Nenana
| Nenana
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Nenana, located in Interior Alaska, is just 55 road miles southwest of Fairbanks on the George Parks Highway, 304 miles northeast of Anchorage, and at mile 412 of the Alaska Railroad. It is in the western-most portion of the Tanana Athabascan Indian territory, and was first called Tortella, an interpretation of the Indian word "Toghotthele," which means "mountain that parallels the river." The population is made of of a diverse mixture of non-Natives and Athabascans and the majority of Native households rely on subsistence foods, such as salmon, moose, caribou (by permit), bear, waterfowl and berries. Several Iditarod winners also reside in Nenana. While over 50% of the year-round jobs are government-funded, the community has a strong private sector economy with a seasonal fluctuation as the center of rail-to-river barge transportation center for the Interior. Access to Nenana is by air, river, road and railroad. The average daily maximum temperature during summer months is 65 to 70; the daily minimum winter temperature is well below zero. Average precipitation is 11.4 inches, with 48.9 inches of snowfall annually. NOTE FROM OUR AGENTS : This is home of the Nenana Ice Classis, a lottery that is part of the ceremony of "Break Up", known in the Lower 48 as Spring. A tripod with a clock is set up in the ice on the Tanana River and a lottery is set up to guess the date and time that the ice will melt enough to let the tripod fall over. The winning date and time for 2003 was April 29th at 6:22 pm. The 2003 jackpot was $301,000.00. |
Homer Travel & Tours
