Beaver Creek (
Upper Tanana
Upper Tanana (also known as Tabesna, Nabesna or Nee'aanèegn') is an endangered Athabaskan language spoken in eastern Interior Alaska, United States, mainly in the villages of Northway, Tetlin, and Tok, and adjacent areas of the Canadian ter ...
: ''Taatthee Niign'') is a tributary of the
Yukon River
The Yukon River ( Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän: ''Tth'echù'' or ''Chuu k'onn'', Southern Tutchone: Chu Nìikwän, russian: Юкон, Yukon) is a major watercourse ...
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 ...
of
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. ...
.
The creek begins at the confluence of Champion and Bear creeks in the
White Mountains National Recreation Area, about north of
Fairbanks.
From there it flows west around the southern end of the
White Mountains, then northeast into the
Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, then west into the Yukon River downstream of
Beaver.
In 1980, The
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) is a United States federal law signed by President Jimmy Carter on December 2, 1980. ANILCA provided varying degrees of special protection to over of land, including national parks, n ...
designated the upper of Beaver Creek as part of the
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Most of this lies within the recreation area, but the last are in the wildlife refuge.
Description
Beaver Creek flows from its headwaters through thick forest of
white spruce White spruce is a common name for several species of spruce ('' Picea'') and may refer to:
* ''Picea glauca'', native to most of Canada and Alaska with limited populations in the northeastern United States
* '' Picea engelmannii'', native to the ...
and
paper birch
''Betula papyrifera'' (paper birch, also known as (American) white birch and canoe birch) is a short-lived species of birch native to northern North America. Paper birch is named for the tree's thin white bark, which often peels in paper like ...
forests and
tundra
In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...
on the high slopes of the White Mountains, where
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
peaks reach on the creek's north and east side. The creek has plentiful gravel bars, and
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
s grow on its banks.
The lower portion of the creek follows a very convoluted course through
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 ...
, an area that contains thousands of lakes. Geographical features of these
lowland
Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland.
Definitions
Upland and lowland are portions of p ...
s include
sloughs
A slough ( or ) is a wetland, usually a swamp or shallow lake, often a backwater to a larger body of water. Water tends to be stagnant or may flow slowly on a seasonal basis.
In North America, "slough" may refer to a side-channel from or feedin ...
and
oxbow lakes. Beaver Creek is part of an active
alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...
stream system in one of the most productive
waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...
breeding areas in North America and the most productive in Alaska.
Recreation
The most common way to visit lower Beaver Creek is to float down from upstream, although it is possible to land small aircraft on the stream's gravel bars. The upper creek can be reached via Nome Creek, which flows into Beaver Creek a few miles from its origin. Nome Creek is accessible by highway. The lower reaches of Beaver Creek can also be accessed by boating upstream from the Yukon River, if the water level is medium to high.
The entire creek is rated Class I (easy) on the
International Scale of River Difficulty and can be floated in a variety of watercraft. The Nome Creek approach involves difficult paddling in a winding, narrow channel with shallows and overhanging vegetation. However, Beaver Creek itself is wide and deep from the confluence with Nome Creek to the confluence with Victoria Creek, more than further downstream. Below that, in the wildlife refuge, the river becomes even wider and deeper, with broad gravel bars. Overhanging or partly submerged trees, stumps, and logs pose a hazard to boaters.
Sports fishing for
northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a p ...
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 Mis ...
along Beaver 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 lakes 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.
See also
*
List of rivers of Alaska
This is a List of rivers in Alaska, which are at least fifth-order according to the Strahler method of stream classification, and an incomplete list of otherwise-notable rivers and streams. Alaska has more than 12,000 rivers, and thousands more st ...
References
External links
Beaver 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