Stampede Trail
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The Stampede Trail is a remote road and trail located in the
Denali Borough The Denali Borough is a Borough (United States), borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population of the borough was 1,619, down from 1,826 in 2010. The borough seat and most populat ...
in the U.S. state of
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., ...
. Apart from a paved or maintained gravel road for between Eight Mile Lake and the trail's eastern end, the route consists of a primitive and at times dangerous hiking or ATV (
all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...
) trail following the path of the original road, which has deteriorated over the years. The route ends at an abandoned
antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...
mine at along Stampede Creek, a couple miles past
Stampede Airport Stampede Airport is a public use airport located 25 nautical miles (29  mi, 46  km) northeast of the central business district of Kantishna, a community in the Denali Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska. The airport is located in ...
's grass airstrip. Historically, access to the east end of the trail was gained from the
Alaska Railroad 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., ...
. Today, the primary access to the trail is from the
George Parks Highway The George Parks Highway (numbered Interstate A-4 and signed Alaska Route 3), usually called simply the Parks Highway, runs 323 miles (520 km) from the Glenn Highway 35 miles (56 km) north of Anchorage to Fairbanks in the Alaska Inter ...
(Alaska Route 3) which opened in the early 1970s. The Parks Highway intersects the trail at milepost 251.1, two miles north of the center of Healy. Though this intersection marks the present-day eastern terminus of the Stampede Road, Lignite Road continues a few miles east from this intersection to the railroad tracks and the
Nenana River The Nenana River ( taa, Nina No’) is a tributary of the Tanana River, approximately long, in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairb ...
. The trail is located near the northern boundary of Denali National Park in a small finger of State of Alaska public land that extends into the national park. The valley, known as the Stampede Valley or the Stampede Corridor, is mostly low-lying tundra and watersheds. The Stampede Trail has been the subject of international attention since the 1992 death of
Christopher McCandless Christopher Johnson McCandless (; February 12, 1968 – August 1992), also known by his pseudonym "Alexander Supertramp", was an American adventurer who sought an increasingly nomadic lifestyle as he grew up. McCandless is the subject of '' Int ...
, whose remains were found in an abandoned bus deep inside the wilderness about 28 miles down the trail. The bus was first brought to the public's attention by writer
Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954) is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling non-fiction books—'' Into the Wild''; ''Into Thin Air''; ''Under the Banner of Heaven''; and '' Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat ...
in an ''Outside'' magazine article; a
book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
in 1996 and a
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
in 2007 followed. This made the trail popular among hikers, some unprepared for the rugged conditions, resulting in several rescue operations and even some deaths. In 2020, citing safety reasons, the bus was removed and shipped to the
University of Alaska Museum of the North The University of Alaska Museum of the North is a cultural and historical museum on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Mission The museum's mission is to acquire, conserve, investigate, and interpret specimens and collections relating to ...
. The trail currently receives limited tour traffic. In 2015, Alaska Travel Adventures stopped operating Jeep tours along the trail due to deteriorating trail conditions and frequent mechanical problems. Denali Tundra Tours ceased operations of an
Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...
tour in 2016. As of 2019, Stampede Excursions continues to operate three daily tours along the trail in Pinzgauer 6x6 military grade trucks as well as
Volvo C306 Volvo Cross Country C303, (Tgb 11, A.K.A "Terrängbil 11", translated as "Terrain Vehicle 11"), is the base model of a range of military vehicles produced by Volvo. The car was developed in the late 60s based on the successful L3314 series a ...
6x6 personnel carriers. This tour is called the Denali Backcountry Safari. While they pick up passengers from all Denali area hotels, the 6x6 tours actually begin at their Eight Mile Lake Base Camp at mile 7.5 of the Stampede Road. Their pavilion and other associated buildings are the last permanent structures along the Stampede Road. All tours turn around a few miles east of the Savage River. Traversing the beaver ponds, "mud flats,” and crossing the Teklanika River are major obstacles preventing most vehicles from continuing more than 5 miles or so down the trail. During the fall, hunting traffic along the trail is heavy as the area is prime habitat for moose. Many hunters use ATVs or
Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...
s to access hunting camps. Moose hunting in this area generally yields high success rates. Winter travel by snowmobile, dog sled, or tracked vehicle is much easier than summer travel after the boggy tundra, beaver ponds, and rivers freeze.


