Horseshoe Lake Trailhead — Attraction in Alaska

The trailhead is located on the Denali Park Road, at Mile 1. This is where the Alaska Railroad crosses the park road, and there is a small parking lot adjacent to the trailhead. You can also park at the Denali Visitor Center (Mile 1.5 of the park road) and walk either the Bike Path or the Taiga Trail to reach the Horseshoe Lake Trail. From the trailhead, you'll hike up a short, steep hill (~25 elevation gain) and, after a few hundred yards, you'll reach a bench overlooking the lake. After this bench, the trail drops very steeply, about 250', down to the level of the lake. The trail then branches in two directions, forming a loop around the lake. Viewing platforms overlook the south end of the lake. Near the mid-way point, on the east side of the loop, you can hike a short spur to overlook a beaver dam. The north end of the loop brings you out of the forest and alongside the Nenana River; across the river, and outside of the park, is one of the main tourism centers, called "the Canyon" or "Glitter Gulch." The west part of the loop is particularly scenic, as it hugs the shore of the lake along a very...

Nice little trail if you're short on time. Not super exciting, but the lake is pretty. I did it in an hour and a half with lots of stops for photos. If you can climb up 2 flights of stairs, you should be able to do this trail.

The shuttle from the resorts stops here every half hour. The shuttle from the visitor's center doesn't appear to drop off on the way back, however. It's not a long walk from the visitor's center though.

It does have that slightly wilted look that many popular trails have from being trodden on. Lots of social trails that have signage discouraging use of.

The chalets on the hill are visible for most of the time.

Lots of biting flies by the river.

Beaver dam with some informative signage. Lots of chewed up trees as well. No animals this time though.

I would have rather done a more exciting hike, but this felt very comfortable and safe to do with the...

Highly recommended. This is why:

For a minimal time investment, this trail offers up a variety of landscapes... outcrops, blue-green waters, beaver dam and activity, cliffs, mossy forest, rushing stream, riverbank, landscape rejections, overlooks, and boardwalks. For such a short trail, you get an amazing bundle of sights.

Cautions: trail starts by walking along an active railroad; it’s not a problem, but took me a few minutes to realize where the actual trailhead was while I would still consider this an easy trail, it does descend quite a bit... lots of steps that must be climbed when heading back out; not...