1958 Map of Mount McKinley

About this map

Lake Minchumina serves as a focal point for this expansive interior landscape, where early settlements and the shifting boundaries of Denali National Monument meet. The map documents a time when the Park Road provided a critical artery into the wilderness, reaching landmarks like Stony Hill Overlook and Wonder Lake. To the north, the Kantishna Hills and Diamond suggest the region's mining history, while the vast drainage of the Kuskokwim River and its North Fork dominate the western portion. This cartographic record from the late 1950s captures the transition between territorial development and the formalization of the national park system, including the early designation of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Numerous lakes, such as Doghouse Lake and Carlson Lake, pepper the lowlands between the Sischu Mountains and the high peaks of the Alaska Range.