Lost Creek Trail

Lost Creek Trail follows its namesake drainage up from the Nabesna Road corridor into the vast alpine terrain that makes Wrangell-St. Elias feel like another planet. The route starts in boreal forest — spruce and willow pressing in from both sides — before the tree line gives way and the valley opens into a sprawling high-country basin rimmed by peaks that most Americans will never see in person. This is not a manicured national park trail with signposts every quarter mile. Expect braided sections, creek crossings that shift with snowmelt, and stretches where the path fades into tundra and you navigate by drainage and ridgeline. The payoff is pure backcountry immersion in the largest national park in the system, with almost no one else around. Hikers who crave solitude and can handle route-finding in open terrain will find this trail deeply rewarding.