Thursday, September 8, 2016

Thunderbird Falls

The bottom of Thunderbird Falls.

If one drives across the newly paved bridge at the Eklutna Lake exit off the freeway north of Anchorage, there is a nicely developed parking lot and restroom at the trailhead of Thunderbird Falls. We were there on a rainy Saturday morning and the parking lot was nearly full and the trail busy.

I'd hiked that trail before many years ago, and my memory said the trail was only 1/8 mile to the falls, but it is actually 1/2 mile to the canyon overlook, and a mile to the falls overlook. Another little leg of trail heads to the base of the falls. So as hikes go, it is short, with a few big hills but then mostly flat.

The trail is wide and comfortable walking to Thunderbird Falls after the initial hill

Boardwalks add to the easy hike
 Sometimes my quick 'point and shoot' on my iphone camera works, and other times it doesn't. This was one of those times that it was a little too quick, so my shot of the whole waterfall from the upper deck didn't turn out. It is a fairly large waterfall, and though we have lots and lots of waterfalls in Alaska, many are in the wilderness and not easily accessible. This one is about as easy as it gets!