Hiking 100 miles Alone in Alaska
Kraig AdamsMay 23–27, 2020 · Solo
- Days
- 5 days
- Cost
- Cabins $60 to $75 a night plus the recreation.gov fee
- Lodging
- Huts and tent
North America · United States
Across the Kenai Peninsula
Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
- Distance
- 76.9 mi123.7 km
- Days
- 5 days
- Elevation gain
- 6,486 ft1,977 m
- High point
- 2,598 ft792 m
- Season
- June to September
- Lodging
- Huts and tent
Hikes / North America / Across the Kenai Peninsula
In May 2020 I spent five days hiking alone across Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, from the little town of Hope to the edge of Seward. I walked the Resurrection Pass Trail, then added the Russian Lakes Trail and a wilderness trail, the Resurrection River Trail, that brings you down toward the glacier near Seward. A pilot, Jon, flew me to Hope in his two-seater plane. I camped, stayed one night in a public use cabin across a lake, and stopped halfway in Cooper Landing to eat and resupply.
Kraig Adams
Effort at this pace: Hard · about 15 mi (25 km) and 1,297 ft (395 m) of climbing a day over 5 days, up to 2,598 ft (792 m). Our grade for the days given, worked out from distance, climbing and altitude a day; it isn't the trail's usual difficulty rating (under Basics) and doesn't rate exposure, terrain or weather.
Where these numbers come from
From Kraig Adams's GPS recording and guide.
From Kraig Adams's GPS
The route, day by day
Elevation56–1,644 ft78.9 mi
From Kraig Adams's GPS. Terrain: Mapzen Terrain Tiles (GMTED) on AWS · Glaciers, rivers & lakes © OpenStreetMap contributors
Tap a day for his map of it
Download GPX2.2 MB · free
The film
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Hiking 100 miles Alone in Alaska
Before you go
The basics
- Start
- Hope (I flew in to the Hope airstrip)
- Finish
- Resurrection River trailhead on Exit Glacier Road, about 11 road miles from Seward
- Usual difficulty
- Easy to moderate on the Resurrection Pass and Russian Lakes trails; hard on the Resurrection River Trail: brush, lost trail, unbridged fords
- Best time
- June to September. Snow can lie in the pass into early June
- Permits
- The Forest Service trail pages list no hiking permit. You need a reservation for any public use cabin, and you can't camp within 300 feet of a cabin you haven't booked.
- Getting there
- What I did. I didn't have a plan to come to Alaska, especially with the lockdown and everything going on. But a pilot with his own plane and channel, Jon, reached out: he was flying up from Florida to Alaska in his two-seater and asked if I wanted to join him. We linked up in Seattle and hopscotched up the coast through Canada, like a road trip in the sky. I stayed in Seldovia, a very small town on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, before and after the hike. The morning of the hike we took off from Soldotna in Jon's tiny plane, under mostly overcast skies, and landed on the small strip at Hope.
Nearest airport: Anchorage (ANC) - Lodging
- Huts and tent
From Kraig Adams's guide
Costs and gear
What Kraig carried
trail running shoes and thin socks · zip-off pants · rain gear and warm layers · my tent · an inflatable sleeping mat · Jetboil mini stove · a half-liter water bottle · bear spray and 18 more.
Bookings and permits
When bookings open, from the sources named under each. Dates move: confirm on the official site.
Resurrection Pass public use cabins
Cabins book on recreation.gov up to 180 days ahead, so book early or mix cabins and campsites.
Opens a set time before your start date: make a plan with your dates to see yours.
Book on recreation.gov.
Source: Kraig Adams's Resurrection Pass guide: The cabins and camping. Checked October 2026.
Alert me when bookings open
From Kraig Adams's guide
Safety
Rescue numbers
- Emergency: 911. Phone numbers don't give you signal, and I can't tell you where there is any on these trails. A satellite messenger or personal locator beacon is the real backup. Leave your plan with someone at home.
Phone signal
- If you go alone, leave your plan with someone at home, and carry a satellite messenger: I can't tell you where there's phone signal.
Insurance
- Medical treatment in the US is expensive, so make sure your travel insurance covers local treatment and medical evacuation.
Bail-out points
- Day 1, Hope to Fox Creek. Walk back down the valley: the whole day is on one trail and one road back to Hope. The cabins are shelter only if they're yours for the night.
- Day 2, Fox Creek over Resurrection Pass to West Swan Lake. The Devil's Pass Trail leaves the Resurrection Pass Trail south of the pass and runs east about 10 miles to its own trailhead on the Seward Highway (Forest Service: 31.7 miles in all from Hope that way). Otherwise continue south to the Sterling Highway (Day 3) or go back to Hope.
- Day 3, West Swan Lake to Russian River Falls. Cooper Landing is on the Sterling Highway, with food, a fuel station, and the Alaska Bus Company's Anchorage to Seward buses (Sterling Highway pickups by phone). This is the easy place to end the trip.
- Day 4, Russian River Falls to the Resurrection River. Before the junction, the Russian Lakes Trail continues east to its Cooper Lake trailhead (about 5.6 miles from the junction), reached by Snug Harbor Road from the Sterling Highway at mile 48. That's the way out if the Resurrection River Trail looks too wet. Once you're on the Resurrection River Trail, the closest road is Exit Glacier Road at the end.
- Day 5, Resurrection River to Exit Glacier Road. There's no road until the trailhead. Exit Glacier Road opened for summer on May 14 in 2026; it closes to cars in winter and can close for flooding. From the trailhead it's about 11 miles by road to Seward (7 miles down Exit Glacier Road, then 3.7 miles on the Seward Highway).
From Kraig Adams's guide. For planning, not navigation: check before you go.
Their films and versions
Creators who've done it
1 creator so far: Kraig, 5 days, huts and tent.
Hiking 100 miles Alone in Alaska
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Typical: 5 days (the hike's facts).
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Planning questions about Across the Kenai Peninsula, answered only from this page's facts, the creators' versions and hikers' public tracks, with where each answer comes from. When the data doesn't say, the answer says "not given".
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Answered from the data
Questions people ask
How many days do you need for Across the Kenai Peninsula?
I walked Hope to Seward, about 90 miles, in five long days. The Resurrection Pass Trail by itself is 38.4 miles, usually 3 to 4 days. For the whole way to Seward, a week is comfortable.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
How much does Across the Kenai Peninsula cost?
Cabins $60 to $75 a night plus the recreation.gov fee. Russian River trailhead parking $14 per 12 hours. Seward to Anchorage: bus from $79 to $119, the train $133 one way (2027 fare). Getting to Hope needs a car or a ride.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
When is the best time to hike Across the Kenai Peninsula?
June to September. The Forest Service says there's heavy snow in the pass into early June. I went May 23 to 27, 2020, and the snow was patchy enough to walk through.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Do you need a permit for Across the Kenai Peninsula?
The Forest Service trail pages list no hiking permit. You need a reservation for any public use cabin, and you can't camp within 300 feet of a cabin you haven't booked.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
Where do you sleep on the Resurrection Pass Trail?
In public use cabins or at designated campsites. There are eight cabins on the Resurrection Pass Trail, booked on recreation.gov up to 180 days ahead, and cabins on these trails were $60 to $75 a night in 2026. I camped 3 nights and stayed 1 in West Swan Lake Cabin.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.
How do you get to the Resurrection Pass trailhead?
Hope is about 88 road miles from Anchorage. The north trailhead is at Hope Highway mile 15, then 4 miles down Resurrection Creek Road. The research for this guide found no scheduled bus to Hope, so plan a car, a ride or a drop-off.
From Kraig Adams's trip and guide.