Tazlina, AK

Tazlina is a Copper River Census Area census-designated place in south-central Alaska, about five miles south of Glennallen along the Richardson Highway. The 2020 census counted 244 residents. The community stretches through several small subdivisions and a business district near the Tazlina River, close to its meeting with the Copper River. Tazlina is Ahtna for “swift water,” and the area was traditionally used as a fishing camp by Ahtna people who moved along the Copper River and its tributaries.

A permanent village stood on both banks of the Tazlina River by 1900. The old Copper Valley School later brought boarding students from across Alaska until it closed in 1971, and the surrounding roads still carry names such as Copperville, Aspen Valley, Tazlina Terrace, and Copper Valley School Road. The Native Village of Tazlina remains part of the local civic map, alongside a grocery, gas station, hardware store, freight service, and RV park. Tazlina Lake, the headwater lake of the river, stretches 21 miles through the upper Copper basin. Tazlina is a highway community with Ahtna history, school history, and water running through every layer.