The MILEPOST: Alaska Travel Guide and Trip Planner

Population: 553.

Located at the confluence of the Tanana and Nenana rivers, 57 miles south of Fairbanks at Milepost 304.5 Parks Highway.

Visitor Information:
Log cabin visitor center at the junction of the Parks Highway and A Street open Memorial Day to Labor Day; phone (907) 832-5435.

Nenana is an Athabascan word meaning “a good place to camp between rivers” and is currently the hub for tug boat/barge shipping in the Interior. May to September is peak delivery time for numerous villages on the river system to receive their supplies by barge rather than the more expensive air transport. Originally known as Tortella (a mangling of the Athabascan “Toghottele”), Nenana boomed in the early 1920s due to railroad construction, and here is where President Warren G. Harding drove the golden spike signaling the completion of the railroad.

Nenana has a couple of dining options, gas, lodging, the Nenana RV Park & Campground (email) and Tatlanika Trading Company & RV Park (phone: (907) 582-2341), an auto repair shop, Parks Highway Towing, and the Alfred Starr Cultural Center with gift shop.

Nenana Map

Attractions:

The Nenana Ice Classic, an annual event that awards cash prizes to the lucky winners who guess the exact minute of the ice breakup on the Tanana River. Ice Classic festivities begin the last weekend in February with the Tripod Raising
The Alaska Railroad Depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Alfred Starr Cultural Center sells and displays local Athabascan arts and crafts and has historical display.