Matanuska River

The Dividing River 

   The Matanuska River, which tumbles out from underneath the glacier of the same name, winds between the coastal Chugach Mountains to the south and the interior Talkeetna Range to the north, providing a clear delineation between the two.

Traditional Center of Trade

  The Matanuska River valley was traveled extensively by the early Athabascan Indians, and the Matanuska River country was a traditional center of trade between indigenous peoples of the northern, or interior, lands, and the more southern areas around Cook Inlet. According to Wikipedia, “the indigenous Dena’ina Athabascan name for the rive river is Ch’atanhtnu, based on the root -tanh ‘trail extends out’, meaning literally ‘trail comes out river’.

The English place name Matanuska derives from the Dena’ina ‘Ch’atanhtnu Li’a’, referring to the Matanuska Glacier. Li’a is the Dena’ina word for ‘glacier’ or ‘ice’.”

Talkeetna Mountain Hadrosaur

 Many fine fossils have been discovered in the Matanuska Formation on the north side of the Glenn Highway, including the bones of a dinosaur known as the ‘Talkeetna Mountain Hadrosaur,’ the first known occurrence of a hadrosaur in southcentral Alaska.

Free Map and Audio CD

  The Glenn Highway, named for an early explorer of the route, is one of three national scenic byways in Alaska. A free map and an audio CD of the route is available at the Mat-Su Visitor Center, located near the junction of the Parks and Glenn Highways.

Mountain peaks so numerous that many remain unnamed, deep river valleys, canyons, creeks, waterfalls, glaciers… For 75 miles the river braids its way along the valley floor, inaccessible for most of the route, but providing an unforgettably scenic panorama for travelers on the Glenn Highway, which roughly parallels the river for its entire course.