Near Manley Hot Springs the Elliott Highway dead-ends at the Tanana River. It's a quiet town with a wonderful 'roadhouse', a 'trading post', a former Northern Commercial Co. village store and an air strip. Miners and dog mushers live here.
In 1907 miner Frank Manley built the Hot Springs Resort Hotel, a large four-story building with 45 guest rooms, steam heat, electric lights, hot baths, bar, restaurant, billiard room, bowling alley, barber shop and a large indoor swimming pool which used heated water from the hot springs. During the summer, the hotel's private launch transported guests from steamers on the Tanana River. In the winter, an overland stagecoach trip from Fairbanks took two days. In 1913 the thriving resort burned to the ground. A new resort with a small swimming pool opened in 1985, but it went bankrupt and closed down. In 2000 the owners of a spring-fed greenhouse would -for $5- let you soak in one of three concrete baths.