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Two Rivers is an unincorporated community located off of Chena Hot Springs Road, northeast of Fairbanks. Officially, our community extends from mile 13 through mile 25, between the Little Chena and Chena Rivers. In 2002 the Alaska State Demographer estimated that Two Rivers is home to 588 residents.
Two Rivers can best be described as a rural bedroom community, and most of our residents work in either Fairbanks or North Pole. There are numerous local businesses in Two Rivers including two general stores, four restaurants, a post office, a laundromat, the UCLA HIPAS observatory, agricultural enterprises, an RV park, and other small businesses.
Most people who move to Two Rivers are attracted by the rural nature of our community and the extensive network of multiple-use trails that extend like a spider-web through Two Rivers. Our trail system is popular with dog sled drivers (called "mushers" in Alaska) , equestrians, snowmachine and ATV riders, hunters and hikers, and other outdoor recreationists. Two Rivers also borders the Chena River State Recreation Area, an extensive wilderness recreational area that is the jewel of our community.
Two Rivers is especially popular with both recreational and profession dog sled drivers. We like to boast that Two Rivers is home to so many mushers that sled dogs outnumber humans in Two Rivers by a ratio of about 4 to 1. Famous Two Rivers mushers include 5-time Iditarod Champion Rick Swensen and the first and only woman to win the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, Aily Zirkle. The Two Rivers Dog Mushing Association (TRDMA) sponsors several official dog sled races each year, and is perhaps the most active "civic" organization in our community. Dog mushing is so important to the members of our community that the greatest compliment that a resident of Two Rivers can bestow upon a neighbor is the statement "He (or she) take's good care of his or her dogs."
Emergency services in Two Rivers are somewhat limited. We do not have fire protection in our community though the State Division of Forestry will dispatch a wild land fire crew to ensure that a structural fire does not spread to the black-spruce forest that is the prominent feature of our area. Two Rivers Rescue Squad is an Alaska certified First Response Unit that works in conjunction with the Steese Area Volunteer Fire Department to provide Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and ambulance transportation to the acutely ill or injured. Law enforcement is provided by the Alaska State Troopers battalion based in Fairbanks. State park rangers provide emergency services to visitors of the Chena River State Recreation Area.
Please come back and visit this page frequently as we add more information about our wonderful community.