hiking in the Toklat River in Denali National Park
This is a day hike that anyone can safely do if they want to get off the transit bus in Denali National Park, so if have kids that can’t wait to get off the bus and hike in a simple area, this is the hike for you. But let’s start at the beginning: there are actual trails in the park and you can drive to all of them. All of these trail are within the first 15 miles of the in and out park road. Two of the most popular ones are the Healy Mountain trail and the Savage River trail.
The Healy Mountain trail starts by parking at the Visitor Center (park in the back) and crossing the park road. You can do a side trip to Horseshoe Lake (which I recommend). The trail start within the forest, crosses over a creek and at that point starts its elevation. No, you cant see Denali from that trail, even if you could you would barely notice the mountain from that distance. But the view when the trees allow it are splendid.
At some point you are going to leave the trees and reach the top of the small mountain; there is a marker flagging the end of the trail. The views are pretty once it opens up at the top.
Once at the top, you will notice a social trail that takes you higher. Take it, why not ? You will be able to see the strip mall and cruise hotels from there.
There is wildlife there, for example this family of ptarmigans:
On the way down I ran into a momma moose and her two kids. I spent 15 minutes stopped and making I didn’t loose track of the kids. You don’t want to mess with moose, unlike bear they will not run away. Fortunately I had people behind me keeping an eye for the kids since they tended to get lost in the bushes and away from the mom.
Once down and at the bridge that crosses the creek (I think) you can take a quick side trip to Horseshoe Lake. I think the Healy Mountain trail is six miles total.
The other trail is located at the parking lot at mile 15. It is the Savage River trail and it is very popular. It is the further you can drive into the park. At the same location you can hike also the Alpine trail, which gains elevation over that area. I did that hike on a previous trip (careful since you can run into bears on that trail). The trail is pretty simple, go up the Savage River, cross a bridge and then come back.
I recommend you hike this early or late in the day so you can enjoy the stroll and avoid the crowds. Yes, that is the bridge that crossed the river and there is a social trail that leaves the main trail and affords you this view. The trail continues following the river, I didn’t far so I don’t know if it opens up or not. The main trail is about 2 miles total and completely level.
And at the mile 15 bridge, the river widens into a bunch of streams (typical of Denali rivers).
Ok, just a tip. If you are not taking the transit bus past mile 15, that doesn’t mean that you can not walk on the road past mile 15. IMPORTANT: do NOT walk on the road because you will be in the way of bus traffic and the bus drivers do NOT need the hassle of looking out for people on the road. So, just walk ten yards away from the road, the ground is nice and firm. So that is what I did on another day where I had time to kill, I walked and walked about 3 miles in.
The mountain was out so it was cool.
Ok, back to the main point (as you are suspecting I am compressing more than one day in the park on this post). Good thing is that the Toklat River hike is past the glorious Polychrome Pass area on the way to Toklat. This view is one of my favorite views in America.
I just love these braided rivers in Denali
Ok, here it goes. At the Polychrome rest stop (or on the way back from Toklat, if you go all the way to Eielson and then come back) tell the bus driver to stop at the Toklat river bridge before (or after if coming from Eielson) the rest stop. Why not just wait to getting to the Toklat rest stop and get off the bus then ? Because people may notice you are not on the bus anymore and will tell the bus driver to wait for you ……………. see what I mean ?
The route is super simple. Find a place at the bridge to get off and stay on the right side of Divide Mountain (below). Cross the bridge to the right of the main flow of water.
You can see the route that I took for reference, but (1) no way you can get lost, (2) therefore no need for a map. This is a hike-as-long-as-you-want adventure.
You are going to be hiking along the many braids of the Toklat River and you will get you feet wet, which is part of the fun. Now, you will keep the main deeper and fast flowing braid to your left and you will never cross it (that part the water goes fast and can be tricky, no need for a bad fun hike). You will cross a lot of side braids and none of them will be deeper than your ankle. You can use the main braid as a reference what to follow.
Don’t avoid the smaller braids because you will be forced to hike to the right and away from the path that will take you south. Below is a typical example, these two braids are easily crossed:
Keep an eye on the rocks and the flowers. There are lots of nice looking rocks in that area.
There is no destination, you can go as far as you want. I did continue hiking until I noticed a social trail that took me away from the river. It if pretty obvious and also you are more or less forced into it since at some point the valley narrows and you are against the main braid. In the video below I am standing in that area. That social trail is used by the backpackers that go into that area of the park.
Now, unlike walking along the river braids where you can see any critters coming a mile away, her you can’t so be mindful and make noise so you don’t surprise a bear.
At some point that area narrows and you will get close to the river again (you can see that area at the start of the video below). Again, you can turn around or continue. Be mindful of the bus schedule. Keep an eye for caribou all over the place, they tend to sit down and rest next to the river braids.
Since I am combining images from other days, I might as well share this ………….. if it is sunny and the mountain is out: GO TO EIELSON !!!!! There is nothing more majestic than seeing Denali. I think this image was taken the day before I went to the Toklat river. Even with some clouds the sight is incredible. And you notice that band of snow and blue of the brown mountains at the foot? This was the year the Muldrow Glacier did it surge (first time in decades); I definitely wanted to see it.
This is a view from about one mile from Eielson. You notice that brown area (also in the previous image)? Those are the Thorofare River braids. From the Eielson Visitor Center there is an established trail that will take you down there and you are more than welcomed to explore further into the Thorofare River. Now, once the trail ends at the bottom, it is up to you to hike and find a way back. There are NO signs telling you were you came from, so you could get easily lost and start bushwacking in the wrong area trying to find the start of the trail up to Eielson.
Ok, I am going to leave you with a few images that I took when I walked the road from Eielson back towards Highway Pass before I flagged a bus back to the entrance.
