Willis Wall

The Northern Loop Trail takes the hiker for a loop around the northern part of the park, essentially circling the Elysian Fields, nestled between ridges and peaks. The southern part of the loop is on the Wonderland Trail, which is not covered in this two part sojourn. The NLT can be accessed from Sunrise (as in this series) or from the Carbon River entrance and Mowich Lake. Reference here for my 1 day transit in 2023, which entailed 38 miles and 9,800’ of elevation gain/loss (from Sunrise). I incorporate a fair amount of that 2023 trip footage but this series calls on a more extensive library, from 2010 to 2024. Part I includes the sections • Introduction/Overview • Sunrise • Berkeley Park • Grand Park/Scarface/Fire Creek • West Fork White River. Part II includes • Pigeon Peak/Lake James/Natural Bridge • Windy Gap/Elysian Fields/Tyee Ridge and Peak • Yellowstone Camp/Wonderland Trail Intersection. As noted in the Introduction, off trail travel is depicted, from a well established social trail to the extremely sensitive Elysian Fields. Please carefully assess your skill set before venturing off trail, and be very cognizant of LNT practices…if you don’t know what that means, then stay on trail. That said, the NLT makes for an awesome loop and serves up a succulent eye/ear/olfactory smorgasbord. Many hikers incorporate the NLT in their Wonderland Trail trip, usually taking 3 to 4 days (or more!) to soak in the awesomeness of the Northern Loop Trail. Enjoy!