Manley Hot Springs

Manley Hot Springs Review

The Elliott Highway, which starts in Fox, takes you to the Tanana River and the small community of Manley Hot Springs. A colorful, close-knit, end-of-the-road-type place, this town was a trading center for placer miners who worked the nearby creeks. Residents maintain a small public campground across from the Manley Roadhouse. Northern pike are caught in the nearby slough, and a dirt road leads to the Tanana River with its summer runs of salmon. The Manley Hot Springs Resort has closed, but the hot springs are only a short walk from the campground. The highway is paved for 28 mi outside Fairbanks. If you travel here over land, take a moment to reflect on how year-round access to Manley Hot Springs only became available as recently as 1982, when the state decided to start plowing the Elliott highway in winter.