Crescent Creek trail

Distance: 12.8 miles round trip

Time: approx 6-8 hours.

Easy to moderate trail

Good family hiking trail through birch forest, climbing up the valley between Right and Wrong mountain, ending after 865ft. elevation gain at Crescent Lake. Good camping area, 2 USDA Forest service cabins, fishing.

Accessible near the end of Quartz Creek Rd. past the Crescent Creek campground

Quartz Creek Rd. is located at mile 44.9 of the Sterling Hwy.

Distance from camp: approx. 6 miles

Resurrection Pass Trail

Distance: 38 miles one-way

Time: approx 2-7 days

Moderate to strenuous trail

The most popular hiking trail in the Chugach National Forest, this trail was used in the 1890’s by miners heading from Seward to the gold mines in Hope. This trail completes the 72 -mile trail system of the Kenai Peninsula. You can access the trail in Hope, Alaska and follow it south to Seward. At mile 25.8 of the trail, you can access Summit Creek and Devil’s pass trails that lead to the East. Further south on this trail are Swan (mile 25.8) Juneau (mile 28.5), and Trout Lakes (mile 31.8) with a forest service cabin at each lake. There are also tentsites available: Swan Lake tentsite, Swan Lake graded tentsite, Juneau Creek & Juneau Lake tentsites, Falls Creek & Shaft Creek tentsites (close to Trout Lake), and Juneau Falls tentsite (mile 34.3 of the trail). You can continue further South by connecting with the Russian River Trail, and then to the Ressurection River Trail, ending in Seward. Heading north on the Resurrection Pass trail from Cooper Landing provides a good day hike to Juneau Falls, which is approximately a 5 mile walk one way. The Southern trailhead is accessible from mile 53.3 of the Sterling Highway.

Distance from camp: approx. 5 miles

Russian Lakes Trail

Distance: 21 miles one-way

Time: 2-4 days

Easy to moderate trail that passes through spruce, birch, and aspen forest, and follows the Russian River from Upper Russian Lake to the Russian River Campground. The upper trailhead is located at the end of Snug Harbor Rd. (mile 48 Sterling Hwy), and the lower trailhead is located at the end of the Russian River Campground Rd. (mile 52.8 Sterling Highway). There are 3 forest service cabins on this trail: Lower Russian lake cabin which is handicap accessible (mile 3), Aspen Flats cabin (mile 9), Upper Russian Lake cabin (mile 12). This trail joins up with the Resurrection River trail at mile 16, which leads 14 miles south to Seward. From the lower trailhead, you can walk to the Russian River falls (2.6 miles), which makes a great family day hike. You can hit the falls and the lower lake all in a half day round trip. In June when the Russian River run of red salmon is going on, you can see red salmon packed in below the falls as they make their way up the river to spawn. The stretch of trail from the campground to the falls is the easiest stretch and is handicap accessible.

Distance from camp: lower trailhead ~ 4 miles

upper trailhead: ~12.5 miles