It is just about the same length as the Mt. This hike really isn’t that long of a hike. Here you can see Sugar loaf in the middle center of the picture below. There are tons of wild flowers on this hike! Once you reach the top of the timberline you will be soon see meadows of flowers and more beautiful tundra terrain. After this location the trees are more sparse. This is where the first clearing of rocks is located.
Here you can see one of my friends making her way up. There is a good dirt and rocky trail for the entire length of the hike up until the very last climb to the summit. It is good to remember you will be gaining roughly 2600 feet in elevation from the start to finish so you will need to take your time so you don’t wear yourself out during the first 1/2 mile. This is prime moose and bear habitat so please make sure you are aware of your surroundings at all time. The trail begins in a dense forest on a narrow trail. This hike is steep and a little rough but the views it offers are incredible! Sugar Loaf is a popular trail for seasonal employees and the locals in the Healy and Denali areas. The picture above is the view from the Denali Grande Hotel looking down at Glitter Gulch (the name of all the shops and hotels near the Denali National Park entrance). This is where the hotel usually puts their dumpster too. You will see a large cairn of rocks that someone piled together – this is the start of the trail. The trailhead for Sugar Loaf Mountain is best accessed by driving up to the Denali Grande Hotel and parking at the northern most part of the parking lot. It is very steep, but the whole trek is not more than 4 miles so if you have the strength and stamina you can complete this hike in less than a few hours. Then you will quickly gain even more altitude then enter on treeless tundra and finish your ascent to the top of the mountain. You will be begin hiking in thick brush on steep terrain. The reason why I like this hike so much is because of its diversity in scenery. The Sugar Loaf Mountain Trail is one of my favorites in Denali. I’ve compiled pictures from several different trips for this updated Trek. Stronghold Trustees are involved in the program to restore the once-plentiful American chestnut trees, which were swept from the mountain’s flanks by an alien blight in the early 1900’s.Sugar Loaf Name Side Note: Since this mountain doesn’t have a name established by the USGS, I will still call it Sugar Loaf to keep with the tradition. Others come to observe and photograph its plant and animal life. Nearly a quarter-million men, women and children visit Sugarloaf Mountain annually to enjoy its scenic vistas, to picnic at its overlooks, and to hike and ride horseback along its miles of trails.
They created a private organization, Stronghold, Incorporated, in 1946, to ensure that the mountain would continue to serve their purpose of making natural beauty available to all. For years prior to their deaths, they purposefully gained ownership of the many tracts making up the present property. This was made possible by the vision and persistence of a remarkable couple, Gordon and Louise Strong. Present and future generations may continue to enjoy its natural beauty in all seasons and weather.
Today it is available year-round to the public. Sugarloaf’s glory days are not all in the past. Brave wounded and dying soldiers were hospitalized in a log cabin that still stands at the mountain’s foot. Northern and Southern forces alternated in posting lookouts at its summit during the Civil War. General Braddock, commander of British troops during the French and Indian War, marched his men past the mountain in 1755. A written account, penned five years later, described a plain atop the mountain and the delicious chestnuts grown by the trees on its flanks. A Swiss explorer, in 1707, sketched the earliest known map of the mountain. Sugarloaf came by its name because its shape reminded early hunters and pioneers of the sugar loaves common in those days.