Boreal Forest Trail Loop

Wildlife Sanctuary

The new Wedgewood Wildlife Sanctuary is a beautiful, 75-acre refuge that provides habitat for a variety of Interior Alaska’s wildlife. Located next to Wedgewood Resort and just minutes from downtown Fairbanks, the sanctuary offers a great opportunity for visitors to enjoy a quiet walk through the boreal forest.

This privately owned sanctuary features 1.5 miles of walking trails that are open to the public free of charge. The trails are topped with compacted gravel making them wheelchair and stroller accessible. Fifteen benches located along the trail system provide plenty of opportunities for trail users to rest and watch for wildlife.

More than 100 bird species, 15 kinds of mammals, three species of fish, one amphibian and a wealth of insects and plants have been recorded in the sanctuary. You can learn how they survive interior Alaska’s extreme climate by reading the 14 interpretive signs located along the trails.

The 0.7-mile Taiga Trail loops over Isabella Slough and through a mosaic of boreal forest habitats, including towering white spruce, a lovely stand of paper birch and aspen, and a small black spruce wetland. The trail also winds along the western shore of Wander Lake, where visitors can enjoy the view from the large observation deck.

Opening Summer 2009: The 0.8-mile Wander Lake Trail loops around a small lake that is being enhanced for wildlife. The trail passes by a beaver lodge, water meadow, photography blind and newly developed shallows designed to attract wading birds and provide rearing habitat for non-game fish living in the lake.