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Paxson

A man sitting in a red canoe on Summit Lake

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Situated at the east end of the Denali Highway is Paxson, a small community at Mile 185 of the Richardson Highway. Paxson is the only community between Mile 174 to Mile 191 of the Richardson Highway and offers services including lodging, gas and food to travelers. Day tours are available including wildlife tours, rafting, kayaking, bicycling and birding as well as extended dog sled expeditions.

The 134-mile Denali Highway, which is primarily gravel, leads from Paxson to Cantwell providing access to the Tangle Lakes Recreation Area and a string of remote lodges and roadhouses. At the time the Denali Highway was built in the 1950s, it was the only road access to Denali National Park prior to construction of the George Parks Highway in 1971.

Although numerous archeological sites show that the area has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years, the community of Paxson dates back only to 1906, the year Alvin Paxson established the Timberline Roadhouse nearby. His first roadhouse consisted of a small cabin for a kitchen and two tents for bunkhouses but a year later Paxson also built a two-story roadhouse. Later, a store, wood house and a small ice room were added to the north end of the lodge.

Paxson

Paxson lies on three miles north of Paxson Lake and five miles south of Summit Lake and is accessible by road at Mile 185 of the Richardson Highway at its intersection with the Denali Highway. The Richardson provides access from Valdez or Fairbanks. The Denali Highway provides summer access to Cantwell and Denali National Park and Preserve. Winter access is by snowmobile and dog team.

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Paxson

Plan Your Trip

Things to Do

Learn More

Attractions

Canoeing +

The Delta River Canoe Route is a 35-mile paddle that starts at Tangle Lakes Campground on the shores of Round Tangle Lake at Mile 21.5 Denali Highway and ends near Mile 212.5 of Richardson Highway. The route includes Lower Tangle Lake, a portage around a waterfall and a set of Class III rapids that most canoers line their boats around. The Upper Tangle Lakes Canoe Route is easier and shorter and starts where the Denali Highway crosses the Tangle River and ends at Dickey Lake, 9 miles to the south.
Rafting +

Outfitters and lodges in Paxson offer raft trips on the Gulkana River down to Paxson Lake. The day-trips are an excellent way to view a wide variety of wildlife that live in the area.
Summit Lake +

At Mile 192 of the Richardson Highway, just north of Paxson, is Summit Lake with a public boat access. The 7-mile long lake is named for its location near the divide where the Gulkana River flows south into Copper River and the Delta River flows north towards the Yukon River. Fishing on the lake includes lake trout, grayling and sockeye salmon.