The system was created to provide areas of hiking and for meeting the outdoor recreation needs of an ever-expanding urban population. Because the Iditarod is such 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. The Iditarod Today Unlike the Appalachian or Pacific Crest national trails which are located near heavily populated areas, most of the Iditarod is in the remote sections of Alaska. Only a small part of the trail can be hiked in the usual sense of the word, for the Iditarod is what is known as a winter trail.
Most use occurs when the tundra and rivers are frozen and easier to cross.
During the summer months the thick tundra vegetation makes hiking extremely difficult on many sections of the trail. Today one can hike those portions of the trail which run through the Chugach National Forest or the Chugach State Park near Anchorage. Dog mushers race across frozen rivers and tundra. Skiers, snowmachiners and even mountain bikers compete over various sections of the Trail in and around Knik, McGrath, Unalakleet, Nome and other communities. Work Outdoors at GORP Jobs Click Here.