History

The Stampede Trail began as the "Lignite to Kantishna"
mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
trail blazed in 1903 by prospectors drawn to the Kantishna region by the discovery of placer gold. In the 1930s miner Earl Pilgrim used the trail to access his
antimony Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient time ...
claims on Stampede Creek at , above the Clearwater Fork of the
Toklat River The Toklat River ( taa, Tootl'o Huno) is an tributary of the Kantishna River in central Alaska in the United States It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks. It issues ...
. For many years, the mine was accessed through the use of a winter trail. Antimony ore was shipped east to the railroad through the use of “Cat Trains,” sleds loaded with ore and towed by Caterpillar Bulldozers. Fuel and supplies for the mine were backhauled in the same way. The overland cat trains could take 3 or more days of travel time and February was generally the best month for such winter trail travel. In 1960, Yutan Construction won a contract from the new state of Alaska to upgrade the trail as part of Alaska's Pioneer Road Program, building a road for trucks to haul ore from the mine year-round for transshipment to the railroad at Lignite (near the present day town of Healy.) Construction was discontinued in 1961 after only of road were built. No bridges were constructed over the several rivers it crossed. In 1963 maintenance was halted and the route promptly became impassable for road vehicles by the soft
permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...
and seasonal flooding. The trail has since been used by backcountry travelers on foot, bicycle, dog sleds, snowmachines, and all-terrain vehicles. The trail's main obstacle is crossing the Teklanika River during the summer months when the river swells with snowmelt. The Alaska State Troopers report that several rescues were necessary every year at the river crossing. In August 2010, high water resulted in the drowning death of Claire Ackermann, a hiker from Switzerland and in July 2019 Veranika Nikanava of Belarus was also swept downstream and drowned. Hundreds of hikers attempted to reach Bus 142 every year, until its removal in June 2020.


Bus 142

From the 1970s until 2020, an abandoned bus sat on the Stampede Trail near
Denali National Park Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve ...
, and became a destination for visitors.
Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
City Transit System Bus 142 was a 1946
International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...
K-5 bus left in a clearing at . It was originally one of three buses used by the Yutan Construction Company to provide site accommodations for the construction crew from Fairbanks that worked on road upgrades in 1960–1961. It was towed on location by a Caterpillar D8 bulldozer, as the engine had been removed. It contained a couple of beds and a wood-burning stove. When the Stampede Mine ceased operations in the 1970s, the buses were removed, but Bus 142 was left behind due to a broken rear axle, and subsequently served as a shelter for hunters, trappers, and other visitors. The bus gained notoriety in January 1993 when ''Outside'' magazine published an article written by
Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954) is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling non-fiction books—'' Into the Wild''; ''Into Thin Air''; ''Under the Banner of Heaven''; and '' Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat ...
titled "Death of an Innocent" describing the death of
Christopher McCandless Christopher Johnson McCandless (; February 12, 1968 – August 1992), also known by his pseudonym "Alexander Supertramp", was an American adventurer who sought an increasingly nomadic lifestyle as he grew up. McCandless is the subject of '' Int ...
, an American
hitchhiker Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...
who lived in the bus during the summer of 1992 while attempting to survive off the Alaskan wilderness, only to die of starvation after three and a half months. The bus – referred to by McCandless in his journal as the "Magic Bus" – became a pilgrimage site for visitors seeking the location where he perished. The 2007
film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...
of
Jon Krakauer Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954) is an American writer and mountaineer. He is the author of bestselling non-fiction books—'' Into the Wild''; ''Into Thin Air''; ''Under the Banner of Heaven''; and '' Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat ...
's 1996 book about McCandless, '' Into the Wild'', revived more interest in the bus. In 2013, Dave Gill visited the bus as part of a British documentary publishing project, discovering that visitors had shot at the bus and caused damage, resulting in its accelerated deterioration. In 2017, Circle the Globe Productions filmed a pilot episode for ''Off the Map'' – a proposed series on the
Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
– along the trail and at the bus. Two additional hikers died attempting to reach Bus 142. In 2010, Claire Ackermann of Switzerland drowned trying to cross the Teklanika River. She had tied herself to a rope spanning the fast-moving river, but lost her footing and drowned before she could be cut free. In 2019, Veranika Nikanava of Belarus also drowned while trying to cross the river while tied to a rope. Subsequently, hikers were strongly urged to avoid tying themselves to ropes as a method of crossing Alaskan rivers. After Nikanava’s death, her husband is attempting to raise awareness and funds for a cable crossing or bridge at this location. In June 2020, various government agencies coordinated a training mission with the
Alaska Army National Guard The Alaska Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Along with the Alaska Air National Guard, it makes up the Alaska National Guard. Alaska Army National Guard units ...
to remove the bus, deemed a public safety issue after the deaths of Ackermann and Nikanava and numerous visitor rescue incidents. It was flown out of the wilderness by a
CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems#Background, Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is a ...
helicopter to Healy. The Museum of The North at the
University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...
in
Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...
became the new home of Bus 142, where it would be restored and an outdoor exhibit created.


References


External links

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FreeWheelings
– Complete Guide to Stampede Trail and Finding the Magic Bus including GPS Coordinates
A British Documentary visits the Magic Bus
– Hiking The Stampede Trail to the Into The Wild Bus, July 2013.
Into The Wild Bus Removal
– Into The Wild Bus removal report, Alaska Public Media, June 2020. Geography of Denali Borough, Alaska Hiking trails in Alaska Historic trails and roads in Alaska Transportation in Denali Borough, Alaska