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1959 Map of Gulkana

Name: 1959 Topographic Map of Gulkana
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1969
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1969

About this map

The Wrangell Mountains dominate the southeastern landscape of this interior Alaskan region, where massive peaks like Mount Sanford and Mount Drum give rise to the Sanford Glacier and Dadina Glacier. The map shows a critical intersection of Alaskan transportation history, centered on the confluence of the Gulkana River and the Copper River. Settlement is concentrated along the Richardson Highway, which runs north-south through Sourdough and Gulkana, and the Glenn Highway extending west from Gakona Junction.

Remote outposts and lodges, such as Tazlina Lodge, Sinona Lodge, and Hufmans, dot the road system, serving as essential waypoints in the vast river-carved terrain. To the west, the landscape shifts toward an intricate network of waterways including the Maclaren River and the remote Tyone Village, illustrating the isolation of the Alaskan interior during the mid-20th century. This survey documents the region's geography just as modern infrastructure like the Gulkana Airport began to bridge these distant communities.