Chisana

Chisana is a census-designated place in Alaska's Copper River Census Area that today registers a population of zero — a true ghost town in one of the state's most remote corners. Its name traces back to the Ahtna Athabascan phrase Tsetsaan' Na, meaning 'copper river,' a linguistic thread connecting the settlement to the Indigenous peoples who knew this landscape long before any town existed here.

The Chisana River, which flows near the settlement, eventually meets the Nabesna River just north of Northway Junction to form the Tanana River, itself a major tributary of the Yukon. Access to the area is primarily by air via Chisana Airport, which operates off a turf and gravel runway. Visitors should expect extreme remoteness, no services, and travel conditions that demand careful advance planning.