelts and even sporting a few sculptural and artistic touches. Bikes are welcome here, but please watch out for slower trail users!

You won't find any big terrain features here. Instead, this is a broad multi-use trail that connects the trail system around Service High School with the Campbell Tract trails, and further beyond into Anchorage. It's also part of the route known as the "Tour of Anchorage." Technically the Tour is an annual ski marathon, but its route is very popular for year-round recreation, and if you don't mind pedaling on snow there is even a fat-tire bike section in the race.

This packed-gravel doubletrack isn't just part of the trail network here in Campbell Tract. It's also an important part of the route known as the Tour of Anchorage. Technically the Tour of Anchorage is a ski marathon, but there is a bike division and the overall route is very popular for recreation all year 'round. The north end of this trail is very close to another trail known as Rover's Run, which is closed every year to reduce the risk of dangerous (and sometimes fatal) bear encounters. Please respect the warning signs and trail closure, for your safety.

This dirt/gravel singletrack trail is fun to ride, but it's not the sort of fast, swooping trail you'll find elsewhere. It's also very popular with runners and walkers and once you're past the first, deceptively wide and easy-looking portion, there really isn't room to pass on this narrow track. If you want to beat the (relative) crowds, you can always ride the nearby road to the other end of the trail. Wildlife sightings are very common here, especially when fish are running in the nearby creek.

This park has open sports fields, a picnic pavilion that is free for use if not reserved by another party (fee applies), and some playground equipment. It's also a great place to access the unpaved, but still pretty easy to ride, network of multi-use trails on this side of town.

This trail isn't paved, but it is wide and straight and easy to ride, as long as you don't have skinny racing tires on your bike. Use caution in regard to wildlife, especially as you approach the creek, because bear sightings are very common here when fish are running. Because of how common bear encounters can be near the creek, officials close the Rover's Run Trail (which intersects near the east end of this trail) to traffic during the summer. Please respect that closure — it is for your safety.

This multi-use trail is mostly hard-packed dirt. It's totally non-technical, though, excepting some persistent muddy spots, so as long as you don't have skinny road tires it's pretty easily bikeable. Please keep an eye out for wildlife like bears and moose, as encounters are always possible around here — and watch for oncoming bike traffic and slower walkers, as this is a little narrower than many other multi-use trails in town.

This is actually several trails cobbled together to create the route for the Tour of Anchorage, a ski marathon that happens every March. There's also a fat-tire-bike division, and these trails are a popular choice for summer biking, too. The riding surface is mostly a mix of wide, hard-packed dirt and gravel that most bikes can handle, as long as you don't have skinny road-racing tires.