The Cowboy Way

An agricultural community located at the junction of the Alaska and Richardson highways and the confluence of the Tanana and Delta rivers.

Delta has huge farms that grow everything from buffalo to barley. At heart, it’s a cowboy town. Yet, there’s also a large immigrant Russian population.

And, Delta is the missile launch site for the Missile Defense System, in addition to being near a huge new gold mine.

Down on the Farm in Delta

Delta Junction is 96 miles south of Fairbanks, along the windy Delta River where it meets the Tanana River. It’s also where the Alcan Highway ends.

The Richardson Highway continues to Fairbanks as Route 2.

This is a farming community, with 30,000 acres of farms growing barley, oats, wheat and other crops, as well as dairy cows, beef & buffalo.

Rika's Roadhouse

The Roadhouse operated from 1909 to 1947 on the Valdez-to-Fairbanks Trail.

The builder, John Hajdukovich, had a Swedish woman, Rika Wallen, operate the roadhouse. She was given the roadhouse for $10 in 1923.

The roadhouse is now in Big Delta State Historical Park, furnished in 1920-1930 style, and open to the public for free

The U.S. Army Signal Corps built a telegraph station here in 1907 -- as it did at other roadhouses.

Sullivan Roadhouse

This historic roadhouse has been outfitted into a museum by the Delta Chamber of Commerce.

In 1905, it was originally built by John Sullivan on a steep section of the Valdez-to-Fairbanks trail. When the Alaska Road Commission moved the trail 4 miles to make travel easier, the Sullivans tore down the roadhouse and moved it, too. Their “new” location ended up on Fort Greely property -- on a bombing range.

For years, the soldiers protected the old roadhouse, until several years ago it was moved again -- by helicopter, log-by-log.

It is outfitted with original artifacts taken from the old roadhouse -- and features dozens of historic photographs.

Home of the $2 Bed and Grub

Roadhouses were commonly built in a difficult section of the trail where people had to fix their sleds and vehicles, or at a river crossing, where they had to dry off.

The roadhouses were about 10 to 15 miles apart, within walking distance. They charged a hefty price for the time – $1 or $2 for a meal, and up to $2 for a bed.

Delta's Early History

This area was home to Tanana Indians living near the Alaska Range.

After gold was discovered in Fairbanks, there was a ferry at Rika’s for freight being trucked north from Valdez. The federal government imposed a tax here to encourage use of the Alaska Railroad instead.

Mud Bog Races: Down and Dirty

One of the top draws at the Fair in Delta, along with the pie-eating competition.

The Galloping Glacier

The Black Rapids Glacier is across the river from the Black Rapids Roadhouse.

For three months in 1937 the Black Rapids Glacier made national news by advancing across the valley at the rate of a mile a month – it was known as the “galloping glacier.”

The 27-mile long glacier has since retreated, but the moraine can still be seen from the Richardson Highway pullout.

Terrific Scenery South of Delta

About 60 miles south of Delta Junction on the Richardson Highway, you cross through the Alaska Range at Isabel Pass, and enter the Copper River Valley.

The road here is good and the grades are gentle, even though you reach 3,000 feet above sea level.

This is a magnificent stretch of scenery. You pass through the mountains, with glaciers and streams coming down on either side of you. Just before you reach Paxson, there are several large, high mountain lakes.

This high country is locally known as a great snowmachining area and is the scene of a giant snowmachine celebration of spring called the “Arctic Man”.