Anchorage's municipal boundary takes in about 2000 square miles. About 84 percent of the municipality's land is unpopulated, most of it within the 494,536 acre Chugach State Park, the Chugach National Forest and other government land holdings.
Anchorage summers are cool and winters are cold.
However, Anchorage does not experience the seasonal temperature extremes of interior Alaska or the north-central United States. Anchorage receives about 15 inches of precipitation per year, most received in late summer and fall. Snowfall averages around 70 inches. Anchorage offers wide variety of recreation facilities as well as several major performing arts cultural complexes. As a result, many Anchorage parks receive heavy use despite the snow cover that lasts about 7 months each year.