Southeast & Eastern Alaska Float Trips

The Tana Riv­er is a 36-mile Class IV+ glacial run from the Chugach to Wrangell Moun­tains, requir­ing skill for its cold, fast waters. Flow­ing from the Tana Glac­i­er, a trib­u­tary of the Bagley Ice Field, it offers stun­ning scenery, sand dunes, and tricky rapids. When com­bined with the Chiti­na Riv­er, a 95-mile trip is pos­si­ble. McCarthy Riv­er Tours & Out­fit­ters is the only com­pa­ny offer­ing guid­ed trips.

The Niz­ina Riv­er flows from the Niz­ina Glac­i­er into the Wrangell Moun­tains, offer­ing 45- to 90-mile trips with Class III rapids. A trib­u­tary of the Chiti­na Riv­er, it fea­tures braid­ed glacial plains, a nar­row canyon, and diverse wildlife, includ­ing bears, moose, and bison. Sur­round­ed by the St. Elias, Wrangell, and Chugach Moun­tains, it runs through one of the most scenic and remote wilder­ness areas in Alaska.

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.

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 Chiti­na Riv­er flows through a vast Alaskan val­ley, divid­ing the Wrangell and St. Elias Moun­tains. Fed by Logan and Chiti­na Glac­i­ers, it shaped a min­er­al-rich region where native pop­u­la­tions and min­ers have long explored. Peaks rise to 16,000 feet as it joins the Cop­per Riv­er. A remote, mod­er­ate-dif­fi­cul­ty raft­ing trip, it spans 60 – 112 miles, tak­ing 4 – 10 days through rugged wilderness.

The Alsek Riv­er is a pow­er­ful, glacial-fed water­way flow­ing from Cana­da to Alas­ka through vast pro­tect­ed wilder­ness. It fea­tures mas­sive glac­i­ers, swift white­wa­ter, and the high­est con­cen­tra­tion of griz­zlies in North Amer­i­ca. The jour­ney includes a manda­to­ry heli­copter portage at Turn­back Canyon and takes 13 – 16 days. Harsh weath­er and com­plex logis­tics make it a true expe­di­tion, best suit­ed for expert paddlers.