Crystalline Hills Trail
in Alaska
Access: Trailhead along McCarthy Road, Mile 34.8 Distance: 2.5 mile loop Time: 2-3 hours Maps: McCarthy 1:63,360 (B-7) Difficulty: Moderate. Highlights: Road access, beautiful views. Route: The trailhead is located along the north side of the McCarthy Road at mile 34.8.
Look closely for the wooden sign. After 1/2 mile, a short side trail leads to a nice view. The main trail continues to climb gradually through the dense forest and loops back along the base of the steep Crystalline Hills.
Pick a place to scramble up for outstanding views of the Chitina River valley, Moose Lake, and the Chugach Mountains. Adventurous hikers can continue to climb higher into the Crystalline Hills for remote camping and exploring the many high ridges and rocky ledges. Notes: The trail passes through shady forest and bug spray is highly recommended in summer.
- States
- Alaska
- Trail type
- National Park & Preserve trail
- Centroid coords
- 61.3687°, -143.4819°
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/crystalline-hills-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 Crystalline Hills Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
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.