Anchorage Outdoor Family Network

March 3, 2012 10:30 AM. 28 attended.

Iditarod Tailgate Party

Tikishla Park (map)

Selected By: Harmony

17 photos of this Meetup

Uploaded by: Harmony

Join the Anchorage Outdoor Family Network and the Airport Heights Community Council for a family friendly Iditarod Tailgate Party. Witness a beautiful and renowned part of Alaskan History first hand. Park at Tikishla Park and amble a short way down the Chester creek trail and watch all your favorite mushers and their teams fly down the trail of the ceremonial start. Bring your hot cocoa, a snack to share and a sign to cheer on your favorite team as they set out on their 1,000 mile journey. Don't forget your camera. There are some great ways to follow the mushers with your children, along their epic journeys across the state on the Iditarod's website: http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/. As we get closer to the event the Anchorage Daily News will publish it's annual Iditarod progam or you can get a list of bib numbers and musher bios online so you can identify who's who as they speed by.

Sleds, pulks, chariots and even jogging strollers are great ways of shuttling your little ones around the area. There is not a ton of parking at the park. Let me know if you want to park at my house, if you don't live in the neighborhood, and I'll send your directions. We have have room for at least 4 other cars in our driveway and even more street parking.

Elisa Fleener
Hi I would love to park at your house. Could you give me directions from Eagle River? Thank you Elisa Fleener Fleener@ak.net

Posted February 27 at 11:50 AM
Harmony
Hi Elisa,
My driveway is down to one lane from two with all this snow, so we don't have the room I anticipated, there should be plenty of street parking near the park should all the regular parking spots be filled. They've done a good job plowing so there should be at least a dozen parking spots at the park itself.

Posted February 27 at 12:59 PM
Harmony
You can also find us by parking at Goose Lake and taking the Chester Creek Trail over the bridge. We'll be just just beyond the bottom of that hill.

Posted February 28 at 8:13 PM
Harmony
Don't forget to pack your camp chairs and a blanket!

Posted February 28 at 8:14 PM
Lia
It is hard to tell with the Iditarod mushers as they go pretty slow, I am guessing about 25 minutes? Just a rough estimate. From the parking area you can get to the trail by walking on the trail that is just to the right of the hockey rink. Not far down that trail is where they zoom by!

Posted March 2 at 9:04 PM
Harmony
Take either trail around the hockey rink, just past the treeline is the trail if your coming from Tikishla, see above if coming from Goose Lake. Mushers come down the trail every few minutes. Unless you want to see all the mushers race by, you don't have to be there right on time. With 67 teams it will take a while to watch everyone go by. We'll be lining the length of the trail, along with lots of other spectators.

Posted March 2 at 10:02 PM
Harmony
The race starts at 10:00 am downtown to give them time to get down the trail the start time for the tailgate part is 10:30. We may miss a couple of mushers by then. Feel free to go earlier.

Posted March 2 at 10:10 PM
Rick Sandhoefner
We had a blast. Kylee loved making new friends. Thanks for hosting the event.

Posted March 3 at 1:05 PM
Susie Gaulke
We didn't find the group, but that's what to expect when we arrive at noon! The kids had fun watching the sled dogs go by.

Posted March 3 at 7:28 PM
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