State Set To Refurbish Homer’s Watermelon Trail

The following is courtesy of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

Watermelon Trail Reroute and Habitat Remediation

(Homer) – Trail construction is scheduled to begin Aug. 19, 2026, to reroute unsustainable sections of the Watermelon Trail near Homer within the Lower Kenai Control Use Area. Work will be paused Sept. 16–19 and 22–25 when the Control Use Area is closed to motorized use for big game hunting.

These improvements are intended to provide a durable, sustainable route that can support ATV and snowmachine use while protecting the ecological integrity of the Anchor River – Fritz Creek Critical Habitat Area.

The project will address significant environmental degradation within the Anchor River – Fritz Creek Critical Habitat Area. The current trail alignment was originally established in the 1920s and follows the “fall-line,” the steepest and most direct route, which has become incised up to six feet deep from erosion that washes into Beaver Creek, an anadromous stream.

Project activities will include sustainable rerouting to minimize erosion, closing and rehabilitating old trail sections to reduce runoff and restore natural vegetation, filling muckholes to prevent further braiding of the trail, installing bridges, and realigning the trail onto public land where it crosses private Cook Inlet Region, Inc. lands.

Visitors to the area are asked to stay on designated routes and adhere to any posted signs during the construction period. This is a cooperative project between the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) and Homer Soil and Water Conservation District and is planned to be completed in Fall 2027.

For more information regarding the project, please contact the Lands and Refuges Program, Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; the Homer Soil and Water Conservation District; or visit the ADF&G Anchor River – Fritz Creek Critical Habitat Area webpage.