Isolated, Off-Road Alaska River Villages Get Their Propane By Barge: By Bearfoot Travel Guides

With No Local Utilities, Or Fuel Pipelines, Families Off The Alaska Road System Have To Rely On Boats & Fuel Tanks Full Of Propane

Propane tanks are labelled with family names and Athabascan villages along the Yukon.

It's tough living off the road in Alaska. In the Yukon River town of Ruby, for example the huge inland rivers of Alaska are the primary supply line. Only around 50 families live in Ruby, which was a thriving place in the days of the Gold Rush. Since there are no roads, fuel and propane is sent in tanks from the tiny roadside port of Nenana, south of Fairbanks. The goods are freighted to villages up and down the river, including Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, Tanana, Galena, Nulato, Kaltag, Grayling, Anvik, Holy Cross, Russian Mission, St. Mary's and Mountain Village. The last boats leave around mid-September, before ice starts jamming the rivers.