Boating: How to Boat: Advanced: Paddle Sports
Paddling Our National Parks: Yukon-Charley River National Preserve, Alaska
Paddling the Land of Wow: Rivers of our National Parks
by Ben Long
Courtesy of Article Resource Association www.aracopy.com
If you're the kind of paddler who has longed all your life for a true wilderness paddling experience, Yukon-Charley in interior Alaska may be your destination. It's the kind of place that requires long planning and plenty of experience, but it offers rewards that only comes from wilderness adventure.
The 1,800-mile long Yukon is one of our nation's mightiest and most legendary rivers. This preserve protects 100 miles of that river.
Moreover, the preserve protects the entire Charley River drainage, from source to mouth. That's a 108-mile river and a 1.1 million-acre watershed. The drainage has no roads. It doesn't even have any maintained trails. Because of its clear water, bold white water and untouched vistas, Alaskans consider the Charley one of their most spectacular rivers.
The preserve was created in 1980 and encompasses some 2.5 million acres, the size of Yellowstone Park. It is home to wolves, caribou, and Dall sheep and has the continent's highest concentration of nesting peregrine falcons. Technically, Yukon-Charley is a national preserve, not a national park. The land is managed by the National Park Service, but is open to some uses that are barred in traditional parks, such as hunting and trapping.
Boats and airplanes, often in combination, are the two most popular ways to visit Yukon-Charley. Floaters load rafts on bush planes and fly to the upper reaches of the Charley to float downstream. But planes cost money. A bush plane from Tok to the headwaters of the Charley runs $1,200. The downstream run includes a steady course of Class III white water.
Other potential floats don't require aircraft. One option is the Yukon, between Eagle and Circle, which is a 150-mile trip. Just outside the park, the Forty mile River also affords white water floating and has road access. But take this trip seriously. The Park Service brochure is blunt: "Novice boaters have no business...on these wilderness rivers."
The Yukon tends to run silty and is not known for its fishing. Several tributaries, however, are clear and sport grayling and other species. Start dreaming.
Wow Factor? The moment the bush plane leaves you at the put-in when you become aware of the total silence and know your party is utterly on its own for the next hundred miles.
Contact: Yukon-Charley National Preserve, Box 167, Eagle, AK 99738. Phone: (907) 547-2233.
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