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Veteran mushers know their dogs·performance levels, have a good sense of the trail, and ·most importantly ·they know the nature of this race. A veteran Quest musher wants to be sure to have a lot of "reserve" in their team, particularly for the last 100 miles of the race.

As mentioned, the first one hundred miles of the Yukon Quest trail is not too challenging physically. Leaving Angel Creek, the trail winds through the forest, crossing the Chena River several times on the way to the Chena Lakes. A little less than half-way between the Chena Lakes Recreation area and Angel Creek, teams cross the highway.

The trail goes through the bush and then runs along side the highway, in the ditches, for a short distance until Valley Center on the Chena Hotsprings Road. From there they take a bush trail to the Chena Lakes Recreation Area. There they turn onto the Chena River, which winds through the North Pole region towards the finish line in downtown Fairbanks.

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Because it is the last checkpoint, teams will be very eager to leave the checkpoint on time. The dogs seem to sense that it is nearly the end of the race.

The checkpoint is situated at a highway lodge, where the restaurant and bar carry on business as usual. The lodge is very small and will be packed with race officials, volunteers, fans, and handlers. The 8-hour layovers seem to race by much faster than the rests at the beginning of the race, as everyone is eager to reach the finish.

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The trail out of Angel Creek winds through the forest, crossing the Chena River several times. Along this stretch of trail, teams often encounter overflow. Otherwise, it is a moderately easy part of the whole race.

The trail then heads off onto a bush trail again. Because the trail is quite narrow in the forested areas, teams cannot pass on this stretch. Then, about 25 trail miles out of Angel Creek, there is a major road crossing. Volunteers have to staff this crossing as there is a lot of road traffic and thus considerable risk. Volunteers stay at this crossing until all the teams have been through, to make sure they cross the heavily traveled road safely.

After a few more miles in the bush, the trail runs parallel to the Cheena Hotsprings Road for several miles, along the ditch, to Valley Centre.

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The trail is usually quite flat through this area, depending on how well the river froze up. Sometimes teams encounter eager race fans a bit too close to the trail, or ·worse ·race fans who bring their pet dog down to "see" the Quest dogs. This can be a recipe for disaster at worst, and considerable confusion at best. Mushers may also encounter some overflow on the Cheena, depending on recent weather conditions. Sometimes there is even open water on this stretch of trail.

Probably the greatest risk on this section of trail comes from the moose who often use skidoo or sled trails to travel through the bush. Moose can be very dangerous for a dog team. The dogs may try to chase a moose, which would be alright if the moose ran away (preferably in the direction the musher wants to go anyway). However, they do not always cooperate: sometimes a moose will charge a team ·and they can inflict a great deal of damage with their hooves. The flailing hooves strategy is an excellent one when moose have to defend themselves against wolves, but it is a musher's nightmare. And even the most experienced of mushers can have such an encounter: Susan Butcher, Iditarod champion, had several dogs killed in such an incident one year.

One good viewing spot in North Pole is the Nordale Bridge. Teams run along the Cheena River right under this bridge, and fans can park nearby and stand on the bridge or walk down to the riverbank to watch the teams pass. From the finish line to the Nordale Bridge is only about 15 miles, so the teams will take only a couple of hours to finish the race once they pass this point. As a result, most handlers and team supporters do not get a chance to see their mushers here ·they need to be ready for their musher at the finish line and cannot take a chance on being late for the big moment. But many other race fans do see the teams at this vantage point.

The final stretch of the trail follows the Chena River as it meanders through North Pole, past the military base, and the suburbs of Fairbanks. Along the last few miles of the race route, there are many houses along the riverbank. People often make fires and turn the Yukon Quest Start into a neighborhood or family event. The river is only about 100 meters wide in places, so everyone has a great view of the passing teams. However, teams are spread out alot at this point in the race so it can be hard to predict when they will pass by.