The Anaktuvuk River ( ik, Anaqtuuvak) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

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., ...

's North Slope. long, it flows west from glaciers in the

Endicott Mountains The Endicott Mountains are a range of mountains, part of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. They are located in the middle of the Brooks range and run some east–west. To the east are the Philip Smith Mountains and to the west are the Sc ...

changing direction just north of

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 divi ...

Porter, Stephen C. (1966) ''Pleistocene geology of Anaktuvuk Pass, Central Brooks Range, Alaska'' (Arctic Institute of North America Technical Paper #18) Arctic Institute of North America, Washington D.C., page 12, to flow north to the Arctic Coastal Plain where it joins the Colville River. Its headwaters are formed by runoff from various glaciers in the

Gates of the Arctic Wilderness Gates of the Arctic Wilderness is a wilderness area in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located in the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, it is in area, the third-largest designated wilderness area in the United States (after the Wrang ...

on the slopes of Fan Mountain, Alapah Mountain and Limestack Mountain, the last of which lies on the watershed divide between the Arctic Coastal Plain and 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 into ...

, and feeds the Anaktuvuk River via Graylime Creek. Its first major tributary is the John River which joins it at . The Nanushuk River joins it at . Anaktuvuk-River-cliffs-1901-USGS

"The first geologic transect of the Arctic Slope was conducted during the summer of 1901 by USGS geologist F.C. Schrader and topographer W.J. Peters, who descended the Anaktuvuk River in canoes to its junction with the Colville River." In 1938, Robert "Bob" Marshall explored the sources of the river.

Human use

Though the vast majority of the river is often inaccessible to motorized boats due to very low water levels, portions of the river provide excellent fishing ground for

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...

and "monster grayling". Hunters may fly into the Anaktuvuk River drainage in summer to hunt moose, bears, caribou, and other animals. In August 2013, a hunter was severely mauled by a grizzly bear while hunting in the Anaktuvuk River drainage.Stapleton, AnneClaire. CNN.com, "Alaska hunter mauled by bear survives 36 hours in wilderness." http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/18/us/alaska-bear-mauling/index.html Because of its low and fluctuating water levels, extreme remoteness, lack of airports, and challenging weather conditions, the Anaktuvuk River is only very rarely run by recreational boaters.

Wildlife

Because of its extremely remote location, the Anaktuvuk River remains in an almost completely unaltered wilderness state. Shrub forests areas along the middle and lower Anaktuvuk River provide some of the little moose habitat on the largely treeless North Slope region. The Anaktuvuk River drainage is also home to grizzly bears, caribou, wolves, and many small mammals. Migrating birds such as yellow-billed loons and Canada goose raise their young along the river.

References

{{authority control Rivers of North Slope Borough, Alaska Rivers of Alaska

Human use

Wildlife

See also

References