The newest book published by Northern Light Media is a complete history of the Iditarod Trail, from long before its founding as a route to the Innoko-Iditarod gold fields, to its official designation as a dog team mail trail from Seward to Nome, to decades of becoming overgrown and unusable, to its resurrection as a race route and the northernmost Congressionally designated National Historic Trail!
From tidewater at Seward and over multiple mountain ranges, across treacherous rivers and through temperatures reaching 50 below, travelers of the Iditarod Trail face challenges which make the route unique among our nation’s National Historic Trails, the only winter trail in the National Trails System.
The most well-known use of the Iditarod Trail is the annual 1,000-mile sled dog race from Anchorage to Nome, but many other kinds of racers use the trail as well, including snowmachines, skiers, bicyclists and distance runners.
The Iron Dog snowmachine race and the Iditarod Trail Invitational use the same Anchorage-to-Nome route as the sled dogs, and the grueling Crow Pass Crossing goes up and over the most daunting–and highest–section of the route!
The book includes 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 and many others.
But it’s the history which takes center stage, from the earliest travelers to the gold rush miners to the intrepid dog teams which carried freight, gold, and the U.S. Mail over the trail.
The Iditarod Trail: From Resurrection Bay to Norton Sound, by Helen Hegener, published in March, 2026 by Northern Light Media. ISBN 9798252387352. 6” x 9” b/w format, 408 pages, over 200 photographs, indexed, bibliography, annotated references, extensive online resources. $29.95 plus shipping.
Northern Light Media 