Yukon River

Yukon River
A view of the Yukon River near Dawson City, Yukon
Origin	Atlin and Tagish Lakes
Mouth	Bering Sea
Basin countries	United States, Canada
Length	3,700 km (2,300 mi)
Avg. discharge	6,430 m³/s (227,000 ft³/s)
Basin area	832,700 km² (321,500 mi²)

Location of the Yukon River and watershed

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. Over half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska, with most of the other portion lying in and giving its name to Canada's Yukon Territory, and a small part of the river near the source located in British Columbia. The river is 3,185 km (1,980 mi)^[1] long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,430 m³/s (227,000 ft³/s).^[2] The total drainage area is 832,700 km² (321,500 mi²),^[3] of which 323,800 km² (126,300 mi²) is in Canada. By comparison, the total area is more than 25% larger than Texas or Alberta.

The longest river in Alaska and the Yukon Territory, it was one of the principal means of transportation during the 1896–1903 Klondike Gold Rush. Paddle-wheel riverboats continued to ply the river until the 1950s, when the Klondike Highway was completed.

Yukon means "great river" in Gwich'in. The river was called Kwiguk, or "large stream", in Yupik. The Lewes River is the former name of the upper course of the Yukon, from Marsh Lake to the confluence of the Pelly River at Fort Selkirk.

The Yukon River has had a history of pollution from gold mining, military installations, dumps, wastewater, and other sources. However, the Environmental Protection Agency does not list the Yukon River among its impaired watersheds,^[4] and water quality data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows relatively good levels of turbidity, metals, and dissolved oxygen.^[5]

The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, a cooperative effort of 64 First Nations and tribes in Alaska and Canada, has the goal of making the river and its tributaries safe to drink from again by supplementing and scrutinizing Government data.

Course

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Map of the Yukon River watershed

The generally accepted source of the Yukon River is the Llewellyn Glacier at the southern end of Atlin Lake in British Columbia. Others suggest that the source is Lake Lindeman at the northern end of the Chilkoot Trail. Either way, Atlin Lake flows into Tagish Lake (via the Atlin River), as eventually does Lake Lindeman after flowing into Bennett Lake. Tagish Lake then flows into Marsh Lake (via the Tagish River). The Yukon River proper starts at the northern end of Marsh Lake, just south of Whitehorse. Some argue that the source of the Yukon River should really be Teslin Lake and the Teslin River, which has a larger flow when it reaches the Yukon at Hootalinqua. The upper end of the Yukon river was originally known as the Lewes River until it was established that it actually was the Yukon. North of Whitehorse, the Yukon River widens into Lake Laberge, made famous by Robert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee." Other large lakes that are part of the Yukon River system include Kusawa Lake (into the Takhini River) and Kluane Lake (into the Kluane and then White River).

The river passes through the communities of Whitehorse, Carmacks, (just before the Five Finger Rapids) and Dawson City in the Yukon Territory, and crossing Alaska into Eagle, Circle, Fort Yukon, Stevens Village, Tanana, Ruby, Galena, Nulato, Grayling, Holy Cross, Russian Mission, Marshall, Pilot Station, St. Marys (which is accessible from the Yukon at Pilot Point), and Mountain Village. After Mountain Village, the main Yukon channel frays into many channels, sprawling across the delta. There are a number of communitites after the "head of passes," as the channel division is called locally: Nunum Iqua, Alakanuk, Emmonak, and Kotlik. Of those delta communities, Emmonak is the largest with roughly 760 people in the 2000 census. Emmonak's gravel airstrip is the regional hub for flights.

Hazards

The bridge across the Yukon River at Carmacks on the Klondike Highway.

The E. L. Patton Yukon River Bridge carries the Dalton Highway over the Yukon north of Fairbanks.

Volcanoes near the Yukon River, such as Volcano Mountain in the Fort Selkirk Volcanic Field, may have once partly blocked or at least altered the Yukon River by lava flows. Any future activity in this area could disrupt the course of the river and could have serious impacts on people living or working downstream.

Navigational obstacles on the Yukon River are the Five Finger Rapids and Rink Rapids downstream from Carmacks.

Bridges

Despite its length, there are only four vehicle-carrying bridges across the river:

• The Lewes Bridge, north of Marsh Lake on the Alaska Highway;
• The Robert Campbell Bridge, which connects the Whitehorse suburb of Riverdale to the downtown area,
• The Yukon River Bridge in Carmacks, on the Klondike Highway; and
• The E. L. Patton Yukon River Bridge, north of Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway.

A car ferry crosses the river at Dawson City in the summer; it is replaced by an ice bridge over the frozen river during the winter. Plans to build a permanent bridge were announced in March 2004, although they are currently on hold because bids came in much higher than budgeted.

