It then becomes a very steep trail for 3 miles to Dogsled Pass, where you can access several wilderness trails into the Talkeetna Mountains. It’s better, however, to walk the gently climbing old road up a valley and past several abandoned mining operations to the head of the creek. If you’ve got a 4WD, you can (theoretically) drive the first 3 miles of the Craigie Creek Trail. Near mile 14 of Hatcher Pass Rd, a road to Archangel Valley splits off from Fishhook–Willow Rd and leads to the Reed Lakes trailhead, a wide road. For a shorter outing, you can turn around at the Perch, a massive rock in the middle of wonderland, then backtrack to the Dew Mound Trail at Echo Bend and loop back to the Nature Center, making this a scenic 8-mile trip. Pitch a tent at Rapids Camp or Echo Bend (Mile 3), or rent one of two yurts ($65 per night) close by. It’s a two- to three-day hike through superb mountain scenery to Girdwood (where it's known as the Crow Pass Trail) and is the region’s best backpack adventure. The National Historic Iditarod Trail is a 24-mile trek used by gold miners and sled-dog teams until 1918 when the Alaska Railroad was finished. Originally used by Alaska Natives, the trail, with a mountain goat’s view of Turnagain Arm, can also be accessed at points along the way: McHugh Creek (Mile 112), Rainbow (Mile 108) and Windy (Mile 107). This mellow 11-mile hike begins at Potter Trailhead (Mile 115). There are really two trailheads the main 'upper' trail starts at mile 0.6 of Skilak Lake Rd, and the other at mile 2.3.Ī Dall sheep overlooks the Turnagain Arm © Shutterstock / 907Shots Turnagain Arm Trail The Kenai River TrailĪ half-mile down this trail are wonderful views of the Kenai River Canyon. Don’t forget your passport.įor transport to the Dyea trailhead, call the reliable Ann Moore at Chilkoot Trail Dyea Transport. It is wise to reserve your permits ($11.70 per reservation) in advance through Parks Canada if you intend to walk mid-July to mid-August. Parks Canada allows only 50 hikers per day on the trail and holds only eight permits to be handed out each day at the trail center. Experiencing the Chilkoot and returning on the train is probably the ultimate Alaska trek, combining great scenery, a historical site and an incredible sense of adventure.īefore starting the trail, all hikers must call in at the Trail Center in Skagway to obtain backpacking permits (adult/child $55/27.45), check out trail conditions and watch a bear safety video. A special 'hiker’s train' using the historic White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad leaves Lake Bennett for Skagway four times a week (3:15pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and 2:15pm on Saturday). The hike ends at Lake Bennett in BC, Canada, which has a good campground, a railway station and an unusual wooden church dating from 1898.

The trailhead is at Dyea, 9 miles northwest of Skagway and site of a once-rambunctious gold rush town that came and went in the space of just six years (1897–1903). Railroad train to Skagway on the White Pass & Yukon Route ©Justin Foulkes/Lonely Planet

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