Sand Lake (Anchorage) in the context of Spenard, Anchorage

In Anchorage, Alaska, Sand Lake is the area surrounding Sand Lake, a stocked lake in the southwest part of the city. It is south of the Ted Stevens International Airport and Lake Spenard. The lake itself has a surface area of 78 acres (320,000 m). It is one of the few big-city lakes in the world with common and Pacific loon populations. Its shores are mostly privately owned, but a small park to the northeast allows public access. Kayakers, fishermen, picnickers and birdwatchers frequent the area.

The lake is stocked with fish by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game with rainbow trout and salmon. Northern pike, illegally introduced to the lake, are significant predators on rainbow trout and salmon and have a detrimental impact on these populations. In 2006 residents of the lake asked the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) for help in removing northern pike from the lake and initial planning began resulting in the application of the fish poison rotenone in 2009 to restore the fishery. In 2010 surveys confirmed that the lake was free of northern pike and ADF&G restocked the lake with rainbow trout, Arctic char, and Arctic grayling.