The Delta River is an tributary of the

Tanana River The Tanana River ( Lower Tanana: Tth'eetoo', Upper Tanana: ''Tth’iitu’ Niign'') is a tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Bright, the name is from the Koyukon (Athabaska ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

. Its name in the

Ahtna language Ahtna or Ahtena (, from'' ''"Copper River") is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy. The Ahtna language consists of four different diale ...

is ''Saas Na’ ''. Fed by the Tangle Lakes of the

Alaska Range The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 600-mile-long (950 km) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoar ...

, the river flows north to meet the larger river near Big Delta. In 1980, of waterways in the Delta River basin, including all of the Tangle Lakes and the

main stem In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...

to within of Black Rapids became part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Of this, are designated "wild", "scenic", and "recreational".

Boating

Easily accessible from the boat launch at the Tangle Lakes campground near the Denali Highway and at many points downstream along the

Richardson Highway The Richardson Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, running 368 miles (562 km) and connecting Valdez to Fairbanks. It is marked as Alaska Route 4 from Valdez to Delta Junction and as Alaska Route 2 from there to Fairbanks. I ...

, the river can be floated in sections that vary in difficulty from Class I (easy) to Class V (extremely difficult) on the International Scale of River Difficulty and may require portages. The upstream stretches include four lakes and their Class II (medium) connecting channels. About downstream of the last lake, the river enters a canyon and flows over unrunnable waterfalls. A portage leads to a stretch of Class III (difficult) rapids. Below the Class III rapids, the river continues through of Class I and II water before entering a stretch between Ann Creek and One Mile Creek known as ''Black Rapids''. Here the difficulty is Class III rising to Class IV (very difficult) or V, followed by of Class III and then of Class I. Author Karen Jettmar warns of dangers including "sweepers, canoe fragments wrapped around rocks, bears, cold and wet weather, and high winds". She says that "only experts should attempt to run Black Rapids (Class IV–V) below Mile 229 on Richardson Highway."

Fishing

The Tangle Lakes complex, long, that feeds the Delta River has "some of the best road-accessible grayling fishing in Interior Alaska". In the deeper lakes of the system,

lake trout The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

are fairly abundant. Lakes and streams that are away from the highway and accessible only by canoe or trail are the least heavily fished.

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Mis ...

fishing is also considered excellent on the upper river down to its confluence with Eureka Creek.

References

External links

The Delta National Wild and Scenic River
– Bureau of Land Management {{Authority control Alaska Range Rivers of Alaska Rivers of Copper River Census Area, Alaska Rivers of Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska Tributaries of the Yukon River Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Tanana Athabaskans

Boating

Fishing

See also

References

External links