Located on the north bank of the Yukon River, 270 miles west of Fairbanks, Galena is located in the heart of the western Interior and inaccessible by road. Still, the town is the staging community for adventures into the Koyukuk, Nowitna and the upper Innoko national wildlife refuges. These refuges are part of the vast road less region that makes up much of northern and western Alaska. Commuter aircraft provide regularly scheduled air transportation from Fairbanks and Anchorage to Galena, where a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office is located. Visitors can then arrange float or fishing trips and charter small aircraft to the start of their wilderness adventure in the refuges.
The community of 580 residents, the majority Koyukon Athabascans, is known for its extreme temperature differences. In the summer the temperatures have exceeded 90 degrees at times. In the winter sustained temperatures of minus 40 degrees are common and the record for Galena is 64 below zero. The Yukon River is ice-free from mid-May through mid-October when barges ship in most of the supplies, fuel and other necessities residents need. The rest of the year the frozen Yukon and other rivers are used as ice roads to travel to the villages of Ruby, Koyukuk, Kaltag, and Nulato.
In March, Galena becomes the center of attention when the community serves as one of 26 checkpoints for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod is one of Alaska’s most popular sporting events and the race brings more than 50 mushers racing 16-dog teams along the 1,100-mile route from Willow to Nome, to Galena to check-in with race officials. The community also hosts the Iron Dog snowmobile race and is the turnaround point for the Yukon 800 Marathon speed riverboat race. The two-day boat race begins in Fairbanks each June and is often called “the longest, roughest and toughest speed boat race in the world.”
Koyukon Athabascans have long had fishing and hunting camps in the area, moving as the wild game migrated. In the summer, many families would float on rafts to the Yukon between the Koyukuk River and the Nowitna River to harvest salmon at fish camps. It was near such a fish camp that Galena was established in 1918 as a supply and transfer point for nearby mines. Athabascans later moved to the outpost to sell wood to steamboats and to work as freight haulers for the mines. During World War II the Galena Air Field was built, leading to more roads and infrastructure. Today Galena continues to serve as the transportation, government, and commercial center for the western Interior.