The Tazlina River is a tributary of the
Copper River Copper River may refer to several places:
*Copper River (Alaska), in the United States
* Copper River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Skeena River
The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada (afte ...
in the
U.S. state 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., ...
.
Draining
Tazlina Lake
Tazlina Lake is a body of water, long, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is at the head of the Tazlina River, north of the 1952 terminus of Tazlina Glacier and north of Valdez, in the Copper River basin. It is a remnant of ancient Lake Atna.
...
, it flows generally east to meet the larger river southeast of
Glennallen.
Course
Tazlina Lake lies at the base of
Tazlina Glacier
Tazlina Glacier is a long glacier in the U.S. state of Alaska. It begins 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Mount Cashman and flows north to its terminus one mile (1.6 km) south of Tazlina Lake and 43 miles (69 km) north of Valdez. Tazl ...
in the
Chugach Mountains
The Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska are the northernmost of the several mountain ranges that make up the Pacific Coast Ranges of the western edge of North America. The range is about long and wide, and extends from the Knik and Turnagain ...
north of
Valdez. From the lake, the river meanders toward Glennallen, receiving Durham Creek and then Nickel Creek from the
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...
and Moose Creek from the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
. The east–west trending
Glenn Highway
The Glenn Highway (part of Alaska Route 1) is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska, extending from Anchorage near Merrill Field to Glennallen on the Richardson Highway. The Tok Cut-Off is often considered part of the Glenn Highway, for a tota ...
runs to the left (north) of the river and approximately parallel to it for most of its course. Downstream of Glenallen, the Tazlina River passes under the
Trans-Alaska Pipeline
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of ...
and the north–south trending
Richardson Highway before entering the Copper River.
Fishing
Accessible from the Richardson Highway, which intersects the lower
main stem
In hydrology, a mainstem (or trunk) is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries". Water enters the mainstem from the river's drainage basin, the land area through which the mainstem and its tributaries flow.. A ...
, the Tazlina River is generally too silt-laden for good
sportfishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...
. Tazlina Lake is likewise silty. However, clear-running tributary streams and lakes, accessible from the Glenn Highway as well as by floatplane or boat, offer good fishing opportunities. The main species of
game fish in the Tazlina River system are
king salmon
The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus ''Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ve ...
,
red salmon
The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a ...
,
Dolly Varden, and
Arctic grayling.
Boating
Whitewater enthusiasts with sufficient skills can float the Tazlina River in a variety of watercraft. It is possible to take a floatplane to Tazlina Lake and start downstream from there. It is also possible to launch along a tributary, the Little Nelchina River, where it meets the Glenn Highway at Little Nelchina State Recreation Site. This route includes on the Little Nelchina, then on the Nelchina River, followed by of paddling down the lake from the mouth of the Nelchina to the start of the Tazlina.
The longer float includes rapids Class II (medium) to III (difficult) on the
International Scale of River Difficulty. Hazards include logjams and the possibility of insufficient water on the Little Nelchina; strong winds on the lake; swift, cold, silty water on the Tazlina, and a difficult set of rapids called Oxbow Drop upstream of the take-out place at the Richardson Highway bridge.
See also
*
List of rivers of Alaska
References
External links
Copper River Basin Area Plan— Alaska Department of Natural Resources
{{Authority control
Rivers of Alaska
Rivers of Copper River Census Area, Alaska
Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska