Nestled in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge just 42 miles from the Canadian border is Northway, a predominately Athabascan village of 88 residents. Northway is actually three dispersed settlements: Northway Junction at Milepost 1264 of the Alaska Highway; Northway, located nine miles down a spur road on the Nabesna Slough; and Northway Village, an Alaska Native community two miles south of Northway.
The Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge is a 730,000-acre preserve that ranges from snowcapped mountains 8,000 feet in elevation and glacier-fed rivers to forests, treeless tundra and extensive wetlands. One of the coldest places in North America with winter temperatures exceeding 70 below zero, Tetlin is home to moose, caribou, bear, whitefish, trumpeter swans, bald eagles and numerous species of waterfowl. Recreation activities include two campgrounds at Mile 1249 and Mile 1256 of the Alaska Highway, public-use cabins, canoeing, birding, sport fishing and wildlife photography.
The preserve’s most visited stop is the Tetlin Refuge Visitor Center at Mile 1229 of the Alaska Highway. Built in 1989 in the style of a log trapper's cabin, complete with a sod roof, the center is open during the summer and features wildlife exhibits, visitor information, an Alaska Geographic bookstore and a large observation deck with spotting scopes.
The refuge area was long used for hunting by the semi-nomadic Athabascans, while the permanent community was solidified during World War II with the construction of an airport for the Northwest Staging Route, a chain of air bases through Canada, from Edmonton to Fairbanks. The village also served as a supply point for the construction of the Alaska Highway and in 1942 was named after Chief Walter Northway, an Athabascan who adopted his name from a Tanana and Nabesna riverboat captain. Today, Northway is the aviation entry point into Alaska for most private planes. Some 700 planes clear customs each year in Northway, most arriving between May and September. Both the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Customs maintain offices at the Northway Airport.