Gold Mint Trail in Hatcher Pass: a long and glorious slog
It might seem counterintuitive to list a 16.6-mile trail as a day hike, but please bear with me: Gold Mint is a wonderful trek along the sinuous Little Susitna River, even if you do only the first few miles. In fact, it’s very popular with runners and skiers for that reason — and it’s one of 13 spectacular hikes in Hatcher Pass.
The first few miles of this trail are mostly flat and would be very easy if there weren’t a tendency for parts of it to wash out. You’ll sweat a bit for the last couple miles, though, as the trail makes up for its earlier laziness by zooming straight uphill. Taken as a whole, I’d call it challenging due to overall length and that late elevation gain.
Be aware of avalanche hazard on this trail in the winter.
This is hike 12 in my guidebook Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska.
| Round Trip: 16.6 miles | Nearest community: Wasilla/Palmer |
| Elevation gain: 2,530 feet | Typical season: June to September |
| Parking fee: $5 fee or Alaska State Parks parking pass | Nearby trails: Blueberry Knoll, Government Peak, Marmot Mountain, Gold Cord Lake, April Bowl, Marmot Mountain, Reed Lakes |
Gold Mint Trailhead Directions
Take Trunk Road north from Wasilla until the road ends in a T intersection. Turn left at the T, which will be signed either for some variety of “Fishhook” road or for Hatcher Pass Road. The trailhead will be on your right at mile 13.7 of Hatcher Pass Road.
Hiking Gold Mint Trail
The first mile or so of the Gold Mint trail is an easy ramble on an old roadbed, traveling alongside the gently winding Little Susitna River. For my money, this is one of the prettiest rivers — and thus one of the prettiest hikes — in all of Southcentral Alaska.
Once you’re past that first mile the trail gets progressively brushier, turning into a corridor that’s barely wide enough for one person to squeeze past the branches. The Gold Mint trail is mostly flat up until mile 7.5, so the best “landmarks” are mile markers posted periodically along the trail. Well, that and a beaver dam near the trail at approximately mile 4.4.
Given how beavers shape the land and water around them, it’s hardly a surprise that the trail tends to be washed out just a little further along, at about mile 5.
By mile 6 the brushy growth around you will reach epic, head-high levels in any typical summer, and you’ll find a stream crossing that may require a bit of wading.
At about 7.5 miles from the trailhead, Gold Mint Trail makes up for all that flat walking and zooms straight up the mountainside; and by roughly mile 8.3 of the trail, if visibility is decent you’ll see the iconic Mint Hut on the right side of the trail. If visibility is poor, it’s easy to keep walking right on by and never even know the hut is there.
The Mint Hut is reserved for use by members of the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, but memberships are very expensive — so if you’re hiking all that way, you might as well join!
Lisa Maloney
A long-time Alaskan, Lisa has written three award-winning guidebooks including "Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska" and "50 Hikes Around Anchorage." She also served as senior editor of Alaska magazine and has written hundreds of newspaper columns and magazine articles about her adventures around the state. Learn more about her at http://maloneywrites.com.
