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On Blueberry Hill
An enterprising pioneer, John Carlson, turned a small log cabin into a grocery store for Alaska Railroad workers in
the early days.
Not long after, Ahtna Natives from the Copper Valley settled in Cantwell to work
on the railroad.
For years, as in many parts of Alaska, the lodge was the cultural and social center of town. The Nenana River used to
be called the Cantwell River. |
Berries
Crowberries look a lot like blueberries, but they have a completely different leaf. They are edible, and help fill a
bucket, or a pie.
Blueberries and lowbush cranberries are easy to find in high country, at mountain passes, all over the Alaska road system.
You’ll
find berries in Broad Pass near Cantwell on the Parks Highway, and at Maclaren Summit on the Denali Highway.
You’ll also find berries
at other summits along the road – including Thompson Pass and Turnagain Pass.
(Photos, BLM Glennallen Field Office, Dennis R. Greene) |
 Rugged
Country
At Cantwell, the Nenana River turns north and runs alongside the road, carving its way through the Alaska Range.
In
the early morning and afternoon light, this rugged country makes for
great photographs, with shafts of sunlight and shadow.


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About CANTWELL
Population 218
210 miles from Anchorage
27 miles from Denali National Park
Started as a flag stop at the junction of the Parks and Denali Highways. Strong Native American population. The
original town is off the Parks Highway. Flightseeing, fishing, berry picking along the road right-of-way. |
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RAILROADS 101
Dozens of railways were incorporated in Alaska and Canada during the years from 1898 to the 1920’s.
Most
of tracks that were built didn’t last very long. Some, like a coal
track to Chickaloon, were spur lines for the Alaska Railroad. You can
still see abandoned trains in the middle of the tundra if you visit
Nome.
Even the 8.5 miles of track built in 1900 on the Homer Spit to carry coal was shut down by 1907.
The big plans to carry Alaska’s raw material to market quickly collapsed. Only two railroads, the
White Pass & Yukon and Alaska Railroad have survived to the present. |
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How to tell Reindeer from Caribou
An Alaska Science Forum article on the difference between caribou and
reindeer. This could be subtle, imprecise, or nonexistent, depending on
your viewpoint. (The two animals share the same Latin name, for
instance; so in the eyes of science, there's no difference at all.) The
question is relevant here because Cantwell was home to the University
of Alaska Fairbanks' Reindeer Research Station.
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