Keystone Canyon is a

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

near Valdez in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Situated at an elevation of , its walls are almost perpendicular. It measures in length, connecting the upper and lower valleys of

Lowe River The Lowe River is a long river in Alaska. It begins at glacier known as ''Deserted Glacier'' in the Chugach Mountains, passes through Keystone Canyon Keystone Canyon is a gorge near Valdez in the U.S. state of Alaska. Situated at an elevation of ...

Geography

VIEW NORTH ALONG THE LOWE RIVER INTO THE NARROWEST SECTIONS OF KEYSTONE CANYON

In Keystone Canyon, the mother rock of the country shows up to good advantage. It is all slate. Its cleavage is nearly vertical and easy to drill, except where small seams of quartz exist. The slate rock on the south side of the summit is firm and solid as a rule, but on the north side it is very much disintegrated. The bed of the canyon varies from in width. The vegetation growing on the low bottoms, consisting of grass, brush, and trees, indicates that, as a rule, the water does not rise more than in nearly the whole length of the canyon. Keystone Canyon is entered by going through a low pass in a spur divide, which forms the west side of the mouth of the canyon. The east wall is more abrupt than the west wall. There is but little side drainage to the canyon, and this is easily provided for by small culverts, with the exception of Waterfall Creek. This little stream forms a cascade with falls of several hundred feet in height, and finally buries itself in the loose rock at the base of the canyon wall. For a quarter of a mile, about the middle of the canyon, narrows are formed by the side walls being nearer together; there are abrupt walls in height. At the head of the canyon the river, dashing against a perpendicular wall of rock, is sharply deflected to the left for , and then gradually assumes its general direction, which it follows closely to the mouth of the canyon. Horsetail Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are located within the canyon, as is the

Richardson Highway The Richardson Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 368 miles (562 km) and connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. It is marked as Alaska Route 4 from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route 2 from there to Fairbanks. It ...

. The

Valdez-Eagle Trail The Richardson Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 368 miles (562 km) and connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. It is marked as Alaska Route 4 from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route 2 from there to Fairbanks. ...

passes through the canyon's south end.

History

It was named by

William R. Abercrombie William R. Abercrombie (August 17, 1857 – November 7, 1943) was a career U.S. Army officer during the late 19th century. Biography William R. Abercrombie was born at Fort Ridgely on August 17, 1857. Raised in Long Island, New York, he was appo ...

after the "Keystone State" of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Features

Waterfalls

There are numerous small waterfalls in the canyon, and two more spectacular ones: Horsetail Falls is a picturesque

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

that flows into the Lowe River. The waterfall can be seen and photographed from a road turnout along the

13 miles from

Valdez, Alaska Valdez ( ; Alutiiq: ) is a city in the Chugach Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to the 2020 US Census, the population of the city is 3,985, up from 3,976 in 2010. It is the third most populated city in Alaska's Unorganized Borou ...

Bridal Veil Falls can be viewed from a turnout at about north of Horsetail Falls.

The Milepost ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

59th Edition, , page 468 This is also the trailhead for the "Valdez Goat Trail", a section of the ''Trans Alaska Military Packtrain Trail'', founded during the Klondike Gold Rush.

Tunnel

The canyon was part of the proposed route of a railroad to access the minerals of

Interior Alaska Interior Alaska is the central region of Alaska's territory, roughly bounded by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Denali in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and ...

. Nine different companies hoped to complete a railroad to the interior of Alaska. The only remaining sign of these efforts in Keystone Canyon is a short section of hand-cut tunnel. A feud developed and a gunfight ensued, after which the effort was abandoned. The silent movie

The Iron Trail ''The Iron Trail'' is a 1921 American silent film, silent adventure film directed by Roy William Neill and written by Dorothy Farnum. The film stars Wyndham Standing, Thurston Hall, Reginald Denny (actor), Reginald Denny, Alma Tell, and Harlan K ...

is about this era.

References