Population: 226
Moose Pass is located on the Kenai Peninsula, 98 miles south of Anchorage and 29 miles north of Seward.
Visitor Information: Moose Pass Chamber of Commerce.

This is a charming mountain village located on the shores of scenic Upper Trail Lake. Moose Pass began as a construction camp on the Alaska Railroad in 1912. Local resident Ed Estes attributed the name Moose Pass to a 1904 observation by Nate White of the first moose recorded in this area. Another version holds that “in 1903, a mail carrier driving a team of dogs had considerable trouble gaining the right-of-way from a giant moose.” A post office was established in 1928 and first postmistress Leora (Estes) Roycroft officially named the town Moose Pass.

Moose Pass offers camping, the Moose Drop-in Trading Post, dining, shopping and lodging at the Trail Lake Lodge but no gas station. This is a charming mountain village located on the shores of scenic Upper Trail Lake. A post office and highway maintenance station are located here. Crazy Moose at Milepost 35.7  (heirlooms exclusively carried here by the owners/artists).

Attractions:

  • Annual Moose Pass Summer Festival takes place the third weekend in June: triathlon, arts and crafts booths, a barbecue, auction and other events.
  • Pedal the 1.3-mile-long paved bike trail along scenic Trail Lake.
  • Photograph the historic waterwheel, a duplicate of the one Ed Estes’ stepfather, Frank Roycroft, built in 1928. The original waterwheel used to cut lumber for the family’s homestead.