Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Talkeetna

Hey guys, just wondering if any of you live near Talkeetna and what it is like there. What is the hunting/fishing like? Any other info about the area appreciated. Looking at buying a small piece of land in your great state and building a recreational cabin. Any other areas to check out also appreciated.

Where are you in Nebraska?

Talkeetna is OK but not the best by a long ways.


Good luck in your quest!

Vern Aiton
delta Jct, AK

Vern forgot to tell you that it gets as cold as a well-digger's a$$ in Delta Junction, I'm talkin' hunker down cold, WAY below minus 20F.

Be that as it may, ifn' you want to do AK, that'd be a good place, IMO. Only being able to fish for grayling and pike and nothin' to sneer at either.

Vern, what's the typical foundation like in your area? Is permafrost pretty much universal or is a basement feasible like some areas around Fairbanks?

Very little permafrost.....especially after removing trees...all gravel here. No muskeg.

Thanks Vern, sounds like a basement would be the way to go, IMO. I was stationed at Wainwright and we used to go down to your area a lot. I knew virtually nothing about construction then. I'm told I wouldn't recognize Black Rapids anymore, what with the missle site.

When were you at Ain'twright Knee?

Black Rapids still looks the same the missile site is on Greely.

Delta may get a little cold but that helps keep some of the riffraff out and the summers sure beat the ones in Anchorage!

And if you know where to look there are more than grayling and pike to catch.

78-80. I've missed the place ever since I left.

I live there on my days off from work..

I live in Omaha. Nice city. But it's still a city. The other half of the state is much more "my speed" but unfortunately I have to work.

Since you started talking foundations. Tell me please, different areas where you guys live and why you like it there. What types of foundations are on your homes, and what about septic and water?

I am a long ways from retirement age. My thought was to buy a piece of property and erect a very small cabin. Then some years down the road, erect a permanent home and move.

believe Vern is the mayor of DJ or president of Alaskans for global warming or somesuch important title.


he's the guy to know

truthfully and sadly if it's a place you plan on building and not being there much, it's just as important to human proof it these days as bear proofing it used to be.

don't know about Talkeetna's soil, but around here there's everything from permafrost, to schist, to bedrock.

makes the gravel in DJ sound downright appealing

it's a great place for kite flying as well. We've thought about Delta many times as it's a great location, 100 miles from FBKS to resupply, very good hunting and mountain recreational opportunities, and nice folks.

Just remember the catch 22 of Alaska land, if you can drive to it, it's expensive, if you can't drive to it, it's expensive to build on it due to the cost of getting materials out there. Also you have to factor in the odds of it being visited by a miscreant when you aren't there, which factors in favor of difficult to get to property.

Good luck, there's lots of good options for cabin land. Just make sure you visit it yourself before purchasing, and preferably during a few different seasons so you have a feel for the snow load, and where that snow goes when it turns to water, and how long that water takes to get gone.

I'd look into the Petersville area, lots of available land out that way that's accessible by wheeler, snowmachine or airplane. We're looking for a piece out there ourselves, preferably something with a cabin already on it. Your looking at between $15-20K for a 5 acre parcel and quite a bit more with a cabin on it.

Good hunting out that way but don't know much about the fishing. I would imagine that there would be some salmon, grayling, dolly's and maybe some lakers to be had near there. Saw a fairly respectable brown bear out that way 2 weekends ago too.

Be aware!

The wind blows so hard in Delta, there are no small women left.

thanks, My wife is a litte gal, so maybe I might have to look elsewhere!

I appreciate the info. Any other places that would be good to look into?

Hopefully this will answer some of your questions. Talkeetna has a lot to offer, good hunting, great fishing, reasonably mild weather (compared to some other places),most anything you may need is within 100 miles (Anchorage). There is no permafrost here, the top soil is about 2 ft., then you hit solid gravel. Home foundations can be anything from a basement, footer/block,sona tube(concrete pilings),treated wood, or quadloc (foam block filled with concrete).If you plan on burning wood, there is good birch and spruce. At this time natural gas is not an option. A DEC approved septic will cost you in the range of 7k. Electric, if not already to the property is $19/ft. Wells can run anywhere from 40 to 300 feet, depending on location. For the most part, water quality is good. At $45/ft this can be a large consideration. This area is kind of a banana belt, good amounts of snow, usually only a few weeks of -25 or more temp. High winds are fairly rare.
For the most part, life is fairly stress free here, (although there are not a lot of high paying jobs in the area). The community is fairly tight knit and friendly.
Hope this helps you out a little.

There is Nothing wrong with Talkeetna. However, folks can be a little quirky. I have a cabin near there, and am there a lot. Locals look down on "rich" outsiders with cabins. However, they know where there money comes from in the summer. Score of people flock there as a cult to work the tourist trade. Lots of aviation and a rail stop.
There will be perma frost 18 inches to 3 feet for a few more weeks....I've dug a lot of holes!
Yodder Road is a good place for cabins.
I've always thought Talkeetna was kinda granola.

More ganja than granola

Of course we get frost, but it is not permanent. I always thought the definition of perma frost was that it is permanent frost that does not go away.

LOL458. Not as bad as Girdweed though.

You be right.