Anchorage’s Campbell Lake, long closed to the public, begins to open up

Updated: January 19, 2020 Published: January 19, 2020

People ski on Campbell Lake Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. A Facebook event, titled "Storm Campbell Lake, They Can’t Stop All Of Us," was organized Saturday to encourage people to legally access the lake, after an article in the Alaska Landmine explored the history of the lake and access restrictions to it. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Jeff Landfield, editor of the Alaska Landmine, spent much of the day Saturday handing out burgers and hotdogs at a party in the middle of frozen Campbell Lake, possibly the first time such a public event had ever happened on the large lake in South Anchorage.

People recreate on Campbell Lake Saturday. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

In September, Landfield and Paxson Woelber reported on the history of the man-made lake and attempts to limit public access to it. Through their reporting they were able to determine that the public is allowed to recreate on the lake, provided they legally access it.

Some people accessed Campbell Lake via a section line easement. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Landfield then organized a GoFundMe campaign, which raised funds to have a surveyor mark two easements which provide legal access to the lake. Many of the over 100 people that came to the lake on Saturday used the easements, including Anchorage assembly member John Weddleton, who skied around the lake on a groomed track.

An airplane lands on a plowed strip on Campbell Lake on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. A Facebook event, titled "Storm Campbell Lake, They Can’t Stop All Of Us," was organized Saturday to encourage people to legally access the lake, after an article in the Alaska Landmine explored the history of the lake and access restrictions to it. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Loren Holmes

Loren Holmes is a staff photojournalist at the Anchorage Daily News. Contact him at loren@adn.com.