The Skagway River 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 ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the state of Alaska, United States, flowing southwest across the international boundary at just southeast of the

White Pass White Pass, also known as the Dead Horse Trail, (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada. It leads from Skagway, Alas ...

. Flowing slightly northwest after crossing the boundary, it turns south-southwest to meet the sea at the head of

Taiya Inlet Taiya Inlet is part of the upper Lynn Canal located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Taiya Inlet is an estuary which lies in a deep valley, with Skagway, Alaska at its north end and the remainder of the Lynn Canal at its south end. History Taiya Inl ...

. There is a vehicle bridge over the river at the north end of Skagway as well as two pedestrian bridges, one next to the vehicle bridge and one at the mouth of the river near the airport. The river is not navigable by raft or canoe or kayak because of the supports under the vehicle bridge and the shallow swift flowing water. In addition, there is a great quantity of scrap metal debris which has been dumped into the river over the past century. When some people have tried to raft the mile to the ocean, their rafts have been destroyed under the bridge by the accumulation of tree branches and vegetation that is choked there. Heading north (upstream) from its mouth, the major branches of the Skagway River are as follows: ''1–East Fork'': The East Fork branches off the Skagway River, opposite Mile Post 4.8 of the White Pass railroad. At Mile Post 5.8, the railroad makes a U-turn, crosses the East Fork, and loops back to follow the main river. ''2–White Pass Fork'': The Skagway River turns to the east and White Pass Fork branches off to the north, opposite Mile Post 12 of the railroad. At Mile Post 14.2, the railroad makes a U-turn, crosses the Skagway River, and loops back to follow White Pass Fork. ''3–Cut-off Gulch'': White Pass Fork splits into Cut-off Gulch to the east and Dead Horse Gulch to the north, opposite Mile Post 18 of the railroad. At Mile Post 18.6, the railroad makes a left turn and crosses Cut-off Gulch. ''4–Dead Horse Gulch'': After crossing Cut-off Gulch, the railroad goes through a tunnel which comes out along Dead Horse Gulch. The head of Dead Horse Gulch is at Pump House Lake, at Mile Post 20 of the railroad., at pp. 3, 19, 28 (maps). Confusingly, at various times, the ''entirety'' of White Pass Fork, from the Skagway River to Pump House Lake, has also been known both as “Cutoff Canyon” and as “Dead Horse Gulch.”

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Atlin District Cassiar Land District International rivers of North America Rivers of the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska Rivers of the Boundary Ranges Rivers of Alaska Rivers of British Columbia {{Alaska-river-stub