Iditarod Trail Info | Map

Iditarod Trail Map | Iditarod Checkpoint Info | Iditarod Fly-out

Courtesy & Copyright: Iditarod Trail Committee

(1) Anchorage - Ceremonial start, Saturday
(2) Willow - Race restart, Sunday
(3) Skwentna - All mushers hit this checkpoint at the junction of Skwentna and Yentna rivers the first night of the race. As many as 40 teams may campe here.
(4) Finger Lake - After Finger Lake comes the treacherous descent down Happy River Gorge.
(5) Rainy Pass - At 3,771 feet, the highest point on the trail. The actual checkpoint is on Puntilla Lake.
(6) Rohn - Was an original Iditarod roadhouse for dog teams carrying mail. The Roadhouse is gone, replaced by a cabin built in the 1930s.
(7) Nikolai - Village of about 100 people at end of bumpy 75-mile run across the Farewell Burn
(8) McGrath - One of the larger communities (population 347) and transport hub

(9) Takotna - Pretty, welcoming village known for its fresh pies. Favored spot to take the 24-hour layover.
(10) Ophir - Ghost town.
(11) Iditarod - Abandoned mining town halfway along southern route. First musher here gets $3,000 in gold.
(12) Shageluk - Open water on the trail from Iditarod can be a problem. 507 miles to Nome.
(13) Anvik - First checkpoint on the Yukon River, which mushers follow for 148 miles.
(14) Grayling - Last village until mushers reach Kaltag, 130 miles upriver. Population 194.
(15) Eagle Island - Ralph Conaster's cabin is the only dwelling here. Fierce headwinds often slow mushers.
(16) Kaltag - Mushers leave Yukon River at village of 230.

(17) Unalakleet - The biggest town (population 747) between Anchorage and Nome and the first on Norton Sound
(18) Shaktoolik - Hurricane-velocity winds and ground blizzards can cut visibility to zero quickly. Trail crosses Norton Sound to Koyuk.
(19) Koyuk - Once to Koyuk, the rest of the trail is over land. Just 171 miles to Nome.
(20) Elim - Checkpoint normally sheltered from the wind
(21) Golovin - Trail runs straight for 10 of the 18 miles to White Mountain, then crosses Fish River delta.
(22) White Mountain - Mushers take final mandatory rest here, an eight-hour stop. 77 miles to Nome.
(23) Safety - Last check, 22 miles from finish.
(24) Nome - Finishing line - end of race