Alaska’s Enduring Trail Nome Serum Run Marks Management of the Historic Trail The Iditarod National Historic Trail celebrates a 2,400-mile the Beginning of the End Most of the historic Iditarod system of winter routes that fi rst connected ancient Native In the winter of 1925, a deadly outbreak of diphtheria Trail is located on public villages and later opened to the last great American struck fear in the hearts of Nome residents. There was lands managed by the . not enough serum to inoculate everyone and winter ice State of Alaska or federal When explorers and prospectors arrived in the north, they had closed the port city from the outside world. Serum agencies (although some quickly learned from Alaska Natives that teams from Anchorage was rushed by train to Nenana. Twenty segments pass over private were the only way to reliably move goods and people of Alaska’s best mushers and their sled dog teams relayed lands). No one entity Iditarod across the frozen landscape. The Seward to Nome Trail, the serum 674 miles from Nenana to Nome in less than manages the entire historic as the Iditarod was also called, was scouted in 1908 by a fi ve and one-half days! trail — management is National Historic Trail guided by a cooperative three-person Alaska Road Commission crew supported by The serum run became dog teams and led by Superintendent W.L. Goodwin. plan adopted by state and one of the fi nal great federal agencies in the mid- “...having two basket sleds and 18 sets dog harness made...at feats of dog sledding 1980s. The federal Bureau Seward we spent fi ve days ‘trying out dogs’ and repacking the in the early 20th of Land Management outfi t ready for the trip...” century. By the 1930s, – W.L. Goodwin, 1908 coordinates cooperative air transport replaced management of the trail Nine months later, two prospectors made a Christmas the dog team for and is the primary point Day strike in the Iditarod Mining District. To keep ahead mail shipping. With Volunteer working on the trail outside of contact for matt ers of the ensuing gold rush in 1910-1911, Goodwin and his downturns in gold of Knik, Alaska. involving the entire trail. Road Commission crew worked through mid-winter mining most of the temperatures of 50 below zero to open the entire route roadhouses closed, Every year, local groups, community clubs and individuals before March travelers arrived. By 1912, ten thousand boom towns emptied, contribute their personal time and money to maintain gold-seekers hiked or mushed the Government Trail to the and the and improve the Iditarod Trail. The statewide nonprofi t Iditarod gold fi elds, where they worked 50 tons of gold fell into disuse. Iditarod National Historic Trail Alliance helps protect and from the ground. , the famous lead dog for Leonhard improve the trail and keeps the “lore of the trail” alive. Seppala’s dog team on the Serum Run, with Your support of these eff orts, like the hard work of past “...in the month of March I left for the north. That was many trophies awarded for saving Nome, Alaska. Iditarod trail breakers, will ultimately keep the route open years ago when there were only two modes of travel, mush dogs for another century! or just mush.” – Reminiscences of the Iditarod Trail, A Partnership Re-opens Charles Lee Cadwallader the Iditarod Historic Trail For more information Roadhouses and Dog Barns Forest and tundra Trail Recreation Trail Management Alaska Public Lands Information Iditarod National Historic Trail During the rush, roadhouses and dog barns sprang up reclaimed the Iditarod Centers Administrator: along the trail at a convenient day’s journey apart – about Trail for almost 50 years www.alaskacenters.gov Bureau of Land Management 20 miles – to shelter and feed trail users. Freight shippers, until Alaskans, led by Anchorage Field Offi ce mail haulers and well-to-do passengers relied on dogsleds. Trail Stewardship and History (907) 267-1246 , Sr. and Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance www.blm.gov/alaska/iditarod Less-wealthy foot travelers used snowshoes, skis and the Dorothy Paige, reopened www.iditarod100.org occasional bicycle. the trail in the early State of Alaska 1970s. To draw att ention Alaska Museums with Historic Dept. of Natural Resources Public “Meals were two dollars each, and blankets spread over wild hay Iditarod Trail Exhibits Information Center on a pole bunk cost another two dollars. High prices for those to the role dogs played Museums Alaska http://dnr.alaska.gov/commis/pic/ days, but a cabin in the shadows of Mt. McKinley is a long way in Alaska’s history, Joe www.museumsalaska.org from civilization.” Chugach National Forest and his friends created A R https://www.fs.usda.gov/chugach IT O – Nuggets and Beans, Harold Penkenpaugh Long-Distance Trail Events D D an epic sled dog race I Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race By 1918, the stampede reversed itself. New winter mail from Anchorage to Nome www.iditarod.com Koyukuk-Nowitna-Innoko National

N Wildlife Refuge Complex AT IL contracts bypassed the fading town of Iditarod in favor of following the route of the ION TRA “Trail work is never done.” - From AL HISTORIC more direct routes to Nome, and World War I drew young historic Iditarod Trail. The https://www.fws.gov/refuge/ “Father of the Iditarod,” Joe Redington, Sr. www.irondog.org innoko/ miners and workers away from the gold fi elds. The Iditarod Trail Sled Iditarod Trail Invitational Dog Race ultimately revived dog in Alaska and Cover photo: Sled dog team on Iditarod Map & Guide www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com around the world. After years of dogged eff ort by Joe and Trail east of Unalakleet, Alaska. U.S. Department of the Interior the Alaska Congressional delegation, the Iditarod was Iditasport Ultramarathon Bureau of Land Management designated as a National Historic Trail in 1978. www.iditasportalaska.com and dog team BLM/AK/GI-06/013+8353+042 Rev 18 First Among America’s LEGEND National Trail System National Historic Trail (Main Seward to Nome Trail) National Historic Trails commemorate major routes Connecting Trails of exploration, migration, trade, communications and (Part of National Historic System) military actions that helped form America. Iditarod Sled Dog Race Route Across America, 19 trails have been honored as National Town/Place Name Historic Trails. The Iditarod is the only Alaska trail and the Abandoned Town only winter trail in the national system, as well as the only Town/Race Checkpoint Historic Trail celebrating the indispensable Iditarod Sled Dog Race role played by ‘man’s best friend’ in the Ceremonial Start settlement of Alaska. Scale varies due to perspective

Recreation on the Trail Today One hundred years after its heyday, some variation of the entire historic Iditarod Trail from Seward to Nome is still open to the public. You can explore the historic trail year-round on foot or by auto or railroad between Seward and Knik, especially in the Chugach The Iditarod Trail in National Forest on the Kenai Girdwood is a favorite Peninsula and with hikers of all ages. outside of Anchorage. Winter overland travel by snowmobile, ski or dogsled is still a great way to explore the remote northern sections of the Iditarod Trail. Many community museums along the Iditarod Trail display historic photography, equipment and artifacts that depict the toils and rewards of life on the Iditarod Trail. For the summer recreationist proficient in remote water travel, the rivers used by the early gold seekers offer access to miles of sandbars, lonely hills and bug-infested

T A D I R swamps. And every February and March, professional I O

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N A T IO NA and recreational racers put their minds, muscles and L H I STO RIC TRAIL machines to work in epic long-distance winter races that A R IT O link Alaska’s largest and smallest communities. D D I

Bureau of Land Management U.S. Forest Service N A IL TIO RA U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service NAL HISTORIC T Alaska Department of Natural Resources IDITAROD NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL