Our Favorite Alaskan Hike: Reed Lakes Trail

This hike is not far from Gold Cord Lake Trail and close to Hatcher Pass.
All Trails says this hike is 8.6 miles with 2,280 feet of elevation. With that being said, we ended up hiking 9 miles and are pretty sure you could have continued up to go above the waterfall if you so choose.

You might need a parking pass, but we had an annual pass we used just in case since I am not 100% certain. If you need a pass, it would be $5. Something important to note, when you drive to the trailhead, some people park before the bridge. If you have a low clearance vehicle, I STRONGLY recommend parking before the bridge. We have an SUV, so we drove past the bridge and noticed how rutted the road was, so we ended up parking on the side of the road behind another vehicle instead of going straight for the parking lot. We were really glad we did that because once we walked up on the parking lot, the ruts were deep and we could have bottomed out. 4x4 is the only thing I would feel comfortable using to park with here.

Now onto the trail itself. It meanders through trees, brush, flowers (some poisonous, so beware!) and has some muddy and wet sections. Once the trees open up, you can see the mountain valley around you and can hear the rushing water passing through. This section of the hike is fairly easy. Do NOT attempt this hike if you have mobility issues. It is not ADA accessible. Before you get to the elevated part of the hike, you will have a bridge or two to cross over then you follow the signs to the steep hike up. Depending on the weather, it can be slippery due to the mud and narrow trail, proceed with caution. Once you are past this section, to the left is a waterfall and to continue on takes you to the boulder section. You do not need any gear for it, but just sure footing and hands to have a good grip if you need extra balance. We were told to keep to the right by some young guys who said if you keep left, you have to jump a bit further to make the rocks, so we took their advice. What we didn't realize was that at some point we needed to go left because once we got past the rock section, we continued on a trail that ended up not being connected to the end and had to backtrack. If you like to swim in nature, we saw a few people taking a dip in the lake. Two of them happened to be tour guides for the Matanuska Glacier Tour, which we were planning to go to. They were super nice and chill people, so if you happen to go one summer, see if Nick or Naomi are still there!

After scaling a rock over a mini waterfall to get to the correct side, there was another steep incline we had to conquer. Our legs and hips were feeling it and we felt the areas we have already seen and experienced were already so beautiful, but we decided to push on. We are so happy we did! When we got to the top, the sight was unbelievable! On rocky and grassy surfaces all around us, there were tents set up. What do they get to wake up to? Being nestled inside of a mountain with a tall waterfall pouring over the mountain peak into the beautiful alpine lake that still had ice floating inside it. We highly recommend doing this hike if you are feeling adventurous! Make sure to stretch before you do it though to loosen up those muscles!

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