This small town 20 minutes north of downtown Anchorage serves as a bedroom community for the city and as a friendly, relaxing, and inexpensive home base for travelers wanting to explore the Anchorage area. The town serves as the one of the main gateways to Chugach State Park, which at nearly half a million acres ranks as the third largest state park in the United States and contains part of the Iditarod National Historic Trail. Twelve miles up Eagle River Road is the Eagle River Nature Center, offering self-guided hiking trails and hands-on interpretive exhibits. Regardless of the season, visitors to Eagle River can find outdoor recreational activities to suit their ages and fitness levels: hiking, biking, fishing, canoeing, rafting, camping, and rock climbing during the summer; ice climbing, dog mushing, downhill skiing, ice skating, and skijoring during the winter. There are also numerous scenic parks and lakes within a short drive of the downtown area that provide excellent family-friendly locales to relax and enjoy the long days of summer.