1953 Map of Valdez A-5

About this map

Richardson Highway snakes through the high Chugach Mountains, tracing a vital transportation corridor through Thompson Pass and into the Canyon of the Lowe River. This mid-century survey captures the region as the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was integrated into the landscape, running parallel to the river and road networks. The map details a world of massive ice fields, where the Worthington Glacier and Twentyseven Mile Glacier dominate the northern peaks, while the southern reaches are defined by the Heiden Glacier and Deserted Glacier. Local stopping points like Wortmanns and Ptarmigan serve as landmarks along the highway, illustrating the remote infrastructure required to navigate the mountain passes between the coast and the interior. Small alpine features like Blueberry Lake and the precipitous Ptarmigan Drop mark the high-elevation transit points near the Valdez Corporate Boundary.