Rugged terrain, frigid temps, formidable rivers and giant grizzlies lurking around every bend: Everything about Alaska鈥檚 wilderness screams 鈥渆pic.鈥� But remote though the state may be, not every hike here demands an Iditarod-like effort. These six conveniently-located trails let you take in Alaska鈥檚 beauty in bits by packing gorgeous views and and wildlife into the space of just a few miles. Another bonus: They鈥檙e all runnable (though not all easy). Put on your mosquito spray and get going.

Girdwood
Seward
Homer

Alaskan Day Hikes: Girdwood

This tiny year-round resort community is nestled in a box canyon just 40 minutes south of Anchorage, which makes it an easy stop for travelers visiting Alaska鈥檚 biggest city.

Trails
The five-mile Winner Creek Trail winds through moss-coated spruce trees on the way to Winner Creek Gorge, an intense, bubbling cauldron of glacial melt water. Cross via the exciting hand tram to connect with the Iditarod National Historic Trail for a longer eight-mile loop, or head back

If you鈥檙e looking for a bigger challenge, try the rugged, 28-mile Crow Pass Crossing, which comes complete with sharp climbs, glacier crossings, a creek fording and breathtaking scenery. This one-way route cuts across the Chugach Mountains and provides a true Alaskan experience suitable only for savvy backcountry travelers: It鈥檚 tricky to follow at times, and snow lingers late in the season. Bring a map, traction (we like Kahtoola Microspikes) and supplies that will keep you safe on a long wilderness day. If you do the whole thing, you鈥檒l emerge at the Eagle River Nature Center north of Anchorage, so you鈥檒l need to bribe a friend, drop a car, or arrange a shuttle.聽聽聽 聽

Getting There
Crow Pass: Drive south on the Seward Highway to Girdwood and turn left on Alyeska Highway. After two miles, bear left at Crow Creek Road (unpaved, but good condition). 聽Take the fork right after the bridge at five miles to reach the parking area.

Winner Creek: The trail begins at Alyeska Resort. Drive south on the Seward Highway to Girdwood and turn left on the Alyeska Highway. Travel for three miles, turn left at “T” intersection, and go one mile to The Hotel Alyeska.

Stay
If you鈥檙e on a budget, the offers more reasonably-priced accommodations that run the gamut from bunk beds ($25 per night) to private cabins ($112 per night, sleeps up to four people). If you鈥檙e looking for something a little more upmarket, try any one of the town鈥檚 countless B&Bs.

Eat
Follow the smell of fresh bread into the Bake Shop, a superb caf茅 serving omelets, gigantic sweet rolls, authentic sourdough pancakes for breakfast and sandwiches, pizzas and bottomless bowls of homemade soup for lunch and dinner.

Alaskan Day Hikes: Seward

Perched at the edge of Resurrection Bay at mile zero of the Iditarod Trail, this historic community teems with marine wildlife, which feeds one of the busiest fisheries in the U.S.

Trails
The Lost Lake trail climbs gradually through dense spruce forest, meadows, and hemlock groves before cresting out on an alpine ridge with a vista of the turquoise waters of Lost Lake. After cruising through the rolling terrain along the lake鈥檚 eastern shores, you鈥檒l hook up with the Primrose Trail to make your descent. The entire loop totals about 16 miles one-way.

Trailhead:. You can hike this from either direction, but we recommend from the Lost Lake trail side since you get on the ridge sooner (= breathtaking views). Lost Lake Trail access begins at Milepost 5, Seward Highway, at Lost Lake subdivision-up gravel road follow signs to parking. 聽

No trip to Seward is complete without a scramble up the infamous Mount Marathon, where each year on July 4 runners from all over the world take part in the 3.1 mile suffer fest to the peak (3022鈥�). 聽If you want the real racing experience, choose the official Runner鈥檚 trail, a very steep and demanding route that climbs up a rocky cliff face. For a mellower experience, opt for the slightly easier Hiker鈥檚 Trail, which switchbacks several times before reaching the mountain鈥檚 sloping spine. Either way, try to maintain your balance long enough to enjoy the astounding views of the Bay, and descend with care: Each year, several racers end up with broken bones thanks to the harrowing descent.

Getting There
Lost Lake: Access begins at milepost five, Seward Highway, at the Lost Lake subdivision. Follow signs to parking.

