Mt. Prindle
Quick Facts:
Drive time: 1.5 hours from Fairbanks
Mileage: 10-15 miles
Elevation gain: ~1,000+ feet to base camp
Activities: Backpacking/climbing
Estimated time: 2-3 days
This trail starts at Mt. Prindle Campground, north of Fairbanks and on the way to Central, Alaska. We did this trail as a 1-night backpacking trip just to explore the area. We were initially discouraged because a lot of the guidebooks say that this is 4,000-5,000 feet in elevation gain, and that was more than we were looking for that weekend, but we decided we would just walk until we were tired and set up camp for the night. We’re so glad we did because it was way easier than expected (I assume the guidebooks are providing elevation gain up to the summit of Prindle itself) and absolutely gorgeous! It’s beautiful alpine terrain with the coolest mountains in the Fairbanks area.
There are two creek crossings of Nome Creek at the very beginning of the trail, so we started in sandals. The crossings were no more than ankle deep in mid-July. You follow an occassionally muddy trail along the creek pretty consistently for 4 miles before it starts to taper out. Then, you can just continue walking along the creek toward the ridge straight ahead of you. We opted to camp in the bowl at the base of the ridge, which was ultimately about 5 miles in from the trailhead and just under 1,000 feet in elevation gain. There was ample water in the area for filtering and the views were incredible.
In the morning, we left base camp set up and hiked up the ridge towards the tors. There’s no trail until you get to the tors, and I would estimate it only took us about 30 minutes to climb up. The trail starts back up at the tors and leads you towards the summit of Mt. Prindle, although I’m not sure if the trail goes all the way there, so some route finding may be required. We were short on time, so we just explored the first ridge line before heading back to take down camp and hike back to the car.
I will definitely be heading back here with more time to make it to the summit of Prindle and bringing climbing gear to climb some of the many tors on the ridge. Such a cool area and a perfect weekend getaway!
