1952 Map of Mount McKinley A-5

About this map

Swift Fork and the Herron River carve through the interior Alaskan landscape in this survey based on 1952 aerial photography. The map depicts a transitional wilderness where the expansive wetlands and braided river channels of the north meet the rising elevations toward the south. The diagonal line of the Mt McKinley National Park Boundary segments the terrain, marking the edge of protected lands amidst a network of glacial runoff streams like Highpower Creek and Dry Creek. This era of mapping, conducted by the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management, captures the unpopulated character of the region before modern infrastructure. The Cottonwood Hills stand as a distinct topographic landmark in the northwest, rising above the complex pattern of swamps and marshes that define the drainage basins of the Fish River and its tributaries.