West Fork Mine

Trail Overview

The West Fork Mine trail leads you high into the clearwater mountains off the Denali Highway culminating in spectacular views of the West Fork Maclaren River. This out-and-back trail starts and ends at the Maclaren River trail and is a total of 16 miles round trip. You won't be going fast on this trail as you climb your way into the alpine zone on an old mine road that is slowly being reclaimed by nature. Deep ruts and remnants of spring landslides are possible.

Photos of West Fork Mine

Want to see more?

Login

Difficulty

The trail has chances of deep ruts and landslides with the spring snowmelt. The trail heads into the alpine zone along an old mine road that has not been maintained for over a decade.

History

In 1950 E. 0. Albertson and F. S. Petty John, Jr., of Big Delta, Alaska, formed a partnership and prospected the vicinity of Chistochina, a gold-placer district on the south slope of the Alaska Range about 20 miles east of the Richardson Highway. From Chistochina they gradually worked westward until they reached the Maclaren River drainage. In 1952 Petty discovered an outcrop of a copper-bearing vein on the west side of the Maclaren Glacier. From August 11 to 14, 1953, the copper-bearing outcrops and adjacent areas were examined by R. M. Chapman of the U. S. Geological Survey and R. H. Saunders of the Department of Mines, Territory of Alaska.

Technical Rating