Alaska's floatplane capital, and the Iron Dog's start line.
Big Lake is a 3,085-acre, glacially carved lake in the Mat-Su Valley, about 50 miles north of Anchorage — one of the most floatplane-dense communities in the country, and the traditional starting point of the Iron Dog, billed as the world's longest snowmachine race.
Big Lake sits in Alaska's Mat-Su Valley, carved out at the end of the last Ice Age into a 3,085-acre lake with 22 islands, on Dena'ina homeland long before a road connection built in the 1950s turned it into a recreation community. There's no incorporated town center — S Big Lake Rd and North Shore Dr, both hugging the water, carry the businesses that exist. It's one of the busiest floatplane communities in the country, and every February it's the traditional start line of the Iron Dog, a snowmachine race that runs more than 2,000 miles to Nome and back. Big Lake North State Recreation Site, on North Shore Dr, is the largest of the lake's public recreation areas — more than 60 wooded, first-come-first-served campsites, two boat launches, and a swim beach. Susitna Brewing Co. and Floaters sit directly on the water alongside Big Lake Family Restaurant, the community's longtime everyday spot; the Alaska Boathouse Restaurant, which still surfaces in searches, closed in 2026. Wasilla, about 25 minutes east, has the nearest full grocery store; Palmer, home to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, is the nearest hospital.
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