Ferryman’s cabin at Big Delta When the Alaska Road Commission (ARC) was created in 1905, it undertook the herculean task of building roads and trails throughout the Territory. One of its first projects was...
Rika’s Roadhouse in later winter 2011 Big Delta—so named because of its location at the confluence of the Delta and Tanana Rivers, and to differentiate it from Delta Telegraph Station on the nearby Little...
I took this photo at the beginning of “summer,” and just came across it again. This is one of the original Paxson roadhouses, about a 1/2 mile north of Paxson Lodge. It is across...
These two cabins at Sourdough Roadhouse date back to its early Valdez-Fairbanks Trail days Margaret Murie, in her book, Two in the Far North, said that all the best roadhouses had a “Ma” to...
Paxson Lodge in June 2013 – only the cafe is open We drove the Richardson highway as far south as Sourdough this past week, and I was saddened by the state of most...
The Richardson Highway, like many roads in Alaska, has been rerouted many times. Its predecessor, the Valdez-Fairbanks Trail, experienced the same growing pains. Soon after the Valdez-Eagle Trail (the Trans-Alaska Military Road) was blazed...
Salcha Native Cemetery A couple of miles northwest of the Salcha River bridge on the Richardson Highway is a small cemetery perched on the bluff overlooking Munson’s Slough and the Tanana River. The...
Black Rapids Roadhouse in Fall 2011 Roadhouses were essential in Alaska during the early historical period. Situated a day’s travel apart (about 25 miles) along main trails they provided shelter and food for travelers,...
We took one last trip in our camper before freeze-up—a 500-mile round-trip down the Richardson Highway to Gakona Junction, up the Tok Cut-off to Tok, and then home via the Alaska Highway and Richardson...
