Mount Marathon Hiking Trail: The easier way up this iconic mountain

Seward’s Mount Marathon is home to one of Alaska’s most (in)famous mountain races. But did you know there’s also a Mount Marathon hiking trail? This gentler, rather more circuitous route takes you to the same place as the actual running trail, without the death- and injury-defying levels of steepness and exposure that the runners endure.

Please note that this trail does not go all the way to the peak of the mountain. Instead, the Mount Marathon hiking trail stops at a false summit known as Race Point, which is clearly visible from downtown Seward. This is where all the racers turn around to head back down, and you should do the same. Continuing upward means enduring loose, dangerously sketchy footing.

This is hike 78 in my guidebook Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska.

Hiking Mount Marathon

The Mount Marathon hiking trail is (somewhat confusingly) divided into three distinct parts, in this order:

The Jeep Trail

This first portion of the Mount Marathon hiking trail follows an old Jeep road through almost a mile of the sort of lush, mossy temperate rainforest that is typical near Seward. Watch out for devil’s club and cow parsnip, and keep an eye out for salmonberries, currants and blueberries in late summer and early fall.

At about 0.25 mile from the trailhead, a short right fork leads to a very modest waterfall. Check out the photos, below, to see if you feel it’s worth a visit. I distinctly remember seeing a tall, dramatic waterfall somewhere in this area, years ago, but I haven’t been able to find it in recent years. I suppose the access trail is either overgrown or was deliberately groomed off the mountain, as even back then it was eroded to the point of being dangerous.

Continue on the Jeep trail (don’t take the crossover trails, which connect to the racers’ trail and are there to give emergency personnel easier access during race season) until its end about 0.8 miles from the trailhead.

The Bench Trail

The next section of the Mount Marathon hiking trail is known as the Bench Trail. Don’t be suckered in by an almost-immediate left fork that goes straight uphill and lures you into an uncomfortable rocky scramble. Instead, take the right turn that continues more or less level near a shallow stream.

This part of the trail is very brushy and can be very wet underfoot; it’s also very easy to surprise moose or bears in areas of limited visibility like this, so please remember your best moose and bear manners. (Travel in groups, make plenty of noise so wildlife can hear you coming and get out of the way, etc.)

The Bench trail ends unceremoniously in a clear, roughly circular area in the brush. I’ve seen lots of people turn around at this point.

The Skyline Trail

The last part of this trail leads out of the clearing to the west, dipping briefly downhill before arcing back up through the bushes and onto the obvious ridge to your left. You can then follow the ridge up to the trail’s end at Race Point, but first take a minute to look back and memorize where you’ll reenter the bushes on your way back down to the Bench Trail.

Photos from the Mount Marathon Hiking Trail

Should I Take the Mount Marathon Runners’ Trail Instead?

That’s a personal decision you’ll have to make on your own — but for most people, the answer is a firm “no.”

Look at it this way: There are lots of things in Alaska that can hurt or kill you and don’t have any warning signs on them at all. So when people take the time to festoon a trailhead with as many warning signs as you’ll see at the start of the runners’ trail, it’s for a good reason.

Although hundreds of people do run the racers’ trail every year, they do so at great risk and some have died or been injured in the effort — and I hear that Seward’s local search and rescue groups are tired of plucking ill-prepared hikers off the race trail after they’ve gotten themselves stranded, unable to continue up or make their way back down.