Not many tourists drive down Nash Road, which is one of the reasons why it’s special. A few miles down the road, you’ll find a marked entrance to a section of the Iditarod Trail, which makes for great walking in the summer and cross-country skiing in the winter. (For a long ski excursion, you can connect to a trail that takes you to the Bear Lake area). A bit further down the road, the pavement climbs and you’ll get a nice view of the bay and city tucked under the edge of the mountains. Continuing down the road, you’ll pass the entrance to Spring Creek Correctional Facility; a little ways on, watch for turnoffs to the coast, where you can go fishing, beachcombing, or have a picnic with a view of Seward across the bay. Then drive through the dry dock shipyard, checking out old fishing boats from the area. Just beyond, you’ll find some dirt roads and paths (that are prone to flooding) leading to 4th of July Creek, which feeds into Resurrection Bay.

Getting There

Coordinates
Latitude: 60.143972
Longitude: -149.415933
Driving Directions

Show Map

Nash Road Points

This steep hike is a bit of a chal­lenge, but it pays off. The trail winds through a spruce and hem­lock for­est into the sub-alpine and alpine zones, with breath­tak­ing panoram­ic views of Res­ur­rec­tion Bay and Seward. Be sure to bring a cam­era and plen­ty of water!

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.