Eagle River Nature Center - Dew Mound Trail

I can't believe I hadn't heard much about the Dew Mound trail before. It's a new favorite for sure! A 7-mile loop takes you through so many different landscapes - cottonwood and birch groves, lush greenery, wildflower meadows, Tolkien-esqe mossy boulder-strewn paths, Dew Mound Lake, incredible views of Hurdy-Gurdy, Eagle Peak, and Glacier Peak, steep ravines, glacial erratics, Eagle River, black spruce forests - all without a ton of elevation gain (under 500 ft).

The trail goes back and forth from single track to wide and well-maintained. It's very rocky and has a lot of tree roots in places so choose your footwear accordingly. We chose to start the loop by taking the first left from the main trail (starting from the Nature Center). It's probably the way we'd choose again since it seems the elevation gain is more gradual that way. We stopped at Dew Mound Lake for a picnic lunch and to cool our feet off in the water. We stopped again at Echo Bend to play in the water and enjoy the views. You could turn around and return using the Dew Mound trail but we chose to make it a loop and continued down the Iditarod Trail back to the Center.

We did see a mama bear and her three cubs near the Rodak trail so if you're headed out to the Nature Center soon be extra bear aware (they took off as soon as they heard us, so making lots of noise continues to be the best plan)!

For more information on Dew Mound Trail click here.
For more information on the Eagle River Nature Center click here.
For more information on bear safety in Alaska click here.