Alaska has no shortage of colorful place-names, and Deadhorse is certainly near the top of the list. Sources differ on the name’s origin, but most probable is it is from a local firm, the Dead Horse Trucking company. You can probably guess what their cargo was.
Names aside, the jet charter airport at Deadhorse, Alaska is a vital air link to the Prudhoe Bay Oil Fields. The Trans-Alaska pipeline starts at nearby Prudhoe Bay, to deliver oil 800 miles south to Valdez, Alaska. Thus, every person and item in remote Deadhorse has arrived via this airport link, or over the dangerous ice-roads.
Deadhorse probably would not call itself a tourist destination, but it does have modest facilities to accommodate those who make the trip. Since it is north of the Arctic Circle, visitors can experience the Midnight Sun. In fact, a summer “day” is 63 days of sunlight. Some visitors also come to see bears, abundant caribou and northern waterfowl in this unique Arctic habitat.
The community size fluctuates, with about 50 permanent residents, and 3,000 temporary workers, depending on oilfield job contracts.
The airport itself has a 6,500 foot runway, ideal for even the heavy jets in the Stratos Charter network.
