Somewhere between Delta Junction and Tok snugged up against the Alaska Range is a wee bit o’ paradise. For 23 years I’ve been coming here and it still knocks me over. Although it’s only a short drive off the highway once there you feel an immediate closeness to more natural rhythms. Friends, great times, adventures of personal, spiritual and natural kinds, lots of hard work and some growing up.

I’ve mushed, hiked, cross country skied, snowshoed, boated, 4-wheeled, even did a little horseback riding, all over this area and now it’s sharing the best after all these years: fantastic summer and winter trails, lots of old narrow gravel-dirt-mud-rock-rut roads, one killer 11 mile in and out 4-wheeler and mushing trail. The river bottom offers gravel bars, foot to knee deep side channels, instant stuck silt which you must navigate around and sometimes get cornered and attempt to power your way through, (you might even make it). Throw in washed up trees, lots of rocks and you’ve got hours of challenging riding. In winter this spot has parallel riding , just put fresh overflow in place of silt and good traction-no traction ice in place of the side channels. All in all there’s 40-50 miles of summer riding and much more in winter. There’s not a lot of elevation gain and loss but these trails will give you a good workout and you better keep focused.

The snow in town was about gone and the mud would be rude in a day or two so I came out here to check out the trails hopeful for the last good winter riding. Spring usually comes later here against the mountains, and it turned out the trails were still in primo shape. By 10 or 11 am most of the trails are losing the overnight crust as the sun and temperature rise, so it’s up at the crack of dawn and be on the trail by 6:30. Back in the 70’s almost everybody had a dog team so lots of trails were put in, a good portion of which are only ridable in winter due to swamps and generally rough conditions, (you wouldn’t want to walk down some).

What made the trails so good this trip was the warm temps and the low use of the trails. Trails that are only used occasionally tend to be more uneven and rough compared to the sidewalk like quality of heavily used ones. This plus the thaw-freeze cycle makes the trail take on a free form shape that required some technical skills to master. In stretches where you wind through trees that provide shade there is still some hard and fast riding to be done. Open areas offer a trail that is a foot or two above bare ground slanted one way or the other with only a 3-6 inch ledge hard enough to ride on in some places. Then there’s the required number of sections where moose have left a slalom course pattern of craters.

Like any good trail you’ve got your favorite spot. Mine is a steep short climb with a bare patch in the middle and as in most places like this the trail has a foot or so of rotten snow on either side of the bare spot. First time I downshifted, nailed it hard thinking pedal through, pedal through, my mantra for most technical stuff and blew to the top. I’m thinking, yeah made it when I see a moose has wasted the trail. On instinct and momentum I cleaned it but only the first time. In three more rides I’ve dabbed twice at the top, choking and proving that attitude is as important as anything else in cleaning a tough section of trail.

(Johnson River overflow ice) (Johnson River same area in summer)

After riding a web of trails I come out by the Alaska Hwy. and drop down to the Johnson River to enjoy the unique experience of riding miles and miles of overflow. This time of year the ice is still 6-8 feet thick and there’s only one channel with open water and a few ice bridges still intact. Winding your way down towards the confluence of the Tanana River you pick your way through good and bad ice. No fresh overflow this time of year to deal with. It’s usually windy out here in the open and can be howling at times. In fact I’ve actually been blown sideways as I rode over slick sections, a strange and wonderful sensation. As you get closer to the Tanana the views of the Alaska Range behind you get better and better. From here the sun and warming temps pose no threat as the ice won’t get soft and once back on the Hwy. you can take it to plowed gravel-dirt roads all the way back to the cabin.

Well there’s more to riding in this area but I’m afraid additional details might reveal the location and because of selfishness and respect for friends and folks living out here I wouldn’t want to do that. But hey, get out there and look, there are secret spots all over this wonderful state to discover and ride.