You can plan on 7 to 10 hours for it, more if you want to stop and rest somewhere. The people of Shageluk rarely have any need to go over to Iditarod and Flat and vice versa, so this trail is normally only put in every other year, and then only for the Iditarod. Much of the area between Iditarod and Shageluk was burned in a forest fire years ago and some areas still have not grown back. In short, it will be pretty lonely and maybe even a little spooky. This is a good leg to find another driver to run with, just for the company if nothing else.
Some veterans say there are nine big hills, some say thirteen, some say more.
The first one is within ten miles after leaving Iditarod and the last one is within ten miles of Shageluk. Some of the downhill's are a bit sporty as well. The trail is fairly narrow at times, although it tends to get better in the last 30 miles into Shageluk. The trail will cross several rivers draining northward into the Innoko, which describes a huge loop from Ophir, swinging north, then west, and finally south to Shageluk before it merges with the Yukon near Holy Cross. The Innoko Valley to the north of the hills across which the trail runs is a vast, uninhabited, mostly wooded expanse of endless swamps and marshes and countless serpentine rivers interspersed with low hills, covering an area larger than many entire states.