The Savage River Loop Trail is one of the best hikes in Denali National Park, especially if you’re looking for an option that’s suitable for all skill levels. This easy trail offers stunning views of the rugged canyon walls, the milky glacial waters of the Savage River, and, with a little bit of luck, even some wildlife! If you want to add this hike to your Denali itinerary, here’s everything you need to know about hiking the Savage River Loop Trail, from how to get there to what kind of wildlife you can spot along the trail.
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About the Savage River Loop Trail
True to its name, this trail winds through a glacially carved valley along the Savage River, with beautiful views of the rushing water and the surrounding mountains. The trail is pretty flat and short, making this one of the best things to do in Denali National Park for beginner hikers.
Here are some quick stats about this trail:
- Length: 2.2 miles
- Elevation gain: 564 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Trail map
- Dog friendly? Like most national park hikes, you’ll have to leave your pups at home for the Savage River Loop Trail.
If you’re up for more of an adventure, I’d suggest combining this hike with the Savage Alpine Trail, a challenging hike that follows along the ridgeline of a mountain and offers one of the best views of Mount Denali in the entire park. The trailheads for these hikes are right next to each other, so you can easily combine them for a trail that’s a total of 6.5 miles in length, with 2,027 feet of elevation gain.
How to get to the Savage River Loop Trail
Denali National Park is located in the interior of Alaska, near the small town of Healy. It’s about a four hour and 15 minute drive from Anchorage or, alternatively, a two hour and 20 minute drive from Fairbanks.
Each visitor to Denali needs to buy an entrance pass, which is typically $15 per person and is good for seven consecutive days. Alternatively, up to four visitors can get into the park for free with a valid interagency pass, like the America the Beautiful.
Denali is MASSIVE, sprawling almost 9,500 square miles, and has limited roads leading through the national park. Thankfully, you have a few options of getting to the trailhead, both of which are pretty straightforward.
Driving to Savage River
There’s a parking lot right by the trailhead, located here at Mile 15 along Denali Park Road, so, theoretically, you can just simply drive right up to it.
However, the lot is teeny tiny, holding only about 30 cars or so. So, unless you get here extremely early (like, 6 AM or earlier), I would not plan on this being a viable option.
Taking the shuttle to Savage River
Alternatively, you can park at the visitor center, which has plentiful parking spaces, and from there, hop on one of the free hiker shuttles from the Denali Bus Depot. One of the routes, the Savage River shuttle, stops right at the trailhead, after a handful of other stops.
The Savage River shuttle leaves every half hour and is typically green (or, occasionally, tan) colored. Here’s the schedule:
- From May 15 through May 19: 8 AM to 8 PM
- From May 20 through September 7: 6:20 am to 10:10 pm
- From September 8 through September 20: 8:20 am to 8:10 pm
From the Denali Bus Depot, it typically takes around 40 minutes to get to the Savage River stop.
When you’re done with your hike, the shuttle stop is right near the trailhead, so you can just hop on the next one that swings by! The schedule linked above includes departure times for both departing and returning to the Denali Bus Depot.
Insider tip: If you opt to combine the Savage River Loop with the Savage Alpine Trail, I’d suggest parking at the visitor center, hopping on the Savage River shuttle at the Bus Depot, and getting off at the Mountain Vista stop to kick off your hike.
We wrote a whole article for the Savage Alpine Trail, but, in short, it’s a point-to-point trail, starting at the Mountain Vista stop, around Mile 12 of Denali Park Road, and ending at Savage River, at Mile 15.
In my opinion, the best way to hike these trails is to start at Mountain View, hike the Savage Alpine Trail, and end with the Savage River Loop. The elevation gain along the trail is more gradual this way AND you’ll be hiking towards Mount Denali on a clear day (instead of having it to your back). When my husband, Justin, and I visited this section of the park, we followed this exact itinerary and had a GREAT time!
What to expect along the Savage River Loop Trail
The trail runs along the east and west side of the Savage River, with a bridge connecting the two sides on its northern end.
Since it’s a loop, you can either hike it clockwise or counter-clockwise. I don’t think it makes a huge difference, but we hiked it counter-clockwise, which I’d generally recommend. The incline (which is gentle, regardless of which way you hike the trail) is slightly more gradual this way and you’ll end the trail closer to the shuttle station.
