Summer
Hike or Backpack
The trail is at its best on foot in Southcentral, where Crow Pass, Johnson Pass and the Seward waterfront are summer walks and backpacking trips.
Walking to Nome in summer is not a trip anyone recommends: north of Knik the trail crosses hundreds of miles of swamp, tussocks and permafrost bogs, which is why travelers in the gold-rush years took river steamers in summer.
Places to Hike or Backpack, Seward to Nome
Southcentral, Seward to Knik
- SewardMile 0
Walk the first mile of the trail along Resurrection Bay from Mile 0.
- Moose PassRailroad community
Hike the 23-mile Johnson Pass Trail, a segment of the historic trail system.
- GirdwoodTrail town
Hike to Crow Pass, or backpack the 24-mile traverse over it to the Eagle River Nature Center (summer only, because of avalanche hazard).
- Eagle RiverTrail valley
Finish the Crow Pass traverse at the Eagle River Nature Center, or walk its trails.
- WasillaRace headquarters
Walk the one-mile trail around Reflections Lake at the old Knik River crossing.
- KnikGold-rush outfitting town
Walk the piece of the historic trail beside the Knik Museum.
Interior/Rivers, Skwentna to Kaltag
- Rainy PassAlaska Range crossing
Fly into the Rohn shelter cabin and backpack 30 miles over Rainy Pass to a floatplane pickup near Puntilla Lake.
Bering Sea Coast, Unalakleet to Nome
- UnalakleetNorton Sound village
Fish for silver salmon on the Unalakleet River along the Kaltag Portage.
- NomeEnd of the trail
Drive out on the Council Highway to the Safety Sound Bridge and walk the trail on the beach of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.