Falls Creek: A grueling, steep hike to wildflower meadows

You might recognize the header for this site (as of the moment I’m typing this, anyway) as being one of the wildflower meadows above Falls Creek. The picture on this post is of the creek itself, just after you exit the trees and just before you hit the best of the flowers. There’s just one catch: You have to walk up a couple miles of forested, brushy trail before you get there. But trust me, it’s worth it to visit those flowers and the pretty tarn beyond.

This is hike 56 in my guidebook Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska, and hike 8 in 50 Hikes Around Anchorage.

Hiking Falls Creek

This trail strikes out straight uphill, but make sure you’re doing it to the right of the creek: There’s a trail on the left that lures you onto the open mountainside, but won’t actually get you where you want to go.

From that right-hand side of the trail, though, you’ll start gaining elevation right away, sweating uphill in thick, sometimes brushy forest, with Falls Creek as a cheerful, burbling companion beside you. I love being here on a sunny summer day, when the tree leaves offer some shade and the mossy, sun-dappled creek looks like something out of a fairyland.

You’ll probably lose sight of the creek in the brush as the trail jogs sharply right about 0.4 miles from the trailhead, and at 0.8 miles it veers back toward the water. When things get particularly overgrown and grassy, watch out for places where the trail wanders onto an undercut creek bank that might crumble underfoot.

Shortly after this, you’ll break out of the brush and into the tundra. This is where all your effort starts to really pay off, as you wander first through a stream-cut valley, then through thick meadows of wildflowers, and finally crossing a small but lively stream as you veer left onto the tundra. If you keep going, you’ll reach the small, frigid headwaters of Falls Lake after about 3.6 miles from the trailhead.

Side Trails From Falls Creek

Before you veer out onto the tundra, note the somewhat lopsided, knobby ridge that sits directly upslope from you, more or less dividing the valley in two. (It’s clearly visible in this site’s header.) You’d veer into the left “branch” of the valley to keep going to the headwaters of Falls Creek, but some people prefer to follow a clear footpath up the ridge in front of you, where it switches back and forth a few times before climbing up onto that knob.

If you haven’t had quite enough elevation gain yet, another option is to continue past the headwaters of Falls Creek and keep going up the broad, grassy ramp in front of you. Believe it or not, that’s the backside of South Suicide Peak, the steep, forbidding pile of crumbling rock that frowns down on pretty little Rabbit Lake. It wouldn’t hurt to have a mapping app, or even a good old-fashioned paper map, to help ensure that you’re bagging the right peak.

Known Avalanche Hazard

There is known avalanche hazard on this trail in winter and spring. Please consider learning your avalanche basics; it could save your life, or the life of a friend.