The trail follows along gently rolling hills on the riverside, with several areas where you can walk right up to the shoreline of the milky gray water.
When we visited, the river was the best place to see wildlife, like Willow Ptarmigan and arctic ground squirrels. We just saw smaller critters during our visit, but you can also spot animals, like caribou, foxes, and even grizzly bears here!
The trail winds through a canyon, so there are limited views of the Alaska Mountain range (and sadly, no Denali views!) along the way. Still, there are some cool rock formations along the slopes of the surrounding mountains, which get more dramatic the further back in the canyon you go.
Halfway through the trail, you’ll reach the bridge and cross over to the other side. Be sure to take a look over the bridge—since the Savage River is glacial, it doesn’t offer a ton of fish, but you can spot some Arctic grayling and a few other species here from time to time.
On the way back towards the parking lot, the trail continues to meander along the river. For the last quarter mile or so of the hike, you’ll get views of the Alaska mountain range, peeking above the rolling hillsides.
Once you’ve reached the parking lot, you can head to the right to head to the shuttle stop (or just head back to your car, if you were lucky enough to snag a spot!).
When to hike the Savage Alpine Loop Trail
The best time to hike the Savage Alpine Loop Trail is from mid-May through mid-September, when it’s generally snow- and ice-free, the trailhead is accessible, and the shuttle is up and running.
As you might imagine, Denali gets a LOT of snow—around 80 inches per year! Because of the heavy snowfall, Denali doesn’t maintain most of the park’s road past its visitor center from October through mid-April, so the trailhead is generally inaccessible during that timeframe.
If you visit on either the earlier or later side of the mid-May through mid-September timeframe, I’d suggest bringing along microspikes and trekking poles, in case you run into any snowy or icy patches.
What to bring for the Savage Alpine Loop Trail
Bear spray
Bears are frequently seen around the trail. While bears have a bad reputation, they generally want nothing to do with humans and will generally only become aggressive if they think a food source or their young is being threatened.
Be sure to brush up on what to do if you see a bear along the trail (here’s a handy guide that the National Park Service put together), but bring a can of bear spray with you, just in case, which helps temporarily deter an aggressive bear, so that you have enough time to get away.
Waterproof hiking boots
The trail is generally pretty even and not too rocky, but it can get pretty muddy, especially in the rainy months of July and August.
Accordingly, I’d suggest wearing proper waterproof hiking boots to provide a bit of extra traction and protection from the muck—here’s the pair that I’ve used (and loved!) for years and here’s the pair that Justin uses.
Water
Even though this trail isn’t overly challenging, you should still come prepared with plenty of water—there’s basically no shade along the pathway and, despite Alaska’s reputation, it can get surprisingly warm here in the summertime.
We each have one of these comically enormous Nalgene bottles that we bring with us on every hike that should be plenty for this trail. You can fill up at the water fountains in the Denali Visitor Center or you could filter some directly from Savage River, if you want some of that famous Alaska glacial water!
Sun protection
As mentioned above, you’ll have direct exposure to the sun for the entire time you’re on the trail, so make sure to bring some sunglasses, a hat, and some sunscreen to protect yourself while you’re out hiking.
Bugspray
You know that old joke about how the state bird of Alaska is the mosquito? We really didn’t have THAT many problems with mosquitoes while we were in Alaska, but Denali National Park was one of the few places where we were getting eaten alive.
Load up with bugspray if you’re visiting during the summertime—you’re going to need it!
Raincoat
Denali gets about 16 inches of rainfall every year, with the wettest months typically being July and August. We visited in July and camped in our RV outside of the park, while it rained for a week straight, waiting for a sunny, clear day (which we eventually got!).
Be sure to throw a rainjacket in your backpack, just in case—the only predictable thing about the weather in Alaska is how unpredictable it is! Here‘s the rain jacket that I use and here‘s the one that Justin uses.
I hope you enjoy hiking the Savage River Loop Trail—it’s such a great hike in Denali National Park for any level of hiker! Do you have any questions about hiking this trail? Let us know in the comments below?
