Gold Rush Pioneer Trail: The Richardson Highway, Oldest Highway in Alaska

Miners in 1897 built the Valdez-Eagle Trail. During the Klondike Gold Rush, it was used for telegraph lines to Fairbanks. A 1910 upgrade, called the Valdez-Fairbanks Wagon Road, under Gen. Wiles P. Richardson, improved it for wagon use in the Keystone Canyon area. The route passes through a home for moose, black and brown bears, and transitional rain forests. Renamed for Richardson, the trail is a tribute to the pioneer spirit that built Alaska and opened a wilderness.

Valdez, Alaska · United States