Juneau proposes handing North Bridget Cove trail to state in budget-driven swap

Alaska State Parks would take over maintenance of the North Bridget Cove Beach Access Trail and its trailhead under a proposed amendment to a 2006 memorandum of understanding that Juneau's Parks and Recreation Department brought to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee on Monday.

The swap matters to hikers and trail users on both ends. North Bridget Cove is a 3.3-mile coastal route about 40 miles north of town, the farthest CBJ trail from the Parks Maintenance shop. The city's June 8 budget cuts eliminated $75,000 in Trail Mix brushing contracts, making the cost of reaching and maintaining that remote trail harder to justify. In exchange, the city would gain formal maintenance authority over the Mt. Juneau Trail and Granite Basin Trail, consolidating city trail work within the Gold Creek watershed above downtown.

Parks Director Marc Wheeler framed the trade as operationally sound beyond the budget pressure. "As the furthest CBJ trail from our Park Maintenance shop, maintaining the North Bridget Cove Beach Access Trail requires more resources to maintain than trails closer to town," Wheeler wrote in his director's report to the committee. "We feel that this transition of trail management makes sense for both organizations and the community."

The state's interest is straightforward. Brad Garasky, Southeast Region Park Superintendent for Alaska State Parks, told city staff in March that the state has a vested interest in the trail because it provides access to the Camping Cove cabin inside Point Bridget State Park, a 2,850-acre park with nearly 10 miles of trails. The existing MOU, which dates to 2006, covers certain DNR lands and resources within or adjacent to the Perseverance Trail but does not clearly assign maintenance authority for the trails the amendment addresses.

One piece of the deal remains unfinished. Legal descriptions of the affected trail corridors have not been fully incorporated into the amendment text. The parties have 180 days after signing to finalize and attach them.

The committee was asked to recommend that the department proceed with amending the MOU as proposed. If adopted, that recommendation would authorize staff to move forward with the amendment rather than the committee advancing it directly.