Iditarod National Historic Trail

Walk, run, or ski the Idi­tar­od Trail from Nash Road, end­ing at Bear Lake. It’s most­ly flat, though not all parts of the trail are groomed in the win­ter, and might be more suit­ed for clas­si­cal ski­ing. The trail goes onto Bear Lake in the win­ter, which is groomed for clas­si­cal ski­ing, skate ski­ing, and snowmachining.

The coastal walk fol­lows the route of the orig­i­nal Idi­tar­od Nation­al His­toric Trail, used heav­i­ly from 1909 to the mid-1920’s to sup­port min­ing com­mu­ni­ties on Tur­na­gain Arm with mail and sup­plies arriv­ing at Seward’s ice-free har­bor by steamship.

The John­son Pass Trail orig­i­nat­ed in the 1890s as a route for Idi­tar­od min­ers who raced north from Seward to Nome. It lat­er was devel­oped into a wag­on road by mer­chants and min­ers who set­tled the area. The Alas­ka Road Com­mis­sion then used it as a thor­ough­fare through the 1930s. Today this pop­u­lar hik­ing trail trav­els por­tions of the his­toric Idi­tar­od Trail between Moose Pass and Gran­ite Creek with bridged streams, most­ly easy grades, and…  ...more

Win­ner Creek Trail in Gird­wood (45 min­utes south of Anchor­age) is one of our favorite trails to take vis­it­ing friends and fam­i­ly. It’s an easy 3‑mile hike or bike ride on a wide, well-devel­oped trail with a gen­tle ele­va­tion gain that winds through America’s north­ern­most rain­for­est, cross­es a wood­en bridge over a thun­der­ing blue-water gorge. 2022: Hand tram cur­rent­ly closed, may replace with bridge. Local weigh­ing in.)

Con­sid­ered to be one of the best hikes in all of the Chugach Moun­tains, Crow Pass fol­lows a por­tion of the orig­i­nal Idi­tar­od Trail, includ­ing its high­est point. End to end, it’s a 21-mile trail, which most peo­ple do in 2 days, but just the first 4 miles will lead you past some breath­tak­ing scenery. Along the way you’ll find glac­i­ers, water­falls, wild­flow­ers, wildlife, mine ruins, and berries (in late August and Sep­tem­ber). Hik­ing is not  ...more