Chugach State Park is located in Southcentral Alaska mostly within the Municipality of Anchorage. The park contains approximately 495,000 acres of land and is one of the four largest state parks in the United States. Southcentral Alaska is an area of diverse land forms and rugged topography, bounded on the north and west by the Alaska Range, and on the east by the Chugach and Wrangell Mountains and Prince William Sound. The region contains extensive ocean shoreline, abundant lakes, massive glaciers and ice fields. The park’s westernmost boundary lies in the western foothills of the Chugach Mountain Range and is a mere seven miles to the east of downtown Anchorage. The park is further defined by the Knik Arm on the north, Turnagain Arm on the south, and Upper and Lower Lake George and Chugach National Forest on the east. Within minutes of the park are the communities of Palmer, Eagle River, Chugiak, Indian, Bird, Girdwood, the village of Eklutna, and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Chugach [pronounced CHEW-gatch] is the tribal name for the indigenous people who once inhabited the upper cook inlet region.