Interior Community: Delta Junction
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Delta Junction is known as the 'End of the Alaska Highway,' as the famous highway joins the existing Richardson Highway here to complete the route to Fairbanks. Named after the nearby Delta River, Delta Junction developed into an agricultural region as the result of state land disposal programs designed to encourage development. The area now is home to 37 large farms and more than 160 small farms. The area presents a picturesque rural setting complimented by spectacular views of the Alaska Range and the Delta River. Clear days allow stunning views of Mt. Hayes, Mt. Moffit and a number of other peaks.
The Alaska Farm Bureau-Delta Chapter host an annual farm tour in the Delta area. The tour is scheduled for mid July. An all-day bus tour, participants are treated to an Alaska Grown Luncheon prepared and served by members of the Alaska Farm Bureau. To see a homestead farm or a large collection of early farming equipment, head to the Alaska Homestead & Historical Museum, six miles east of town on the Alaska Highway. The Deltana Fair is held in late July with all the usual fair fare, including an old fashioned tractor pull, moto-cross racing and mud-bog compitition along with carnival rides and livestock, garden and craft exhibits.
The Delta Junction Visitor Center is in the 'Triangle,' the area where the Alaska Highway merges into the Richardson Highway. The visitor center has historical and wildflower displays and, just outside, is the large white milepost for Mile 1422 of the Alaska Highway, marking the end of the famous highway. The Highway's End Farmer's Market is held across the street on Thursdays beginning in mid-May.
Delta Junction is also home to several historic roadhouses. John Hajdukovich built Rika's Roadhouse in 1910. In 1923, he sold it to Rika Wallen, a Swedish immigrant who had managed the roadhouse since 1917. Rika ran the roadhouse into the late 1940s and lived there until her death in 1969. The roadhouse is now part of Big Delta State Historical Park, which includes a number of other historic outbuildings and facilities. Sullivan Roadhouse, relocated across from the visitor center, was originally built in 1905. It is one of the last remaining original roadhouses from the Valdez to Fairbanks Trail and is an excellent free museum of interior pioneer artifacts.
American bison were transplanted into the Delta Junction area in the 1920s. Because of a conflict between the agricultural community and the bison herd, the 90,000-acre Delta Bison Sanctuary was created south of the Alaska Highway in 1980. Keeping the 500 plus, free-reaming bison out of the barley fields still remains challenging. Visitors might catch a glimpse of the herd from the Richardson Highway.
Delta Junction offers the first view of the trans-Alaska pipeline for visitors coming up the Alaska Highway from Canada. The best view is about 9 miles north of town, where the pipeline crosses the Tanana River. Pump Station No. 9 is located about 8 miles south of town on the Richardson Highway. Tours are no longer offered since the 9/11 attack on the U.S.
Delta's barley fields are a popular migration stop for up to 200,000 sandhill cranes. Spring and fall migrations offer spectacular viewing of the cranes as well as geese and many other waterfowl.
Fishing in and around Delta Junction is splendid, not only for the scenery, but for the variety. The Delta and Clearwater rivers offer grayling and whitefish and silver salmon spawn in October. There are also 43 lakes stocked by the Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game with a variety of trout, grayling, char and salmon. Quartz Lake just north of town is one of the most popular as well as the largest and most easily accessible.
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Photo By: Clark Mishler
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Many vegetables grow to enormous sizes in Alaska, like this cabbage
Population: 983
Location: Delta Junction is located at the convergence of the Richardson and Alaska Highways, approximately 95 miles southeast of Fairbanks. The city developed along the east bank of the Delta River, south of its junction with the Tanana River.
Access: By road via the Richardson Highway from Fairbanks or Glennallen and the Alaska Highway from Tok and Canada.
Accommodations: Three hotels/motels, fourteen bed and breakfast; ten restaurants.