Savage Alpine Trail

The Savage Alpine trail is a great place to see many different things including wildlife. You will quickly gain elevation and have opportunities to see Dall sheep and other wildlife. This is a diverse adventure that will take you through rugged mountain terrain, meadows, and some heavily forested areas! Bears and moose frequent the area so always be prepared. You can begin this trail either at the Savage Campground or the Savage River Trailhead. Either way, you will need a shuttle system of your own using two cars or you could take the free park shuttle back to your car wherever you parked. Just make sure the Savage River Park Shuttle is still running during the times you are hiking or you may have to walk all the way back to your car. Or you could hike on the road to your car anyway. What I did was I parked at the Savage River Trailhead, hiked the 4 miles on the Alpine Trail to Savage Campground, then jumped on the free Savage River park shuttle back to the Savage River Trailhead. The entire trail is about 4 miles long. There is much to see along this route. From the Savage River trailhead, the trail zigzags up the side of the mountain until you come to Savage Rock. This big rock is fun to scramble on if you have the time. If not, continue on up the mountain and you will hit the switchbacks. You will gain roughly 800 feet from the parking lot to the top of the switchbacks so just keep a steady pace! If you are hiking in late summer you will have greater chances of finding blueberries, huckleberries, crowberries and others! I found some ripe blueberries right above Savage rock. Once at the top of the switchback part you will be rewarded with an incredible view to the south. If you come on a clear day you will have an impressive view of Mt. Denali to the south as well. This part was really cool because you follow the ridgeline and hike in between rock fins! It is also windy here. If you look east you will see that you will be hiking in a large bowl-like valley. The trail slowly gains elevation until it circles to the other side through beautiful high-tundra scenery. You won't be hiking to the top of any of these mountains here. You will simply cut across the valley to the other side. I have seen many Dall sheep on this part. There seems to be a few Dall sheep bands on this small Mt. Healy range. Once on the other side of the valley you will begin your descent into the spruce and birch forest. You will hike through more switchbacks too but these ones are more gradual. I found some bear scat on the trail here as the brush gets thicker and there are more places for animals to hide. This is prime moose habitat so you will need to pay attention and be aware of any signs of animals. You will have about 1 mile left until you come to Savage Campground. This is one of my favorite hikes in Denali National Park. I love starting at Savage River then hiking into the high tundra then coming back down into a forest. The diversity of this hike is enough to make me want to come back and do this hike often. If you are looking for a 2-3 hour good hike then look no further than here! You will like it.