[3] Around the same time, a dirt road was being built between Cantwell to supply the mining settlement at Valdez Creek known then as Denali.

However, a private vehicle snuck through and drove the length of the highway three days prior.

[3] The highway is now little used and poorly maintained, and closed to all traffic from October to mid-May each year.

[citation needed] The first 45 miles (72 km) winds through the Amphitheater Mountains, cresting at Maclaren Summit, at 4,086 feet (1,245 m) the second highest road in Alaska.

Automobile travelers are severely discouraged from attempting to traverse the road in winter; as recently as 1996 three persons died from exposure when snows blocked their progress.

It offers road access to alpine terrain – not that common in Alaska – and, in the brief birding season there, good viewing of a number of alpine breeders, including Arctic Warbler, Smith's Longspur, Long-tailed Jaeger, Whimbrel, Surfbird, Lapland Longspur, Horned Lark, Short-eared Owl, Wandering Tattler, Gyrfalcon and much more.

A walk north along The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Maclaren Summit Trail (MP 39) can be very productive.

The herd forms an important food source for many residents of southcentral Alaska, and visitors eager to view the animals may be competing with hunters.