POPULATION: 51 (2006)
LOCATION: Between Milepost 137.5 and 150.5 on the Glenn Highway, at the junction of the Little Nelchina River and Crooked Creek, about 30 miles southwest of Glennallen and Mendeltna.
DESCRIPTION: A highway community where nearly all of the 30-plus homes are occupied year-round. The Little Nelchina State Recreation site at Mile 137.6 offers camping and a boat launch. The Nelchina Trail store and cabins offer convenience items and snowmachine support.
HISTORY: Gold in the creeks draining from the Chugach Mountains brought prospectors to the area in the late 1800s. The area offered several trails into the mountains. Nelchina (an Athabascan Indian name) was a mining settlement established about 1913. It was first reported by Theodore Chapin in a 1915 USGS publication.
