:''John River leads here. For Canadian rapper John River, see

John River (rapper) Matthew John Derrick-Huie (born September 29, 1994), better known by his stage name John River, is a Canadian rapper, songwriter, and activist. Since 2012, River has released several music videos and two mixtapes—''The Calm'' and ''The Storm''. ...

'' The John River ( Iñupiaq: ''Atchiiniq'') is a tributary of the

Koyukuk River The Koyukuk River (; ''Ooghekuhno' '' in Koyukon, ''Kuuyukaq'' or ''Tagraġvik'' in Iñupiaq) is a tributary of the Yukon River, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the last major tributary entering the Yukon before the larger river empties int ...

in the northern part of 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 ...

. It was named after John Bremner, a prospector and explorer who was one of the first non-native persons to go there. It flows south from

Anaktuvuk Pass The Anaktuvuk Pass ("the place of caribou droppings", el. 2,200 ft.) is a mountain pass located in Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in North Slope Borough in northern Alaska. The Anaktuvuk Pass is in the Brooks Range which div ...

in Alaska's

Brooks Range The Brooks Range ( Gwich'in: ''Gwazhał'') is a mountain range in far northern North America stretching some from west to east across northern Alaska into Canada's Yukon Territory. Reaching a peak elevation of on Mount Isto, the range is b ...

, into the larger river at a point near Bettles, slightly north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at ...

. In 1980, the segment of the John River within the

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is an American national park that protects portions of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. The park is the northernmost national park in the United States, situated entirely north of the Arctic Circ ...

were designated "wild" and added to the

National Wild and Scenic Rivers System The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

. The designation means that the segment is unpolluted, free-flowing, and generally inaccessible except by trail. The John River Valley is an important migration route for Arctic

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

History

In 1901, the Schrader- Peters expedition explored the John River, the

Anaktuvuk River The Anaktuvuk River ( ik, Anaqtuuvak) is a river in Alaska's North Slope. long, it flows west from glaciers in the Endicott Mountains changing direction just north of Anaktuvuk PassPorter, Stephen C. (1966) ''Pleistocene geology of Anaktuvuk Pass, ...

, and continued onward to

Point Barrow Point Barrow or Nuvuk is a headland on the Arctic coast in the U.S. state of Alaska, northeast of Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow). It is the northernmost point of all the territory of the United States, at , south of the North Pole. (The nor ...

. In 1931, Robert "Bob" Marshall explored the John River up to the Arctic Divide, and described seeing a "quadruple rainbow".

Boating

It is possible to run the John River in canoes, kayaks, and small rafts, though conditions vary from place to place. The upper are rated Class III (difficult) on the International Scale of River Difficulty and "should be attempted only by experienced paddlers with solid wilderness skills." Below this, the river is rated Class II (medium) for the next , then Class I on the lower reaches all the way to the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

. Dangers on the upper river include sustained whitewater, swift currents, a difficult

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

, and the possibility of water too shallow to run.

References

External links

Gates of the Arctic
– National Park Service
''The John River, Alaska''
– Photo documentary on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{authority control Rivers of North Slope Borough, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve Brooks Range Tributaries of the Yukon River Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

History

Boating

See also

References

External links