Denali National Park's diverse natural ecosystems -- meadows, mountains, forests, taiga, tundra, lakes, marshes, bogs, riverbeds -- result in a wide spectrum of plants, including wildflowers, during the short spring, summer, and fall seasons.

Alpine forget-me-not, Alaska's state flower  (Mt. Margaret, 7-25-15)

I'm always on the lookout for flowers when I'm hiking. I've probably seen at least fifty different species of wildflowers in Denali during our trips to the park in August, 2012 and July, 2015 but I haven't photographed that many different ones.

In this entry I'll show some of the pictures of wildflowers I've taken in Denali this month, then add a few different ones I took later in the summer in 2012. I'll identify as many of them as possible.

Most of these flowers I've seen in multiple locations in the park. For simplicity I'll just give the location where each specific photo was taken.

BLUE & PURPLE FLOWERS

Let's start with FIREWEED, which is so ubiquitous it should be Alaska's state flower. It's simply gorgeous at its peak this time of year and flourishes in a variety of different places from gravel riverbeds to mountain ridges :

Along the park road, with Denali in the distance (7-15-15)

Savage River Trail  (7-16-15)

Fireweed close-up

Alpine Trail at Eielson, with Denali a little closer  (7-21-15)

Mt. Healy ridge (7-24-15)

There is also a shorter version of fireweed that grows in Denali. I took this photo on my Discovery Hike in the Stony Creek area about Mile 60 on the park road. This is one of a couple dozen wildflowers I photographed that day:

Dwarf fireweed  (Stony Creek area,  7-15-15)

Another beautiful flower that flourishes in Denali early in the summer is LUPINE. Most have already peaked at lower elevations but I found several still blooming in Riley Creek Campground today:

Here are some other pretty blue and purple flowers I've seen in the last two weeks at Denali:

Mountain harebells  (Mt. Margaret, 7-25-15)

Mountain bluebells  (Stony Creek mountain slope, 7-15-15)

Moss gentian  (Stony Creek mountain slope, 7-15-15)

Monkshood  (Savage Alpine Trail, 7-16-15)

Siberian asters  (along park road in Polychrome area, 7-22-15)

Tall Jacob's ladder   (Savage River Loop Trail, 7-17-15)

 

PINK & RED FLOWERS

Pink Plumes bistort  (Stony Creek mountain slope, 7-15-15)  

Above and below:  Elegant paintbrush/Figwort family  (Stony Creek area, 7-15-15)

 

Pale corydalis  (Mt. Healy Overlook Trail, 7-24-15)

Rosewort/sedum family  (Savage Alpine Trail, 7-16-15)

 

YELLOW & ORANGE FLOWERS

Arctic poppy  (Stony Creek riverbed, 7-15-15)

Arctic poppy close-up  (Eielson Alpine Trail, 7-21-15)

Lessing's arnica (Stony Creek area, 7-15-15)

Box saxifrage  (Teklanika River Campground bog, 7-22-15)

Spider plant/saxifrage  (Mt. Margaret, 7-25-15)

Black-tipped groundsel   (along the road in Polychrome area, 7-22-15)

Close-up of black-tipped groundsel (Mt. Healy Overlook Trail, 7-24-15)

Arctic butterweed/aster family  (Mt. Margaret, 7-25-15)

Lots more flowers continued on the next page.

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Cody the ultra Lab, and Casey-pup

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© 2015 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil