Chitina River Points

This is the fur­thest up the val­ley you can get. It is not far from the ter­mi­nus of the Chiti­na Glac­i­er and there are some great hikes to do in this region. You will need 7 to 8 days to ful­ly enjoy this trip. One dis­ad­van­tage to this start­ing point is that the strip is a long ways from the riv­er and a portage of up to 2 miles is need­ed to get all the gear next to the riv­er. Maybe the riv­er chan­nel near the strip will have water but late­ly it…  ...more

A more com­mon­ly used strip is at Jake’s Bar locat­ed just below the con­flu­ence with the Tana Riv­er on the right side of the riv­er val­ley. From here the riv­er is much less inclement with not as much blow­ing silt and eas­i­er braids to read as you float along. It is about 60 miles to the con­flu­ence with the Cop­per Riv­er and could be done in as lit­tle as 3 days.

Here you could rig your rafts and trav­el the very swift, rocky and splashy sec­tion of the Ken­ni­cott the five miles to where it then joins the Niz­ina Riv­er. Here the riv­er will take on con­sid­er­ably more water and for the next 10 miles is swift, wide and very braid­ed with beau­ti­ful scenic views in all direc­tions. At this point the Niz­ina enters the Niz­ina Canyon, a sheer walled lime­stone canyon with blind turns but no real obstruc­tions. However,…  ...more

To attempt this take out one must hug the right hand shore/​bluff for a mile before reach­ing the con­flu­ence and then be able to stop your­self to see if you can line your boats up the shore­line the half mile to the bridge. This is not always an easy situation.

Con­tin­ue down the Chiti­na to its con­flu­ence with the Cop­per Riv­er, where there is road access, and is a great wilder­ness trip that com­bines the thrill and adren­a­line rush of big white water and remote wilder­ness. The com­mon take out is O’Brien Creek and is described in detail for the Cop­per and Chiti­na Rivers.

All along the upper riv­er there are many fish-choked, clear trib­u­taries where griz­zly bears are like­ly to hang out. It is not wise to camp at these sites as tempt­ing as it is. Of course stop­ping to col­lect clear water in your water jugs, or hav­ing lunch there is a great idea. Most peo­ple fil­ter these waters to ensure there are no gia­r­dia par­a­sites to infect you. The clear set­tled pools in the mid­dle of the big riv­er bars, how­ev­er, hold water…  ...more