Best Trails in Denali National Park

This trail is gorgeous in the winter. You’ll need good shoes to walk in the snow. Micro-spikes or additional traction will be needed. It is an easy hike, though. In the winter, it is dead quiet. Everything is covered in snow, occasionally marred by the animal prints that walk across the frozen lake for water from the little stream of water flowing in the middle.

We had an incredible hike up back in July but keep an eye out for the trail completion marker (and for moose). We totally blew past the finish (despite arriving to the top to the sound of applause from fellow hikers) and hiked beyond the maintained trail. The views were totally worth it. The trail is a bit crowded around that time of year (June/July) and it narrows as one draws closer to the summit with lose rock strewn about making it a bit perilous but as long as one remains aware of their surroundings and of approaching hikers there’s no cause for concern.

Great time in mid August! Beautiful shots of Denali! Fun to get up and follow the ridgeline. Had a caribou hanging out with us while camped out

great views

Love this trail. Easy enough for the little ones. Well groomed trail, with many educational opportunities as well. We loved learning about the beavers and seeing their hard work. If you’re lucky there will be moose out eating in the lake.

Wonderful trail, but hard to get to. You need to be camping or staying at one of the lodges deep in Denali to do the trail. The other negative is Denali's summer weather - expect rain and clouds. If you hit this on a sunny day, it would be gorgeous, a full 5-star hike. I believe the full trail is longer than the hike we took - some of the hikers in our group weren't adequately prepared for wet hiking, so we cut it short.

Awesome view at the top!

Highly recommend this loop trail for a gentle introduction to the park. I can only imagine how busy it is in the summer, but we had it all to ourselves. Saw beaver noses and enjoyed the views and getting to walk along the Nenana River. Also 4 willow ptarmigans.

We walked in from the north the first day to where the trail sharply rises, past the suspension bridge, along Riley Creek, and above it. Very pleasant with nice fall colors. A very doable couple of hours stopping to take pictures and enjoy the foliage, including some amazing mushrooms. The second day we started at the south trailhead and walked to Lake 1 (after that the trail rises sharply). This was a great walk. Just a bit of a climb at the outset, but one foot in front of the other gets it done. After the turn to the west all the car noise from the road disappears (nice views of Nenana River along that bit). Not required to take the spurs down to the lake shores to make the walk worthwhile as there are good views from main trail above each lake. We took 4 hours, but took many pictures and did not walk fast. Highly recommend coming from the south for folks who want to see the lakes and want a manageable walk.

It’s uphill all the way but the views are 100% worth it.

really steep to climb but worth it.. amazing view..

We made it to the second lake starting from the Denali Village. Didn't have a ton of time to hike, but beautiful views and easy to follow trail. If you have a little time to spend, this is well worth it!

Hiked this trail on 8/20. Definitely not easy on the way up, but well worth it! We hiked past the end of the maintained trail for a couple of miles. Views were beautiful.

Extremely fun hike little risky with beautiful views well worth it !

Really nice for overlook

A bit difficult incline for seniors. A lot of steps to climb but well worth the view. There is a bench at the top of the steps on your way out so you can stop and rest. We did not do the loop, we hiked back out the way we came in.

Nice walk back from the Kennels, lots of biodiversity! You’ll go through spruce groves and transition to Alder, all along the way you’ll see plenty of gorgeous undergrowth and wild berries. There are only 2 clearings where you can see the landscape, one of which is an Earth Geocache spot. I think there are two, we missed one of them. We went when it was raining off and on, not too bad. I definitely recommend!

Good afternoon hike

Good trail! Walked in casually with friends at a leisurely pace. Taking our time, we got to the top in just under an hour and the views are definitely worth it!

Maybe I have been spoiled by the trails inside Denali National Park. This trail is not very well marked or maintained. As such, most people should be prepared to get lost and then, hopefully, find their way.

Don't get me wrong, the views from near the top are spectacular and there is a definite sense of accomplishment for scaling a mountain this size with very little navigational help. But, if you are a beginner, please enjoy this hike with someone else - perhaps someone with hiking experience.

I loved the hike because it pushes you mentally and physically and then rewards you at the tip of every peak with amazing views of the calley.

This hike is a moderately strenuous hike. It’s uphill the entire way and gets pretty steep towards the end. I thought I was in okay shape but after hiking this I would say that I’m definitely not in shape at all. That being said this is not an impossible hike...children were doing it and a woman with a one month old baby and a 3 year old in tow did it. It’s totally worth making it to the top.

This trail is challenging but absolutely worth the views. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Took about 3 hours to hit the top w/ stopping to take pictures. Completed the hike in late July so it was fairly hot. Rated strenuous by the NPS.

We left the car at Denali Village and took the resort shuttle to the Park Visitor Center. Hiked the trail one-way back to the village resort (southward - 9.5 Miles)

Lovely path along the river and a moderately strenuous climb up to beautiful views of the foothills (bring water). Three lakes toward the end are a treat and great lunch stop with a few moose sitings.

A few mosquitos toward the lake (early July) but otherwise bug-free walk.

Best option for heading back to the visitor center from the dog sled center. Nice vista views.

Wonderful easy walk around a significant beaver habitat. Great with children.

Nice trail. Nice view!

Really nice trail. We saw our first wild Moose at the lake. It was so close. We sat there for a bit while the Moose was having its lunch.

Easy loop trail that was part of a bigger loop hike.

Easy loop that I hiked as part of a bigger loop

Hiked the the Roadside and Rock Creek as a loop. Only a few places where you could see anything because forest is so thick.