Girdwood Cross Country Skiing

Alyeska Resort is famous for its down­hill ski­ing and snow­board­ing for a rea­son — it’s tru­ly world-class, fea­tur­ing tons of snow, steep moun­tains, and views that stretch on for­ev­er. But there are a ton of oth­er win­ter activ­i­ties that make Alyeska an epi­cen­ter for win­ter adven­ture. Go cross-coun­try ski­ing or snow­shoe­ing on one of the area trails; or head off into the back­coun­try with a guide for some heli- or cat-ski­ing; try a snow­mo­bile excursion;  ...more

This is a groomed, mul­ti-use trail that is most­ly flat and makes great snow-shoe­ing and Nordic ski­ing. The trails are wide and have both skate and clas­sic tracks. Access is from the end of Arl­berg Rd where there is park­ing or the park­ing lot near Aspen Moun­tain Rd. It’s also pos­si­ble to link these trails togeth­er with the new 5k Nordic ski trails just north of the Hotel Alyeska.

Con­nect­ed to Snow­cat Trail and the Nordic Loop, this win­ter trail pass­es through woods and snowy fields, even­tu­al­ly end­ing at Win­ner Creek Gorge.

The Alyeska Mul­ti-Use Path­way is a paved, light­ed mul­ti-use trail that extends from the Seward Hwy to the Hotel Alyeska. The path is pop­u­lar with walk­ers and run­ners, and with a fresh batch of snow it becomes a great clas­sic ski trail.

Access the trails from the end of Alberg Loop. The trails are mod­er­ate to dif­fi­cult for ski­ing and should be skied coun­ter­clock­wise. These are mul­ti-use trails dur­ing the sum­mer and then tran­si­tion to being Nordic only in the win­ter months.

Con­nect­ed to the mul­ti-use trails and Snow­cat Trail, this recent­ly opened loop is a great way to extend your nordic ski­ing experience.

The Idi­tar­od Nation­al His­toric Trail is Alaska’s sole Nation­al His­toric Trail. This net­work of 2,300-mile win­ter trails evolved to con­nect Alaskan Native vil­lages, estab­lished the dog-team mail and sup­ply route dur­ing Alaska’s Gold Rush, and now serves as a vital recre­ation and trav­el link.