Dew Mound: A peaceful, remote-feeling loop hike that’s easy to reach

In many ways, Dew Mound is the perfect little loop hike. It’s friendly enough for beginners, but interesting enough to keep any hiker interested along its 6.1-mile length — and as long as you don’t mind a bit of a drive, it’s very easy to get to. There’s even a small lake, and an enormous boulder that makes a great picnic/lookout/photo point.

It might seem a little disingenuous to call this a flat trail, because it does have a few steep hills along the way. But the terrain is mostly flat or rolling, and that’s enough to qualify it as a “flat” hike in Alaska, and moderate difficulty overall.

Heads up: Cell phone is basically non-existent in this area.

This is hike 35 in my guidebook Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska, and hike 39 in 50 Hikes Around Anchorage.

Hiking the Dew Mound Trail

Dew Mound is one of the rare loop hikes that I’ve never heard of people doing as an out-and-back, although of course you could. But why? Each section of this trail passes through an interesting, new section of the Eagle River Valley, and if you hiked out to Dew Lake and back again by the same way you’ll have traveled the same distance but missed out on half the trail.

With that said, I always prefer hiking this loop in a clockwise direction, because that gets the grassiest and brushiest part of the trail out of the way right at the start. Start down the main trail visible from the back deck of the Eagle River Nature Center, which serves as the trailhead for all hikes in this part of the valley.

At about 0.3 miles from the nature center, you’ll see a signed left turn for the Dew Mound trail. Take that, and you’ll be on a relatively narrow footpath that can get quite grassy in the summer, depending on when trail crews last went through. Keep following that trail past a few signed shortcuts that take you back to the main valley trail. (You could take any of those to turn this into a shorter loop, if you wanted to.)

At about 2.6 miles from the nature center, the trail passes to the right of small, placid Dew Lake. Look to your right for an obvious rocky knob that many hikers use as a lookout point / photo op. I’ve been told this is part of the toe of the Dew Mound — a big, jumbled pile of stone and earth.

As you keep hiking the trail briefly climbs to its high point (a whopping 800 feet), then drops down to the shores of Eagle River at an area called Echo Bend. You’ll see a set of first-come, first-serve backcountry campsites, and great views along the riverbanks. Keep following the trail in a rightward (clockwise) bend as it merges back into the rehabilitated Historic Iditarod Trail that serves as the main path out of the nature center.

From there, it’s a straight shot back to the nature center, passing several public use cabins and yurts along the way. The cabins and yurts must be reserved in advance through the nature center. If you do reserve one, they are lovely places to stay that truly exemplify the “easy to reach, yet still feels remote” essence of this valley.

About That Parking Situation

It’s worth noting that Alaska State Parks parking passes are not valid here. Instead, you need to either purchase a membership to the Eagle River Nature Center, or pay $5 for a day-use parking pass. You can pay by credit card inside when the nature center is open, or by check or cash (exact change only) when the center is closed.