386. 🛢️(Speed X3) - Drive From Deadhorse to Fairbanks - (Dalton Highway), Alaska ⛽

Deadhorse - Dalton Highway

Deadhorse on the Dalton Highway is an unincorporated community located within the CDP of Prudhoe Bay in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States, along the North Slope near the Arctic Ocean. The town consists mainly of facilities for the workers and companies that operate at the nearby Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. Deadhorse is accessible via the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks, 495 miles (797 km) south, or Deadhorse Airport. Limited accommodation is also available for tourists.

The permanent population is variously listed as being between 25 and 50 residents. Temporary residents (employed by various firms with local interests) can range as high as 3,000.[citation needed]

Companies with facilities in Deadhorse service Prudhoe Bay, nearby oil fields, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which brings oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez on the south-central Alaska coast. Facilities in Deadhorse are built entirely on man-made gravel pads and usually consist of pre-fabricated modules shipped to Deadhorse via barge or air cargo.

History
The Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, area was developed to house personnel, provide support for drilling operations, and transport oil to the Alaskan pipeline.[2] Prior to 1977, oil seeps (small pores or fissure networks through which liquid petroleum emerges at the surface of the land)[3] on the Arctic coastal plain had caught the attention of the U.S. petroleum interests.[2] The U.S. Navy drilled for oil between 1944 and 1953 with little success.[2] In 1967, after several attempts at drilling for oil, oil company mergers, and competitive bidding for state lease sales, the Prudhoe Bay oil field was discovered.[2]

Sources conflict on the origin of the area's name. The most cited theory appears to be that the area takes its name from a local business prominent in the late 1960s and 1970s, the "Dead Horse Hauliers" trucking company. How the trucking company got its name remains in dispute.[4]

In February 2023, a "high altitude object" about the size of a small car was shot down near the area after a decision by President Joe Biden.[5]

Demographics
Historical population
Census Pop. Note %±
1970 163 —
1980 64 −60.7%
1990 26 −59.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
Deadhorse first appeared on the 1970 U.S. Census as an unincorporated village. It was made a census-designated place (CDP) in 1980. It appeared last on the 1990 census. After 2000, it was merged into the Prudhoe Bay CDP.

Tourism and wildlife

The general store in Deadhorse in 2003
Tourists traveling to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay typically take tour buses from Fairbanks via the James Dalton Highway, a two-day journey with an overnight stop in Coldfoot. During the summer months, visitors can arrange for tours to the Arctic Ocean via a guided tour only. There is no longer any public Arctic Ocean access from Deadhorse. All tours must be booked 24 hours in advance to allow time for background checks on all passengers going through the oilfield checkpoint. Tourists can also experience the midnight sun due to Deadhorse's location above the Arctic Circle. In winter, the opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs.

The area often features large herds of caribou and over 200 bird and waterfowl species, including geese, swans, gulls and eagles.[7] Other indigenous wildlife include Arctic foxes, Arctic ground squirrels, grizzly bears, polar bears, musk oxen, and Arctic hares.[7]

Because alcoholic beverages are not sold in Deadhorse, a humorous slogan for the town is "All that far and still no bar."[8]

The town serves as a start/end or turn-around point of several motorcycle-riding challenges offered by the Iron Butt Association. One of these, the Ultimate Coast to Coast, gives riders 30 days to travel between Deadhorse and Key West (the southernmost city in the contiguous United States) in either direction.[9]

Deadhorse Airport
Deadhorse Airport (IATA: SCC, ICAO: PASC, FAA LID: SCC) is a public airport located in Deadhorse on the North Slope of Alaska. Being near Prudhoe Bay it is sometimes called Prudhoe Airport.

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