Little Susitna River to the Lynx Lake Canoe Trail

It's mid-May in Alaska, and the options for big weekend trips are still fairly limited. I was looking up information on the Lynx Lake Canoe Trail, and found information on the DNR website about an access option being the Little Susitna River from the intersection with the Parks Highway. A group of 6 of us decided to give it a try, and connect it with the Lynx Lake Canoe Trail, and end at Tanaina Lake. 

We staged a truck at the Tanaina Lake Trailhead on Nancy Lake Parkway and started with a canoe, a double kayak and a single kayak from the intersection of the Little Susitna and the Parks Highway, at Mile 57. From the parking lot, there is a hardly noticeable trail that is only about 100 feet to a nice put-in on the Little Su. 

From here, we paddled, and paddled and paddled. It seemed like the water was moving a good 3 miles per hour, but considering it took us 5.5 hours paddling, the current wasn't as strong as it seemed. Nonetheless, mid-way down there were a surprising number of quick turns and fallen trees and random rocks to paddle around. 

At mile 14 was the Portage for Skeetna Lake. It's a steep muddy cliff face. It was quite difficult to get our watercraft up it, but that was the easy part...the 1/2 mile portage was a lot longer than any 1/2 mile I've ever been on. Especially since everyone was struggling with moving their gear and kayaks, so I ended up doing 3 roundtrips on every portage. That's a lot of walking for a water route! 

Over time--and there were 13 portages in total--we figured out what worked best. Since I am taller, I would carry my backpack and use it as a cushion on the front of the canoe, while someone behind me had a clear view as well. The double kayak we had with a rudder was awful to carry. 

In the future, I would do this trip again if it involved a canoe and 3 people, or just packrafts. Packrafts being the best option of all, without a doubt. 

We started floating from the Little Su/Parks Highway at about 1pm on Saturday, and we were at the Lynx Lake Cabin at about 10pm that night. The next day it took 4 hours to head up the north part of the loop to the Tanaina Lake Trailhead. 

From the Lynx Lake Cabin

The put-in on the Little Susitna. The Parks Highway is visible in the distance, as is the direction of flow. The parking lot is about a 1 minute walk from this location. 

Floating down the Little Susitna

After the first 1/2 mile Portage...a channel leading into Skeetna Lake