Savage River Loop Trailhead — Attraction in Alaska

Pretty views, easy-to-moderate hike. We went early August & experienced a narrow, mostly dry dirt trail with few hikers. There were 2 wet spots where we used stepping stones to stay out of the mud. There are 2 bridges over the river (creek)--1 at each end to form a loop. (Road vehicle bridge is at entrance--before grass-roofed bathroom out-house--& other bridge is a foot bridge at farthest spot along trail.) Bus only comes every half-hour. Road bridge to foot bridge side takes longer. We walked at a good clip but stopped to take pictures often, so it took us a little over an hour to complete the loop, which meant we waited nearly 30 min for the next bus. It took 30 min from Denali NP bus stop (green bus) to Savage River bus stop. (Buses depart on the half hour.) When we returned to the park, there wasn't time to switch buses before the next bus left, so we ended up wasting 30 min at end of each bus ride. (There's a lot of back-and-forth time wasted, too. In other words, bus ride to NP from lodge passes Savage River, but bus won't stop.) Wish we had known that visiting Savage River would be the only thing we could do at the NP when we left the lodge at 3 pm. The group who went 1 hour earlier (2 pm) saw moose, but we saw Black-billed Magpies & a Willow Ptarmigan family (Alaska state bird). Park closes at 6 pm though sun doesn't set in summer...

Good: beautiful river and valley views without a large time commitment easy loop trail with very little elevation gain restrooms and picnic facilities at trailhead

Caution:- while this trail is a loop, the out and back portions are parallel (each side of the river); it feels close to an out-and-back trail seeing similar views returning on the opposite side parking: there are only ~18 parking spaces at the trailhead which is at the end of the 15-mile (personal vehicle access) road; needless to say, this is a very popular destination and with the picnic facilities, even non-hikers tend to stay around for a while; there needs to be more parking because this lots tends to fill up and stay that way throughout the day; accessing the trailhead via shuttle (from visitor center) is recommended by the park staff, but if you're on limited time, that shuttle ride can take a 2-4 hour bite out of your time; there is a larger parking lot about two miles prior to reaching the trailhead and, honestly, the walk along the highway is beautiful--so if you don't mind tacking on the miles, it may prove to be a viable option that still doesn't take as much time as the shuttle (especially if your incorporate the Savage Alpine Trail making a larger,...

Trail was closed one of the days as there were bear sightings, but opened up the next day. So check with the park rangers first. Started hiking Savage Alphine Trail from the small carpark near Savage River. It was a tough 400+ metres incline up on rocks. Then we were greeted with strong winds but nice views. Unfortunately it was quite cloudy and we only managed to peek at Mt Denali a little. We started at 8plus in the morning and there were basically no one hiking in our direction. We only came across roughly 10 humans in our roughly 3hours hike. Go early for parking (about 8am) if you want to start from Savage River side. Ended our trail at the Savage Alpine Trailhead near Mountain Vista and took a westbound shuttle back to...