Steese Review

Looking ahead to the summer ...

2011-12-18T12:36:00.001-08:00

The folks who run Nugget Gulch are thinking about going out on historical digs in the Circle Mining District in Interior Alaska for the main holiday weekends of Summer, 2012:

Memorial Day
4th of July
Miners Picnic
Labor Day

In these digs they will search for artifacts left behind by the Interior Alaska gold rush miners from the late 1800's on. They will invite others to participate. Details are to be announced.

They expect some of these artifacts to be gold.

They will be venturing out on 4-wheelers—ATV's into the wilderness of Interior Alaska, so ... participants will have to sign a liability waiver ... this is the real deal, folks! And if you don't have a 4-wheeler—ATV then you will have to make arrangements to get or use one ... If you are at a loss in finding one, contact us. Our email address is on the right.

The Nugget Gulch folks will make a "go-no go" decision by March 31st. This is like letting you know in case you are interested in this kind of thing.

If this is something you would be interested in doing, contact us at hglindquist@gmail.com. We'll put up direct contact info when and if it's a go.

Short Guide to the Steese Highway: From Fairbanks to Circle

2011-11-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

Getting started in Fairbanks: Fairbanks in wikipedia.

Alaskan Prospectors & Geologists Supply

Heading up the Steese Highway, you can explore the following along the way:

Steese Highway Mileposts

8 Mile: Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline viewing area
9 Mile: Gold Dredge No. 8 exit
11 Mile: Fox General Store and junction with Elliott Highway.
16 Mile: Pedro Monument
28 Mile: Chatanika Lodge
39 Mile: Upper Chatanika River State Recreation Site
42 Mile: McKay Trailhead
45 Mile: Long Creek Trading Post
57 Mile: Junction with U.S. Creek Road with access to Nome Creek Valley
60 Mile: Cripple Creek Campground
66 Mile: Sourdough Creek
85 Mile: Twelvemile Summit, Elevation 3,190 ft.
107 Mile: Eagle Summit Wayside
107 Mile: Eagle Summit, Elevation 3,624 feet.
127 Mile: Central, Population 134 approx., Central in wikipedia.

In Central you will find the Circle Mining District Historical Museum and the Central Corner, a recently re-opened roadhouse. (Note: We are currently contacting the new owners to update their information. -hgl)

The "Central Corner" is on the northeast corner of the Steese Highway's junction with the Circle Hot Springs Road, and from 1982 to 2002, Central Corner was the legendary Crabbs Corner, owned and operated by Jim Crabb. Jim now operates Nugget Gulch, 7+ miles up the Circle Hot Springs Road from Central and next door to the now closed Circle Hot Springs Resort. (Note: We are currently contacting Jim Crabb on the status of his development of the hot springs on his property for next summer. Stay tuned, this could be huge. -hgl)

Central, with its year-round facilities at Central Corner (Note: Until we have verified days and hours of operation, please do not assume they will be able to accommodate you on any given trip. We will publish contact information as soon as we have it available. -hgl), and seasonal facilities at Nugget Gulch, is--in our opinion--an attractive destination of recuperation and renewal after a trip of any duration through the Steese National Conservation Area and its surrounding wilderness filling the a large sector of Alaska's Yukon Wilderness Arc.

160 Mile: Circle, Population 100 approx., Circle in wikipedia.

To be continued ...

Note: Mileposts are listed as the distance going up the Steese Highway from its intersection with Airport Way in Fairbanks, and as the last one passed at a given location. For example, Chatanika Lodge is between Milepost 28 and Milepost 29. The best guide to the mileposts of the Alaskan highways can be found in The Milepost®: "Since 1949, the bible of North Country travel."

Welcome to the Steese Review

2011-09-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

We will be writing about Alaska's Yukon Wilderness Arc formed by the bend in the Yukon River at Fort Yukon. It has a quasi baseline running from Healy on the west, up the Parks Highway to Fairbanks, then on up the Steese Highway to Central and beyond. From Central you can continue further northeast to Circle City on the Yukon River, or east to Nugget Gulch and the Circle Hot Springs. Along the way there are branches south to North Pole and to Chena Hot Springs out of Fairbanks, and, from Fox, north to Livengood and the Yukon River. From Livengood you can head west to Manley Hot Springs.

We will focus on two aspects of the arc: (1.) the vast area the arc covers with its sparse population; and (2.) the people who live here. We won't cover everything or everybody. We can't. We will concentrate on examples we come across of people who survive and thrive in the north country. In this way we hope to interest you in taking the time to learn more about Interior Alaska in person, and to keep learning and experiencing it's way of life throughout the rest of yours. Like fine wine or loving marriage, only the commitment of time can create the otherwise unattainable.

Let us begin by considering that Alaska's Yukon Wilderness Arc is anchored on the west by the Denali National Park and Preserve, and on the east by the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.