Eska Falls (Hike)
Like most Mat-Su valley trailheads, the area around Eska Falls trail is a nearly incomprehensible web of ATV routes. Start by driving out the Glenn Highway to Sutton, and turn left on Jonesville Road. The paved road gradually snakes its way uphill toward the Talkeetnas, with old mines around it. The pavement ends abruptly, just past a small pull out by a creek crossing. This is a common place to park and start hiking, or high clearance vehicles can continue in non-icy conditions. Approximately a quarter mile later, there is a small roadside campsite on the left side of the road. This easy-to-miss landmark is where you should veer left at a major fork in the road (really a large trail), heading more steeply uphill. If you miss this and continue straight, you will end up in a confusion of gravel pits and trails near Coyote Lake. On the other hadnd, if you can take the right fork, simply continuing uphill on a very wide, generally well-graded ATV trail will take you to the Eska Falls hiking trailhead. Along the way, there are many spur ATV trails that also lead uphill. They generally break off to the right as the main ATV trail sidehills toward the northeast, in the direction of Eska Creek.
After about a mile of climbing on the large ATV trail, there is a signpost that directs hikers and mountain bikers to the left (west) and ATVs or snowmachines to the right (east). Unfortunately, some ATVs also have taken the left trail, tearing up the first part of the new hiking trail. Continue along this newly-rutted area until a clearing where the trail seems to stop. It doesn’t--look for a smaller hiking trail that continues to the right, through terrain and trees that are impassable for ATVs. This attractive single track trail passes through glades and meadows on a bench above Eska Creek, which cascades over stairstep ledges. To the north, Eska Mountain towers 4,000 feet higher than the trail.
Eventually the hiking trail enters a series of larger meadows, and then surmounts a distinct ridgeline, ending at yet another ATV trail. From here, on a clear day Eska Falls will be visible to the north, cutting down the valley between Eska Peak and the taller Granite Peak. The falls exists where Eska Creek plummets down a cirque. Hang a right, then a left on the next ATV trail, making a beeline for the falls. The largest trail ends right at the base of the falls, which are approximately a hundred feet high. Farther upstream above the cirque, the glacial forces that created the cirque are very evident. Huge piles of moraine stretch across the broad, U-shaped valley.
Visitors travelling to the Moose Creek drainage and Dnigi Hut (which may soon be removed) can follow this valley northeast, crossing a relatively low pass into the Moose Creek valley. Or just turn around and gaze out over the view of the Matanuska Valley, with the snow-capped Chugach behind it. Though many of us see the Matanuska Valley all the time, this is a rare perspective. Most of the front range Talkeetna peaks are relatively inconvenient to access, given private property barriers or brush that separates roads from the alpine. Eska Falls may be the most convenient way to examine the valley from above, with a panoramic view of the Chugach.
In winter, expect snowmachine traffic going up the ATV trail. If conditions haven’t been icy, it might be a reasonable trip for skilled cross country skiers who own climbing skins for steeper parts of the ascent. Backcountry skiers would find the ascent a long slog, though plenty of ski terrain is behind the falls. A good traverse in summer or winter connects the Eska Falls trailhead with the Goldmint trailhead, crossing from the Moose to the Mint valley at Grizzly Pass near the Mint Glacier.
Eska Falls is an easy day hike, though you should give yourself extra time to navigate the web of ATV trails that precede the trail itself. With the wide ATV trails that comprise over half the walking distance, it isn’t really wilderness until you get beyond the falls. Despite that, the trail provides useful access to an unusual vista in the Talkeetnas, and a path into the alpine that can launch longer backcountry trips.
After about a mile of climbing on the large ATV trail, there is a signpost that directs hikers and mountain bikers to the left (west) and ATVs or snowmachines to the right (east). Unfortunately, some ATVs also have taken the left trail, tearing up the first part of the new hiking trail. Continue along this newly-rutted area until a clearing where the trail seems to stop. It doesn’t--look for a smaller hiking trail that continues to the right, through terrain and trees that are impassable for ATVs. This attractive single track trail passes through glades and meadows on a bench above Eska Creek, which cascades over stairstep ledges. To the north, Eska Mountain towers 4,000 feet higher than the trail.
Eventually the hiking trail enters a series of larger meadows, and then surmounts a distinct ridgeline, ending at yet another ATV trail. From here, on a clear day Eska Falls will be visible to the north, cutting down the valley between Eska Peak and the taller Granite Peak. The falls exists where Eska Creek plummets down a cirque. Hang a right, then a left on the next ATV trail, making a beeline for the falls. The largest trail ends right at the base of the falls, which are approximately a hundred feet high. Farther upstream above the cirque, the glacial forces that created the cirque are very evident. Huge piles of moraine stretch across the broad, U-shaped valley.
Visitors travelling to the Moose Creek drainage and Dnigi Hut (which may soon be removed) can follow this valley northeast, crossing a relatively low pass into the Moose Creek valley. Or just turn around and gaze out over the view of the Matanuska Valley, with the snow-capped Chugach behind it. Though many of us see the Matanuska Valley all the time, this is a rare perspective. Most of the front range Talkeetna peaks are relatively inconvenient to access, given private property barriers or brush that separates roads from the alpine. Eska Falls may be the most convenient way to examine the valley from above, with a panoramic view of the Chugach.
In winter, expect snowmachine traffic going up the ATV trail. If conditions haven’t been icy, it might be a reasonable trip for skilled cross country skiers who own climbing skins for steeper parts of the ascent. Backcountry skiers would find the ascent a long slog, though plenty of ski terrain is behind the falls. A good traverse in summer or winter connects the Eska Falls trailhead with the Goldmint trailhead, crossing from the Moose to the Mint valley at Grizzly Pass near the Mint Glacier.
Eska Falls is an easy day hike, though you should give yourself extra time to navigate the web of ATV trails that precede the trail itself. With the wide ATV trails that comprise over half the walking distance, it isn’t really wilderness until you get beyond the falls. Despite that, the trail provides useful access to an unusual vista in the Talkeetnas, and a path into the alpine that can launch longer backcountry trips.
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