Trail Review: Thunderbird Falls

Last Saturday we hiked Thunderbird Falls. Thunderbird Falls is located 25 miles north of Anchorage in the Chugach State Park. This is an easy hike with rolling terrain. The trail is packed gravel and 10-feet wide. You can easily push a stroller along the trail. The main trail ends at a boardwalk overlooking Thunderbird Fall which is 200-feet high. There is also a side trail near the end that goes along the river to the base of the falls, but the trail is not as well developed.
We love this hike and it is usually the first hike we do each year. We can easily do the whole hike, including the driving, in approximately two hours. It is also an easy hike to get the kids excited for the summer. Our two year old, Tim, didn’t have any problems on this trail.

It really is a beautiful trail. Most of the trail is high above Thunderbird Creek providing great vistas. Except at the beginning, where you can see the back of a few houses, the scenery feels more wilderness than suburban. The spring is the perfect time for this hike. It is still cool and there are no mosquitoes. If you do hike it in the summer than bring lots of bug repellant but that goes for most of Alaska.

One of our favorite things about this trail is the Pooh Bear Tree. The side trail down to the river goes right by an ancient cottonwood tree that is hollowed out. It makes for great pictures. The kids also love to throwing rocks in the creek and picking horsetails. In the fall there are lots of high bush cranberries and raspberries ripe for the picking. Thunderbird Falls gets our stamp of approval.

P.S. I added pictures to my Flickr site. (See stage right)