Pack Trail Race 2026 — Valdez, AK

THERE WILL BE A 40 ENTRANT LIMIT TO THIS RACE. Parking is limited so please consider carpooling if available. We will be starting on the old highway. Onsite registration will be CASH ONLY. The original "Pack Trail" was a trail from the Port of Valdez to Eagle, Alaska built in 1898 by the US Army to provide an "All-American" route to the Klondike Goldfields. When the gold rush ended, the Army kept the trail open to connect its posts, Fort Liscum in Valdez and Fort Egbert in Eagle. By 1910, it had grown into one of the most important access routes to interior Alaska and at that time it was upgraded into a wagon road. These upgrades were overseen by US Army General Wilds P. Richardson, for whom the final "Highway" was named. Because the wagon road and eventually the Richardson Highway were chosen to follow alongside the Lowe River instead of over the mountain, this part of the pack trail was abandoned. It remained forgotten for nearly 90 years until it was relocated and cleared in 1997 and 1998. The clearing was done with hand tools in order to retain something of the original spirit of 1899. Glimpses of the original telegraph line (installed in 1900) can still be seen along the trail. In the fall of 2006, severe floods damaged the trail and washed out several important bridges, as well as portions of the Richardson Highway through Keystone Canyon. Join us on July 25th to run an out and back on this amazing piece of Valdez history.