Southcentral · Iditarod checkpoint
Rainy Pass
The highest point on the Iditarod Trail — roughly 3,160 feet — where the route crosses the Alaska Range.
Approx. mile
~224
of ~1,000
To Nome
~776 mi
remaining
Leg
Southcentral
Southcentral
Setting
Alaska Range · highest point
On the trail
Rainy Pass in the race
The checkpoint sits at Puntilla Lake below the pass itself. Crossing the Range here, then dropping through the notorious Dalzell Gorge toward Rohn, is one of the most dramatic and dangerous stretches of the entire trail.
Mile markers are approximate and shift with the year's route. Rainy Pass sits on the southcentral leg of the 2027 southern route.
Background
History
Named for the mountain pass it sits below, this has been a key crossing of the Alaska Range for trail travelers and mail carriers for over a century.
Visiting
Getting there
Fly-in only (the Puntilla Lake airstrip / Rainy Pass Lodge); no road reaches it.
← Previous checkpoint
Finger Lake
Next checkpoint →
Rohn
Plan around it
Events in Southcentral
Irish Fest — Solas and Reverie Road
Mount Marathon Race — Seward
The toughest 5K on the planet — 98th running up and down Mount Marathon.
Jerrod Niemann
The whole trail