Keystone Canyon

Keystone Canyon is a narrow gorge near Valdez where the Lowe River passes for about three miles between steep walls, linking the river’s upper and lower valleys and carrying the Richardson Highway through a striking passage. Known for slate bedrock and a constricted central narrows, it is also defined by water, with many cascades including Horsetail Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Near the Valdez Goat Trail, the canyon preserves evidence of Alaska’s early transportation ambitions: a proposed railroad route, a surviving hand-cut tunnel segment, and the abandoned schemes that ended in feud and gunfight. William R. Abercrombie named it after Pennsylvania, the Keystone State.

Valdez, Alaska · United States