Tok

Introducing Tok

Tok, 92 miles up the Alcan from the Canadian border, is the first Alaskan town motorists on multiweek pilgrimages from the Lower 48 will encounter. Thus, this hodgepodge of gas stations, motels and RV parks is viewed with a strange, out-of-proportion reverence, like a sort of pearly gates opening onto heavenly Alaska. The town was born in 1942 as a construction camp for the highway, and was originally called Tokyo Camp until anti-Japanese sentiment caused locals to shorten it to Tok. From here, the rest of the state beckons: the Alcan heads 206 miles northwest to Fairbanks, Tok Cutoff and Glenn Hwy reaches 328 miles southwest to Anchorage, and the Taylor Hwy curls back 161 miles to Eagle.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009