New Potter Marsh boardwalk and ice-skating ramp open Saturday

Visitors at Potter Marsh have often used narrow highway shoulders to view wildlife or reach frozen ponds. That changes Saturday, Aug. 29, when a new 200-foot wildlife viewing boardwalk, a viewing platform and an ADA-accessible ice-skating ramp and stairs open to the public at the marsh's south end.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game called the amenities a dedicated, safe space for year-round recreation. It did not say shoulder and pullout access will end. Recreation guides call highway pullouts the more convenient way onto the ice, and bikes and skateboards are prohibited on the existing boardwalk.

The new facilities sit near Little Survival Creek, at the Old Seward Highway and Potter Valley Road intersection inside the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. The boardwalk will be open year-round. The skating ramp will operate seasonally. Interpretive signs cover marsh hydrology and ecosystems.

Potter Marsh, which the department calls Anchorage's most popular wildlife viewing destination, draws more than 150,000 visits a year.

ADF&G and the Department of Natural Resources' Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation managed the work with the Municipality of Anchorage, ConocoPhillips, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and the Rabbit Creek Community Council. Anchorage funded it through a 2022 American Rescue Plan Act grant, with a contribution from ConocoPhillips.