The Iditarod: How to Watch Alaska's Great Sled Dog Race Begin

Every March, teams of sled dogs leave Anchorage for Nome, about 1,000 miles away across the Alaskan winter. That is the Iditarod. Dick Wilmarth won the first one in 1973, and it took him almost three weeks. The 55th race begins on Saturday 6 March 2027, and it still opens with a party: Visit Anchorage says the teams leave from Fourth Avenue at D Street, downtown, a day before the real race gets going. That first day is the one to see, because it is when fans can talk to the mushers and sometimes pet the dogs.

Saturday 6 March: The Ceremonial Start

The race's own explainer, Ceremonial Start vs Restart, calls the Anchorage start the party, and it is the day built for spectators. Each team runs 12 dogs rather than the usual 16, and the dogs wear bandanas or team coats. Every sled carries an Iditarider, a passenger who won the seat in a charity auction, and behind it runs a second, drag sled, driven by an experienced musher to help hold the team back. Fans can talk to the mushers, take pictures and sometimes pet the dogs. Visit Anchorage says the IditaRider seats are auctioned in December and January, so that is the window if you want to ride.

The route covers about 11 miles through the city. Last year Alaska Public Media reported a 10am start, with teams leaving at three minute intervals from 10.06am, and the race's broadcast schedule listed the start as free to the public. The best places to stand, by the same report: in the crowd along Fourth Avenue, at the bottom of the Cordova Street hill, on the trails of the Chester Creek Greenbelt, and at Campbell Airstrip, where the ceremonial ride ended.

The trail parties along the way, known locally as trailgating, are open to everyone. If you are driving, expect Fourth Avenue and many side streets to be closed between I Street and Cordova Street, with Cordova blocked as far as 16th Avenue.

Sunday 7 March: The Restart at Willow

The real race begins the next day, and it feels nothing like the first. Iditarod's explainer says the restart is serious and focused. Fans watch, but they do not mingle with the teams, talk to the mushers or pet the dogs. There is no Iditarider and no drag sled; the sled carries a bag of supplies instead, and most teams start with the full 16 dogs. The restart is usually held at Willow, though the race says the location depends on snow, so check it in February. In 2026 the race clock started at 2pm on Willow Lake, which Alaska Public Media put about an hour and a half north of Anchorage.

Not the Serum Run

It is easy to assume the Iditarod retraces the 1925 serum run, when dog teams relayed diphtheria antitoxin to Nome. The race's own history page says otherwise. It commemorates the part sled dogs played in the settlement of Alaska, and says only that it and the serum run have "many things in common".

The race grew out of the Wasilla-Knik Centennial Committee. Joe Redington organised it to save the sled dog culture and the Alaskan husky after the snowmobile, which the page calls the "iron dog", led to the mass abandonment of dog teams across the state, and he and Vi Redington wanted it to preserve the historic gold rush and mail route to Nome. The race covers about 1,000 miles of trail to travel the 650 or so airline miles from Anchorage to Nome.

The Week Around It

The Iditarod falls on the last weekend of Fur Rendezvous, the winter festival Anchorage has held since 1936, which runs from 25 February to 7 March 2027. Its own site lists more than 50 events, and Visit Anchorage names the Outhouse Races and the Open World Championship Sled Dog Races, in which teams run a fast loop on each of three days and the quickest overall time wins. The afternoon after the Iditarod start, live reindeer are run down Fourth Avenue in the Running of the Reindeer.

On the Thursday before the start, the Mushers' Banquet at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center is where each musher draws a starting position. The race's schedule listed it as free to the public last year; check the 2027 arrangements before you plan around it.

Going With Your Own Dog

The race publishes no rule on spectators bringing their own dogs, but Alaska Public Media's guide to last year's start advised leaving yours at home, for the safety of all the dogs. The same report describes a throng of people along Fourth Avenue on start morning, so plan on your dog staying at the hotel during the start and walking it before and after. That makes the hotel's rule on leaving a dog in the room the first thing to check.

The one Anchorage hotel we have assessed is the Hotel Captain Cook at 939 West Fifth Avenue, downtown, with 557 rooms and suites looking out over Cook Inlet or the Chugach Mountains, and five restaurants. Its Roch Dog review records a C. The dog fee is $25 a night with no damage deposit, two dogs are allowed per room, and dogs may be left in the room if they are kennelled. Dogs are welcome in the lounge and the garden, the hotel hands out treats and poop bags, and the staff have had training in looking after canine guests. The limit is 50 lb, so owners of bigger dogs should look elsewhere.

Visit Anchorage names the Wildbirch Hotel as the race's official headquarters, overlooking the start line. We have not assessed it, so read its pet rules on Hyatt's page before you book.

For exercise, the Municipality's off-leash dog areas list nine places, from Russian Jack Springs Park to Valley of the Moon Park. Chanshtnu Muldoon Dog Park and Whisper Faith Kovach Park each have a separate fenced area for dogs under 25 lb. At Connors Bog, off-leash running is confined to a designated area once the skijoring trails are groomed, which matters in March. The rules for all of them are short: dogs must be licensed with a current rabies vaccination, leashed going in and out, and females in heat are barred.

Early March in Anchorage is still deep winter. The American Veterinary Medical Association advises shortening walks in very cold weather, and short-haired and short-legged dogs feel the cold faster. Check paws often, since a sudden limp on a walk can be ice packed between the toes, which clipping the hair there helps prevent. Keep a dry coat for each outing, because a wet one makes a dog colder, and wipe feet, legs and belly after every walk to remove de-icing chemicals. Our guide to taking your dog on a winter trip covers the rest.

If you are flying in, the rules are in our guide to flying with a dog on Alaska Airlines. Alaska's Office of the State Veterinarian publishes the paperwork a dog needs to enter the state.

The Dates to Hold

Fur Rendezvous runs from 25 February to 7 March, with the Mushers' Banquet and the draw on Thursday 4 March at the Dena'ina Center. The ceremonial start leaves Fourth Avenue on Saturday 6 March, the reindeer run that afternoon, and the race restarts for Nome on Sunday 7 March, at Willow if the snow allows. Westminster opens the year's big fixtures at the start of February, and Crufts opens two days before the Iditarod.