Mount Marathon: The Runner鈥檚 Trail begins at the end of Jefferson Street in Seward. Follow it toward the base of Mt. Marathon. Park at the Lowell creek Picnic area and begin your trek on the gravel service road beyond the gate. 聽

Stay
For luxury accommodations with a truly Alaskan feel, try the , whose cabins have fantastic mountain views and are close the river (starts at $259). For something a little more historic, try the A , a cozy and comfortable option convenient for exploring town (Standard room $135 from June 14 through August 18, sleeps four).聽

Eat
The Resurrection Roadhouse, a mellow spot located on the river, offers delectable dishes featuring local, sustainably caught fish and range of Alaskan beers on tap. For the best cup of java in town, head to the Sea Bean Caf茅; pick up a Marathon Bar or any of their other delicious treats.

Alaskan Day Hikes: Homer

This little hamlet at the edge on Kachemak Bay exudes charms and borders the massive Chugach National Forest, making it an ideal base camp for day trippers.

Trails
The 6.5-mile Grewingk Glacier Trail begins with a meander through spruce and cottonwood forest, but eventually gives way to open flats and a dry, gravelly glacier drainage. After crossing Grewingk Creek, you鈥檒l climb Foehn Ridge and be rewarded with views of the icy blue glacier. Descend the ridge and cruise over flatlands to reach Grewingk Glacier Lake. Keep an eye out for black bears, which are plentiful in the area.

Trailhead: Take a water taxi across Kachemak Bay from Homer to Glacier Spit Trailhead in Kachemak Bay State Park. Arrange for pick-up later in the day or camp here and get picked up in the morning.

One of the most popular routes for local runners, the 6.7-mile Homestead Trail winds from the top of Baycrest Hill through forests, meadows and over streams to reach the city鈥檚 reservoir. 聽The well-marked and maintained trail, which follows carless dirt roads for a few miles, is a great place to ogle Mount Iliamna and Mount Redoubt, two massive volcanoes looming on the other side of Cook Inlet. 聽

Trailhead: Head north out of town on the Sterling Hwy and turn right on Rogers Loop Rd across from the Bay View Inn. 聽Trailhead is 1鈦�2 mile up the road on the right.

Getting There
Grewingk Glacier: Take a water taxi across Kachemak Bay from Homer to Glacier Spit Trailhead in Kachemak Bay State Park. Arrange for pick-up later in the day or camp here and get picked up in the morning.

Homestead: Head north out of town on the Sterling Hwy and turn right on Rogers Loop Road across from the Bay View Inn. The trailhead is half a mile up the road on the right.

Stay
The , a cozy bed and breakfast, provides awesome views of the bay, a hot tub, and a beachside fire pit (starts at $129, two-night minimum).

Eat
The Mermaid Caf茅, which doubles as a bed and breakfast and used bookstore, serves up tasty local food like Thai halibut chowder and veggie panini鈥檚 made with home-grown produce. If you鈥檙e spent on fish, try Fat Olive鈥檚, where you can get solid Italian food in a pleasant atmosphere with good service. No trip to Homer is complete with a visit to the iconic Salty Dawg Saloon for a beer or bloody mary.

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Watching the way Christa Brelsford flows up the frozen waterfalls of the Ouray Ice Park, the box canyon that cuts through the Colorado town of the same name, you wouldn鈥檛 guess that three years ago, her climbing career almost ended for good.

On Jan 12, 2010, Brelsford was volunteering at the Cabois Literacy School in Darbonne, Haiti when the massive magnitude seven earthquake hit, collapsing a house on top of her. Brelsford spent 45 minutes face down and buried in rubble before her brother and friends could dig her out. After a 30-plus-hour trip with no painkillers, Brelsford landed at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. She would end up losing her right leg below the knee.

鈥淚t was a crazy time, but I came so close to dying that in the early days, I just told myself, 鈥淔uck it, you鈥檙e alive! Don鈥檛 you realize what a gift that is?鈥� says Brelsford, 28. 鈥淲hy are you worried about your leg when you could have been dead?鈥�

Still, Brelsford did wonder what life would be like in her new body. The Alaska native had fallen in love with climbing at age 12, and the most important thing for her was figuring out how to get back to the sport.

Brelsford鈥檚 answer came when the phone next to her hospital bed rang. It was , the co-founder of , a non-profit dedicated to getting people with disabilities outside. Daly invited Brelsford to 鈥淕imps On Ice,鈥� an event that brings together an assortment of 鈥榞imps鈥� and 鈥榥ormals鈥� to learn ice-climbing skills and build community in Ouray, Colorado.

Daly understands better than most what it鈥檚 like to come back to climbing after a body-shattering accident. In May 1999, while attempting a new route on Alaska’s Thunder Mountain with famed alpinist Jim Donini, Daly plunged 200 feet, shattering his legs and feet and knocking himself unconscious for a brief period. After lowering Daly 180 feet, carving out a tiny ledge on which he could rest, and getting him as warm as possible, Donini left to get help. For the next 48 hours, Daly endured sub-zero temperatures, avalanches, and heavy bleeding, before a helicopter plucked him from the side of the peak.

