Birch Creek is a tributary of the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

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 so ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. Beginning at the confluence of Ptarmigan and Eagle creeks near Porcupine Dome, it flows southwest, then south under the

Steese Highway The Steese Highway (known as the Steese Expressway within Fairbanks) is a highway in the Interior region of the U.S. state of Alaska that extends from Fairbanks to Circle, a town on the Yukon River about 50 miles (80 km) south of the A ...

and into the Steese National Conservation Area. It then turns east, then north, again passing under the Steese Highway and entering the

Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge The Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge is a protected wetland area in the state of Alaska, in the U.S. It encompasses most of the Yukon Flats, a vast wetland area centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chanda ...

. Turning northwest, it ends where it splits into two

distributaries A distributary, or a distributary channel is a stream channel that branches off and flows a main stream channel. It is the opposite of a ''tributary'', a stream that flows another stream or river. Distributaries are a result of river bifurca ...

, Lower Mouth Birch Creek and Upper Mouth Birch Creek, near

Birch Creek, Alaska Birch Creek (''Łiteet'aii'' in Gwich’in) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. Geography The village is along Birch Creek, about southwest of Fort Yukon. Birch Creek is at (66.256708, - ...

. The distributaries flow into the

at separate locations downstream of

Fort Yukon Fort Yukon (''Gwichyaa Zheh'' in Gwich'in language, Gwich'in) is a city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska, straddling the Arctic Circle. The population, predominantly Gwich'in Alaska ...

History

The first human inhabitants of the region were probably Gwich'in people who hunted and fished along the creek. Gold was found along the creek in 1893. Circle City sprang up as the Alaska Interior's first gold town, governed democratically by traditional miners' meetings. Old mining and trapping cabins are part of the Birch Creek landscape, and mining continues in the 21st century.

Distributaries

Upper Mouth Birch Creek flows northwest from Birch Creek to enter the Yukon River southwest (downstream) of Fort Yukon. The coordinates of the

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the Upper Mouth are . Lower Mouth Birch Creek flows southwest from Birch Creek to enter Lower Birch Creek Slough southwest of Fort Yukon.''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', p. 600 An

anabranch An anabranch is a section of a river or stream that diverts from the main channel or stem of the watercourse and rejoins the main stem downstream. Local anabranches can be the result of small islands in the watercourse. In larger anabranches, ...

of the Yukon River, the slough flows southwest roughly parallel to the

main stem In hydrology, a main stem or mainstem (also known as a trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". The mainstem extends all the way from one specific headwater to the outlet of the river, although t ...

for . The coordinates for the mouth of Lower Mouth Birch Creek are .

Recreation

The

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

(BLM) oversees of Birch Creek declared "wild" in 1980 as part of 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- ...

. People floating the stream in canoes, kayaks, or rafts can put in at a BLM wayside and take out at another BLM wayside further downstream. Both are along the Steese Highway. Between these two points, the creek is rated mostly Class I on the International Scale of River Difficulty, but some segments are rated Class II (medium) or III (difficult). Sports fishing for

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

and

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 Missou ...

along Birch Creek can be "outstanding", according to ''Alaska Fishing''. The larger pike frequent the lower reaches of the creek as well as sloughs, ponds, and

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or stream pool, pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is meander cutoff, cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. The word "oxbow" can also refer to a U-shaped bend in a river or stream, whether ...

s in the

Yukon Flats The Yukon Flats are a vast area of wetlands, forest, bog, and low-lying ground centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Yukon Flats are bordered in ...

. Grayling prefer the headwaters. The stream corridor has no developed camping sites. Gravel bars in the creek are sometimes used for camping. In February, the creek serves as a part of the trail for the

Yukon Quest The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race, is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon, switching directions ...

sled dog race. Other winter activities along the stream include

dog mushing Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most common ...

, trapping, and cross-country skiing.

References

External links

Birch Creek Wild and Scenic River
- BLM page {{authority control Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Rivers of Alaska Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Tributaries of the Yukon River Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska

History

Distributaries

Recreation

See also

References

External links