Southcentral Alaska Float Trips

Portage Creek is the eas­i­est float near Anchor­age, a 1 – 2 hour float down flat water with the option of take outs at mile 4.5 or 6.5. With kids, how­ev­er, you’ll want to turn it into a half-day adven­ture, stop­ping on grav­el bars to play and explore. You’re nev­er far from Portage Val­ley Road, which can pro­vide a sense of com­fort. Even though the road does not have a deep wilder­ness feel, you are sur­round­ed by sev­er­al-thou­sand foot moun­tains which…  ...more

Just 40 min­utes from Anchor­age, the North Fork Eagle Riv­er offers a scenic, 7‑mile Class I float with a remote feel. The unbraid­ed riv­er has many bends, mak­ing the actu­al float clos­er to 8 miles and tak­ing 3 – 5 hours. It’s a great full-day trip, espe­cial­ly with kids, with time for grav­el bar play. Despite its gen­tle nature, sweep­ers and sub­merged logs add chal­lenge. It’s more seclud­ed than Portage, with few boats even on busy weekends.

The Talachulit­na Riv­er, or ​“Tal,” is a 5 – 7 day float trip through scenic gorges and past the Tor­drillo Moun­tains. It begins with 16 miles of Class I creek, fol­lowed by 32 miles of Class I – IV rapids, and ends with 13 miles on the Skwent­na Riv­er. Best for small rafts and kayaks, it’s a top fish­ing spot with his­toric Athabas­can sig­nif­i­cance. The Tal was Alaska’s first catch-and-release-only riv­er for Rain­bow Trout.

Overview Six Mile Creek is, per­haps, Alaska’s most acces­si­ble tech­ni­cal white­wa­ter run, well suit­ed to kayak or pad­dle raft, most­ly Class IV and one class V canyon. Flow­ing in the rugged Chugach Moun­tains of the Kenai Penin­su­la, with­in Chugach Nation­al For­est, this stream has a rep­u­ta­tion of boom­ing white­wa­ter and fast gorge style rapids. A small vol­ume stream, it has 3 dis­tinct canyons, with each one more dif­fi­cult than the pre­vi­ous. At most…  ...more

The Nabesna Riv­er is a glacial­ly fed Class I‑II riv­er in Alas­ka, flow­ing 80 miles from the Wrangell-St. Elias Moun­tains through canyons and val­leys before join­ing the Chisana Riv­er to form the Tanana. It starts steep and swift, then slows as it mean­ders into the Tetlin Nation­al Wildlife Refuge. Ide­al for a 3 – 4 day trip, it has no major obsta­cles but requires con­stant maneu­ver­ing through its busy currents.

Overview With the Tal­keet­na Moun­tains to the north and the Chugach Moun­tains to the south, the Matanus­ka Riv­er pours forth from the large Matanus­ka Glac­i­er in a swift, freez­ing cold, tor­rent of Class II to Class IV white­wa­ter for near­ly 70 miles before it meets the sea where the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet reach­es into the inte­ri­or. The riv­er runs down the trench formed where the Bor­der Ranges Fault line sep­a­rates the two mighty moun­tain ranges,…  ...more

The Lit­tle Su is a clear, warmer Alaskan riv­er flow­ing from the Tal­keet­nas. It offers two trips: a Class IV+ white­wa­ter run for expert kayak­ers and a calmer Class I‑II sec­tion ide­al for fish­ing, float­ing, and camp­ing. Pop­u­lar routes are 84 or 56 miles, tak­ing up to 5 days. Below the Parks High­way, motor­boats are allowed on the sec­ond and fourth week­ends from Nan­cy Lake Creek to the Lit­tle Su Access Road.

Overview This inter­est­ing com­bi­na­tion of rivers and lake is a rarely done cir­cuit that would be a great mul­ti-day wilder­ness float trip for kayaks and rafts. With good fish­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties and only Class III at times, it is most­ly a Class II trip and for 80 miles it trav­els through an amaz­ing land­scape. The Nelchi­na Riv­er sys­tem is a rocky glacial riv­er with dai­ly water lev­el fluc­tu­a­tions amid a forest­ed val­ley and with spec­tac­u­lar views of…  ...more

Lake Creek is one of south cen­tral Alaska’s most famous streams, pri­mar­i­ly due to its supe­ri­or salmon runs. King Salmon use Lake Creek and Chelat­na Lake as a spawn­ing site and return in large num­bers and trout and grayling fol­low right behind them. Lake Creek is a clear, swift, and at times, very strong riv­er with two sec­tions of Class III+ and IV rapids and many tech­ni­cal boul­der gar­den rapids to get through. The two hard­est sec­tions can be…  ...more

The Kenai Riv­er flows 80 miles from Kenai Lake to Cook Inlet, pass­ing through canyons, white­wa­ter, and Ski­lak Lake. A 4 – 5 day trip offers stun­ning scenery, Class III rapids, and world-class fish­ing. The riv­er is heav­i­ly vis­it­ed, espe­cial­ly in July and August, with power­boats and crowd­ed fish­ing spots. Most of it lies with­in the Kenai Nation­al Wildlife Refuge, home to one of Alaska’s great­est salmon runs.

The Cop­per Riv­er drains a vast North Amer­i­can region of moun­tains, ice, and forests. Its low­er reach­es flow over 200,000 cubic feet per sec­ond, while head­wa­ters carve steep gorges and glacial val­leys. Span­ning sub­arc­tic to tem­per­ate zones, it bor­ders the world’s largest non­po­lar ice field. The most com­mon trip, from Chiti­na to Cor­do­va, cov­ers 80 miles in 5 – 7 days. Rafts work well; canoes can be tippy.

The Chick­aloon Riv­er flows from the Tal­keet­na Moun­tains to the Matanus­ka Riv­er. A 33-mile Class II-III+ stretch offers fast, con­tin­u­ous rapids with some blind drops requir­ing scout­ing. This is not for begin­ners but is an excel­lent week­end trip for expe­ri­enced rafters with good gear and read-and-run skills. The riv­er is glacial-fed, and access to the upper sec­tions is lim­it­ed, often requir­ing heli­copter transport.

Float Through Anchor­age Neighborhoods