Copper River Points

The longest trip pos­si­ble on the Cop­per Riv­er is the 247-mile stretch that starts at its head­wa­ters at Cop­per Lake and a float­plane is need­ed to take you and your gear there.

Only a short dis­tance of 5 to 8 miles sep­a­rates you from the braid­ed upper Cop­per River.

Miss­ing this take out by tak­ing a wrong chan­nel has dire con­se­quences. Either way, the take out involves some seri­ous logis­ti­cal plan­ning, as the town of Cor­do­va is only acces­si­ble by Alas­ka State Fer­ry or com­mer­cial air­line. You will need to coor­di­nate a dri­ver and vehi­cle to arrive in Cor­do­va by fer­ry, the day before your take­out date. Then every­one and all gear will board the return fer­ry to Valdez for the dri­ve home or to Anchor­age. You…  ...more

Only a short dis­tance of 5 to 8 miles sep­a­rates you from the braid­ed upper Cop­per River.

Only a short dis­tance of 5 to 8 miles sep­a­rates you from the braid­ed upper Cop­per River.

A short dis­tance of 5 to 6 miles down the Slana takes you to the upper Cop­per River

Be well advised to not stop on the left side of the riv­er oppo­site of Child’s Glac­i­er. I have seen with my own eyes calv­ing of such size that large tsuna­mi like waves are pushed up the 20-mile an hour cur­rent along the shore cre­at­ing a boil­ing wall of water at shore­line. The force of the riv­er would eat any raft parked here. If you are float­ing past, the wave will flow under your raft but along the shore, it is car­nage! It is best advised to…  ...more

Only a short dis­tance of 5 to 8 miles sep­a­rates you from the braid­ed upper Cop­per River.

Only a short dis­tance of 5 to 8 miles sep­a­rates you from the braid­ed upper Cop­per River.

One of the eas­i­est and most com­mon put ins is along the east­ern shore of the Cop­per, just upstream of the McCarthy Road Bridge and above the con­flu­ence with the Chiti­na Riv­er. It is a very scenic loca­tion with native fish wheels and the Wrangell Moun­tains as a back­drop. Here starts an 80-mile sec­tion of clas­sic glacial riv­er coun­try that pours south through Wood Canyon and through Aber­crom­bie rapids and past huge glaciers.

Many groups will take out along the west­ern shore, just upstream of the Mil­lion Dol­lar Bridge, which is the old rail­road bridge to the cop­per mines of yes­ter­year. It has been con­vert­ed to accom­mo­date high­way vehi­cles and con­nects to the town of Cordova.