Vehicle traffic has started on the lower Kuskokwim River between Napakiak and Bethel.
The early season truck trails are not the official Kuskokwim Ice Road, which is installed and maintained annually by Bethel Search and Rescue (BSAR), among other village search and rescue teams and ice road crews.
Trucks have begun using an unofficial trail between Bethel and Napakiak. On Dec. 8, members of BSAR recorded ice averaging between 12 to 14 inches of thickness on the river using an ice radar.
Bethel Search and Rescue said that they’ll need to observe 4 to 6 more inches of ice on the river before they start plowing the official ice road. That road will be marked with signage and plowed, and is funded annually by state transportation dollars.
Job Hale, a pastor based in Napakiak, marked the unofficial trail between the village and Bethel, which he says connects below Crowley fuel. Hale said it follows the typical path between the communities and is marked with white poles with reflective tape.
Hale said he measured the ice every half mile and reported manual measurements between 11 and 21 inches, though he cautions anyone traveling to stick strictly to the marked trail and know their capabilities.
“This is a truck trail, not a truck road,” Hale said. “It is early to drive on the road, so just putting that caution out there. We in Napakiak are comfortable driving out on it, but that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.”
The early truck trails mark another wave in early river transport this season. They comes after a pop up of unofficial snowmachine trails last week, including one between the communities of Bethel and Kwethluk.
Vehicle travel on the river comes around the same time as it did last year, around the first week of December. The 2024/2025 official Kuskokwim Ice Road remained a work in progress through the end of the year.
Tune into KYUK’s River Watch on Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. for Kuskokwim Ice Road updates from Bethel Search and Rescue.
