I have written about the Iditarod Trail many times, in many of my books. One of the first was in my 2019 book about the inaugural Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1973, where I shared a brief history of the route and detailed the trials, tribulations, and eventual triumphs of the first running of the Last Great Race. I explored the historic roadhouses along the Iditarod Trail in my 2016 book Alaskan Roadhouses, and I wrote about the beginnings of the Trail in Seward and points north in my 2017 book The Alaska Railroad 1902-1923, which traces the building of our state’s primary railroad. The Iditarod Trail and the railroad shared the route out of town.
My current research and writing project is a book about the Iditarod Trail itself, the route, the history, the multifaceted current uses, and the future of the Trail. In actuality, it is a network of trails which make up what is known as the Iditarod National Historic Trail system, comprised of the 1,000-mile main trail between Seward and Nome, and an additional 1,400 miles of side and/or connecting trails that link communities and historic sites, or provide parallel routes. One such connecting trail left the main route and ran into downtown Anchorage, where the Wells Fargo gold teams would be seen running down Fourth Avenue as in the photo below.
The most well-known use of the Iditarod Trail is the annual sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, but several other sled dog races use portions of the trail as well, as did the 1925 Serum Run which delivered diphtheria medicine to the stricken town. But there are many more uses of the trail, such as the the Iron Dog Snowmachine race, and the Iditasport ultra marathon for skiers, runners, and mountain bikers.
From the Iditasport website: “The holy grail of winter ultra events, the Iditasport was the world’s longest winter fat bike and running race. Inspired by Joe Redington Sr. and brought to life by Dan Bull, this human-powered event was first held in 1987 as the Iditabike, a 210-mile mountain bike race. In 1997, a 350-mile race to McGrath, Alaska was added as the Iditasport Extreme, and in 2000, the Iditasport Impossible, a 1000-mile race to Nome was incorporated into the event as the world’s longest winter ultra marathon by fat bike, foot and ski. In 2002, racers Bill Merchant and Par Irwin replaced the original Iditasport race with a new version of the event, the Iditarod Trail Invitational.”
The book will include details on the network of groups which manage, maintain, and advocate for the Iditarod Trail, including the Alaska Bureau of Land Management, the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance, the Iditarod Trail Committee Inc., the Iditarod Trail Blazers (multiple chapters) and others. From the BLM’s Iditarod National Historic Trail website: “Who owns the trail? The Iditarod is a complex trail system, stretching from Seward in the south, to Nome on the Bering Sea. It crosses lands owned by several Native corporations, municipal governments and the State of Alaska as well as federal lands managed by the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Defense. In all there are 10 institutional land managers and numerous private owners.”
I envision the book combining the colorful history, the engaging current events, and the inspiring future of the Iditarod Trail with dozens of historic images, full color photos, and fascinating documents, from the first government survey notes to the latest plans for the Trail by the many active citizen and community trail groups throughout Alaska.
I am excited about this book, and to share just a bit of that excitement, I offer this wonderful video by Alaskan artist and filmmaker Max Romney, who filmed a trek along the southern section of the Iditarod Trail and shares his delightful discoveries:
Ready to order..
This looks exciting!