There are also 2 pedestrian-only bridges in Whitehorse, as well as a dam across the river and a hydroelectric generating station. The construction of the dam flooded the White Horse Rapids, which gave the city its name, and created Schwatka Lake.

The river flows into several parklands and refuges including:

• Innoko National Wildlife Refuge
• Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge
• Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
• Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge
• Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge

Tributaries

Yukon Territory

The Yukon River from Midnight Dome next to Dawson City, Yukon.

• Takhini River
• Big Salmon River
• Little Salmon River
• Nordenskiold River
• Teslin River
• Pelly River
  • Macmillan River
• Stewart River
  • Nadaleen River
  • Lansing River
  • Hess River
  • McQuesten River
• White River
  • Donjek River
    • Kluane River
    • Nisling River
  • Beaver Creek
• Sixtymile River
• Indian River
• Klondike River
• Fortymile River

Alaska

• Tatonduk River
• Seventymile River
• Nation River
• Kandik River
• Charley River
• Porcupine River

(tributaries in the Yukon)

• • Miner tributaries
    • Fishing Branch
  • Bell River
    • Eagle River
    • Rock River (Yukon)
  • Driftwood River (Yukon)
  • Old Crow River
  • Bluefish River

(tributaries in Alaska)

• • Coleen River
  • Black River
    • Wood River
    • Bear Mountain Creek
    • Mountain Creek
  • Chandalar Creek
  • Sheenjek River
    • Sheenjek River East Fork
    • Koness River
    • Eskimo Creek
• Christian River
• Chandalar River
  • East Fork Chandalar River
    • Junjik River
    • Wind River
  • Middle Fork Chandalar River
  • North Fork Chandalar River
  • West Fork Chandalar River
  • Marten Creek
• Birch Creek
• Hadweenzic River
• Beaver Creek
• Hodzana River
• Dall River
• Ray River
• Big Salt River
• Hess Creek
• Garnet Creek
  • Fish Creek
• Texas Creek
• Coal Creek
• Tanana River
  • Nabesna River
  • Chisana River
  • Tetlin River
  • Goodpaster River
  • Delta River
  • Salcha River
  • Chena River
  • Wood River
  • Nenana River
  • Tolovana River
  • Kantishna River
• NC Creek
• Tozitna River
  • Bluebell Creek
  • Dagislakhna Creek
    • Banddana Creek
• Blind River
• Bering Creek
• Nowitna River
  • Sulatna River
• Big Creek
  • Beaver Creek
  • Glacier Creek
• Melozitna River
  • Black Sand Creek
  • Little Melozitna River
• Ruby Slough
• Yuki River
  • East Fork Yuki River
• Kala Creek
  • Kelly Creek
• Galena Creek
• Bishop Creek

Anabranches near the junction of the Yukon River and the Koyukuk River in Alaska, August 24, 1941.

• Koyukuk River
  • Workyard Creek
  • Gisasa River
  • Kateel River
  • Dulbi River
  • Huslia River
    • Nulitna River
    • Tom Cook Slough
    • Billy Hawk Creek
  • Cutoff Slough
  • Hogatza River
    • Clear Creek
  • Batza River
  • Matthews Slough
    • Little Indian River
    • Indian River
      • Calamity Creek
    • Pocahontas Creek
  • Kanuti River
  • Discovery Creek
  • Alatna River
    • Siruk Creek
  • South Fork Koyokouk River
    • Jim River
  • Jane Creek
  • John River
  • North Fork Koyukuk River
• Nulato River
• Khotol River
• Anvik River
• Bonasila River
  • Stuyahok River
• Innoko River
  • Paimiut Slough
    • Reindeer River
  • Iditarod River
    • Yetna River
    • First Chance Creek
  • Mud River
  • Dishna River
    • Coffee Creek
    • Tolstoi Creek
      • Madison Creek
      • Mastodon Creek
        • Hurst Creek
  • Taft Creek
  • Finland Creek
  • Scandinavian Creek
  • North Fork Innoko River
    • Tango Creek
    • West Fork North Fork Innoko River
  • Colorado Creek
• Kako Creek
• Engineer Creek
• Reindeer River
• Atchuelinguk River
• Andreafsky River
• Kashunuk River (distributary)

Geography and ecology

Some of the upper slopes of this watershed (e.g. Nulato Hills) are forested by Black Spruce.^[6] This locale near the Seward Peninsula represents the near westernmost limit of the Black Spruce, Picea mariana,^[7] one of the most widespread conifers in northern North America.

See also

• List of Alaska rivers
• List of Yukon rivers
• Steamboats of the Yukon River

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yukon River

• Canadian Council for Geographic Education page with a series of articles on the history of the Yukon River
• The Yukon River Bridge at Dawson City
• [1] "Experience Alaska's Yukon River & the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge" at "Yukon River Lodge"
• Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council

Coordinates: 63°N 164°W / 63°N 164°W / 63; -164