Take This Hammer

When Nature made Mt. McKinley, it also made coal deposits in nearby Healy, as well as a mineral-rich region along the Alaska Range.

Although many see Denali National Park solely as a “pristine” environment, this entire area has a rough-and-ready history that is tied to the miners who first explored it.

Healy is still a coal-mining town, and the railroad hauls its coal to the port of Seward. It has a number of hotels within easy reach of the park.

Healy Chamber Visitor Center

There’s plenty to do in the Denali area. Local businesses in Cantwell, Denali Park, Healy and Nenana offer a wide variety of goods and services for the traveler.

These range from lodging and campgrounds to fine restaurants, box lunches, raft trips, flightseeing, horseback riding – even golf.

The Healy Lions Club publishes a map showing the locations of businesses between Cantwell and Nenana.

The Healy Chamber’s visitor center is on the Spur Road. Turn at the Totem Inn.

Coal History in Healy

Healy is on the Parks Highway near Denali Park.

Much of the town is strung along a 2.5 mile long spur road, and its economy is centered around the Usibelli Coal Mine. The mine was begun in 1918, and is now Alaska’s largest, digging 800,000 tons of coal a year. It provides coal to Golden Valley Electric, the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and to South Korea.

Coal is railed down to Seward and shipped out from there.

A River Runs Through It

The swift waters of the Nenana River emerge from the canyons near Denali National Park and flow north. They join the Tanana River at the town of Nenana.

The Tanana River is linked to the fabled Yukon River, which was a major transportation route during the Gold Rush and which still links the many Native villages between the ocean and Canada.