Copper River Boat Launch Facilities Improvements (FLAP)

Photo: Copper River campground at McCarthy Road MP 1.5 near Chitina, Alaska, August 2019.

We are working to upgrade the Copper River boat launch facility rest area and parking lot by upgrading individual sites at the rest area, enhancing road surfacing, and improve parking capacity.

The purpose of this project is to improve the access road to the Copper River and provide parking for vehicles and trailers. Other improvements include upgrading individual campsites to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. The existing wooden restroom will be repaired and a new ADA-compliant concrete double-vault restroom building will be constructed.

Currently the rest area is under heavy use by travelers in summer months and parking is limited. Facilities have not been upgraded in several decades. The existing restroom facility is deteriorating and trash bins are limited. Few sites have functioning picnic tables and fire rings.

The majority of work on this project was completed in 2023. This included building an approximately 153' x 211' x 2.5' sized gravel parking lot for vehicles and boat trailers, resurfacing the existing campground roads with six inches of gravel, improving restroom facilities to ADA standards, and providing a turnaround area for boat trailers near Copper River Landing. Work on this project will resume in the spring of 2024 with only minor work remaining, such as installing picnic tables, fire rings, garbage cans, and rest area guide signs. We expect work on this project to be complete in summer 2024.

This project is being developed in cooperation with the Alaska Division of the Federal Highway Administration and funded by a grant from the Western Federal Land Access Program (FLAP).