Hiking - Skilak Lookout Trail

View from the top of the trail

Stats

Distance:  4 miles                              Difficulty: Moderate                                     Time:  4 hrs

Summary

The Skilak Lookout Trail ends at a truly spectacular view of the mountains and Skilak lake.  Best of all, it has beautiful views all along the trail and, at least in June, there were wildflowers everywhere.  The hike itself wasn't too bad most of the time.  We considered it moderate because of occasional steep spots and muddy patches.  It also has a steady low incline to the top of the mountain for a total elevation change of 790 feet.

Opinion

This is is very pleasant hike with truly spectacular views.  The high angle view of Skilak Lake is beautiful; Skilak Lake has that beautiful milky blue color unique to glacier lakes.  In addition, there was a wide variety of spring flowers all along the trail.

Trail Advice

Sweat resistant mosquito repellent is a must.  The bugs were out in force.

If the temperature is acceptable before you start, a jacket is probably not necessary.  You will produce enough heat on the trail to keep you warm.  

In the spring (June in Alaska) the trail can be muddy in spots.  Wear hiking shoes you don't mind getting muddy.

Suitability

This trail is suitable for adults and children.  But the trail is a total of 4 miles with some climbing so be sure you and your kids are up for it.

Trailhead

Trailhead from the road

Warnings

To find the Skilak Lookout Trail take Skilak Lake Rd from the Sterling Hwy.  Skilak Lake Rd is a loop of sorts that starts and ends at Sterling Hwy.  There is an East entrance just outside Cooper Landing and a West entrance a few miles outside Sterling.  You can take either entrance.  The trailhead is a mile 5.4 on Skilak Lake Rd.  The parking area is on the north side of the road and the trail is on the south side.  It is well labeled.

The Hike

This trail is one of many in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  The maps for these trails can be found on the Kenai Refuge Map website.  We chose this trail because the 2014 Funny River Wildfire was still burning and we wanted to see of we could see the fire or fire damage from the overlook.  

Boardwalk near the trailhead

The trail starts through a dense spruce forest along side a creak, but quickly opens into meadows filled with alpine wildflowers.  Many of the trails in this section of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge are in an area that burned in 1996 and this is one of those trails.  At first it can be difficult to tell the area burned, but then you realize the large open meadows along the trail were once spruce forest.  The area is quickly being reclaimed by birch, cottonwood, and alder.  In a few more years the trees will be tall enough to overtake the meadows and the character of the walk will change again.  

Early view of Skilak Lake

You can also still see some dead, burned standing trees and more fallen spruce can be seen on either side of the trail.  The fallen trees have opened up the view and as a result you get frequent terrific views of Skilak Lake and the surrounding mountains.  

Eidelweiss

June is early spring on the Kenai Peninsula and the trail was lined with a huge variety of wildflowers.  Most common on the lower trail was Edelweiss, but there was also Lupine, wild Rose, wild Geranium and many more.  The flowers made the trail a delight to walk.

Wild Rose

The trail is pretty much a shallow constant grade with occasional steep spots and some muddy area.  The steep spots all have good switchbacks making the trail easy to walk most of the time.  We listed it as moderate because of the few steep areas and the muddy patches.  This trail has been hiked a lot and, as a result, the trail has sunk 2 or 3 inches into the peat that makes up the soil of the area and is rather narrow, so the footing can be tricky sometimes.

A view from the top

When you get to the top the view makes this hike very much worth it.  There is a 270 degree of the Wildlife Refuge.  Interestingly, there was no view of either the Funny River fire or the areas it had burned.  The good news is the way down is just a beautiful as the way up and is easier going.

Another view from the top