Boreal Forest Trail
in Alaska
The 1/2-mile loop Boreal Forest Trail follows even terrain, though wheelchair-users may need assistance. The trail passes along the river bluff, then cuts through the forest, connecting to a section of the historic Valdez Trail, the first all-American route into interior Alaska. View interpretive panels along the bluff overlooks and through the forest.
- States
- Alaska
- Trail type
- National Park & Preserve trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Anchorage, AK · 159 mi · ~5 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 62.0210°, -145.3624°
About Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve
This trail is inside Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve, a national park & preserve managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/boreal-forest-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/wrst/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Boreal Forest Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.