The Mendenhall River (

Lingít The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

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., ...

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 ...

north of

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

in the

Mendenhall Valley The Mendenhall Valley (historically Mendenhall, colloquially The Valley) is the drainage area of the Mendenhall River in the U.S. state of Alaska. The valley contains a series of neighborhoods, comprising the largest populated place within the ...

. The river begins at the

Mendenhall Lake Mendenhall Lake is a proglacial lake in the Mendenhall Valley at the 1962 terminus of Mendenhall Glacier, north of the Juneau Airport in the Coast Mountains. It is the source of the short Mendenhall River. The lake is included in the Mende ...

, at the base of the

Mendenhall Glacier Mendenhall Glacier (in Tlingit language “Sít”) is a glacier about long located in Mendenhall Valley, about from downtown Juneau in the southeast area of the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier and surrounding landscape is protected as part ...

Rafting on the river

The Mendenhall is about six miles (9 kilometers) long, one mile (1.6 km) of which is

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

. The most favorable months in which to

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...

on the river is May through September. The most active points along the whitewater section are ''Scott's Iatola'' (or ''Iatolla'') ''Hola'', ''Tourist Trap'', and ''Pinball Alley''. The whitewater ends near the

Juneau International Airport Juneau International Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport and seaplane base located seven nautical miles (8 mi, 13 km) northwest of the central business district of Juneau, a city and borough in the U.S. state of Alaska th ...

Flooding

Minor

flood stage Flood stage is the water level or stage at which the surface of a body of water has risen to a sufficient level to cause sufficient inundation of areas that are not normally covered by water, causing an inconvenience or a threat to life and property ...

for the Mendenhall River is 12 feet (3.7 m), and a level of 14 feet (4.3 m) is more likely to cause extensive problems. If the Mendenhall is at minor flood stage, however, it is likely that areas such as

Montana Creek Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia ...

, Jordan Creek, and the Mendenhall Lake are also experiencing flooding at that time.

Interesting facts

*On October 20, 1998, the river reached its greatest-recorded water flow of 12,400 cubic feet per second (350 m³/s). *Named in honor of

Thomas Corwin Mendenhall Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (October 4, 1841 – March 23, 1924) was an American autodidact physicist and meteorologist. He was the first professor hired at Ohio State University in 1873 and the superintendent of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Surve ...

, the superintendent of the

U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications ...

(1889–1894).

Points of interest

* Brotherhood Bridge

External links

Hydrology, Geomorphology, and Flood Profiles
-- ''(full report is a PDF file)''
''Facing the "Iatolla Hola"''
��September 4, 2001 article in the on-line version of the ''

Juneau Empire The ''Juneau Empire'' is a newspaper in Juneau, Alaska, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consist ...

''
Mendenhall River on E-RAFT.comJuneau areas at risk of floodsMendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge
{{authority control Rivers of Alaska Rivers of Juneau, Alaska

Rafting on the river

Flooding

Interesting facts

Points of interest

See also

External links