Daly spent the better part of the next two years in and out of hospitals, dealing with frostbite as well as a shattered right ankle and a broken left leg that weren鈥檛 healing correctly. In July 2001, he chose to have his right foot amputated seven inches below the knee; doctors used part of that bone to heal his left leg.

As Daly slowly made his way back into climbing over the next year, he took comfort in the stories of Hugh Herr and Mike Crenshaw, fellow climbers who had returned to the sport after amputations. In 2007, Daly founded Paradox with army Captain DJ Skelton and climber Timmy O’Neill to provide a measure of that reassurance to others.

鈥淚ce is the great equalizer, because even 鈥榥ormals鈥� need adaptive equipment to climb it,鈥� he says.

When Daly called Brelsford, she was still on crutches and hadn’t yet learned how to walk with her brand-new prosthetic. Still, Daly urged her to go climbing with them. 鈥淐ome and we鈥檒l figure out what you can do,鈥� he told her. That weekend, only 61 days after the earthquake that took her leg, Brelsford climbed ice for the first time.

“That was one of the most important experiences I鈥檝e ever had,鈥� Brelsford says. 鈥淚t seemed so normal to be out with people who had the same injuries as me. It showed me that it wasn鈥檛 going to have to be a defining part of my life if I didn鈥檛 want it to be.鈥�

Today, Brelsford is pursuing her PhD in natural resource economics, and is back to sending 5.11 with no problem. But even though she鈥檚 healed and doesn鈥檛 need help with the mechanics anymore, she keeps coming back to climb with Paradox. Consider it her way of repaying the favor Malcolm Daly did her with one simple phone call in 2010.

A PETITE YET WELL-MUSCLED CLIMBER donning a bright blue jacket and a lime green pack clips herself onto a rope and, slowly, inches her way backwards toward the edge of the 90-foot frozen cliff behind her.聽 Rather than walk to the bottom, Wendy Ong has decided to rappel into Ouray鈥檚 canyon.

An accomplished rock climber who once scaled routes on El Cap, Ong has rappelled a thousand times, but this morning she hesitates. She runs through the checklist one more time:聽 harness doubled-back? Carabiner locked? Rope threaded properly through her rappel device?

鈥淓ven though I knew I was perfectly safe, there was that moment today when I second-guessed it all,鈥� Ong says later. 鈥淕oing over the edge for the first time was intense.鈥�

Ong hasn鈥檛 rappelled since October 16, 2010. That day, believing she was on belay from below, the Harvard pre-med student backed off the top of a sport climb in California鈥檚 Owens River Gorge, and suddenly found herself plummeting toward the ground.

Miraculously, Ong survived her 140-foot fall without a head injury, but her skeleton took the brunt of the impact. It acted like 鈥渢he hood of a car, crumpling and absorbing鈥� the force. She partially severed her spinal cord, severely damaged all her lumbar and sacral vertebrae, broke her pelvis, and shattered her sacrum into pebbles.聽

After four months in the hospital and in rehab, Ong began walking with a brace. Despite her doctors鈥� low expectations, she continued to improve. Today, she limps slightly on steep terrain, but you wouldn鈥檛 know from watching her walk that she is a spinal cord injury survivor with a partially paralyzed left leg.

Post-accident, Ong put climbing out of her mind so she could focus on healing. 鈥淩ight when I was feeling ready emotionally and physically to make a foray back into climbing, someone told me to find Malcolm Daly and Paradox,鈥� she says. In February, she joined Paradox at an ice-climbing event at Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire. It was her first time climbing ice; without expectations, she thought, she wouldn鈥檛 be disappointed by not being able to do the things she used to.

Returning to the vertical world again felt like finding the missing piece to a puzzle. 鈥淚t felt so good to just be out there again,鈥� Ong says. 鈥淏eing outdoors brings a peace and serenity that I really missed.鈥�

For climbers like Ong, who are tentatively making their way back into the sport, the helpful atmosphere Daly and company offer is a boon. 鈥淧aradox has given me a supportive environment in which to find out what I can and can鈥檛 do. Being able to talk so openly about my disabilities to people who understand is really liberating,鈥� says Ong. 鈥淏ut, the biggest thing is the camaraderie and the support. After my accident, I missed being on the rock, but mostly I missed that community of climbers.鈥澛�

By bringing together elite and amateur climbers, both disabled and not, Daly says Paradox hopes to inspire and empower individuals by giving them the tools to play to their strengths and define life on their own terms.鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to turn people into climbers. We鈥檙e trying to guide them onto a path that leads to what we call a 鈥榣ife of excellence’, Daly says. “A well-rounded physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual framework within which to live.鈥�

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