Southwest and Aleutians Alaska Float Trips
Its Boundaries
This region begins roughly at Nunivak Island and includes the Kuskokwim Delta region, and the tributaries arising south of the Kuskokwim River—including the Kanektok, Goodnews and Togiak watersheds, as well as the Wood, Nushagak, Kvichak and Naknek watersheds. These rivers are also associated with the famed Bristol, Togiak and Nushagak bays.
What It’s Like
The Southwest and Aleutians river region is often thought of as the world's greatest fishing destination—abounding with salmon runs and all the fish that accompany the huge biomass that enters the rivers each year. It’s also a region of huge lakes, and the big brown bears that make their home in Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks.
Rich with small villages, fishing lodges and plenty of fly-fishermen, this isn’t an area known for solitude. Still, there are many rivers that head in the mountains, away from the valley, where you won’t find that many people.
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Float Trips
Southwest and Aleutians Alaska Float Trips
Overview Located in southwestern Alaska, in one of the richest fisheries in the world, the Wood-Tikchik State Park has a great, easy to moderate float trip that is perfect for families with wilderness camping experience and for diehard fishing enthusiasts. From the furthest inland lake to Dillingham, Alaska is a 130-mile trip that involves paddling your way the length of 4 large lakes and down the three rivers that connect the lakes and then… ...more
Overview This river is a little known river, short in length but long in attributes, that flows in one of Alaska’s premier wilderness parklands, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. With the Neocola Mountains to the north and the Chigmit Mountains to the south, the river sits in a geographically important site where the Alaska Range ends and the Aleutian Range begins. The scenery along the river’s narrow mountain lined valley is the river’s… ...more
Overview Beginning far up into the mountains of Lake Clark National Park, the Stony River is a little known but beautiful glacial river that flows south away from the Revelation Mountains and out of Sled Pass to a point where it then flows northwest through the rolling foothills to where it eventually joins the Kuskokwim River near the village of Stony River. The upper 50 miles of river are inaccessible and rarely see summertime traffic.… ...more
This trip is best started from Dillingham, which can be reached by regularly scheduled air service from Anchorage. From there, a chartered plane on wheels can take you to one of several gravel bar landing areas near the confluences with the Chichitnok River.
Overview Flowing south away from the Kuskokwim Mountains and out of the Nushagak Hills and into Nushagak Bay of the world famous Bristol Bay region, this river represents one of the most important fishery habitats in southwest Alaska. For 275 miles this river runs as a Class I river that is well suited for families that have good wilderness camping skills and enjoy interactions with local native peoples as it flows past several native… ...more
The Kanektok River is located in the Togiak National Wildlife Reserve of Southwest Alaska and flows westward 85 miles from Pegati Lake and into the Bering Sea at the city of Quinhagak. It starts in the scenic Ahklun Mountains then spills out across the Kuskokwim lowlands and is a fly fisherman’s paradise. It is a world class fishing destination and sees quite a bit of fishing from lodges nearby and from fishing camps along the river.… ...more
The Holitna River is an easy flowing river in southwest Alaska, running through a vast wilderness area. Flowing north along the base of the Kuskokwim Mountains and out of the Taylor Mountains, the Holitna is the largest river system in the lower Kuskokwim River basin and offers a great family and friends trip in a true wilderness setting with a chance to meet local natives at the village of Kashegelok in the river’s headwater area. From the… ...more
This is an easy float (Class I & II) on the largest tributary of the Holitna River. Like the Holitna this is a world class fishing destination. The river begins at the large Whitefish Lake and passes through a lot of windy, slow turns moving on its long trip down to meet the Holitna River and eventually to the Kuskokwim River. It is a remote, rarely traveled river, and it is very unlikely that you will see any other people. The upper… ...more
Located in southwest Alaska and flowing out of the Ahklun Mountains to the Bering Sea, the North Fork of the Goodnews River is an ideal family and/or friends, 5 day float trip of 60 miles on an easy river that is choked with fish in the summer months. The upper half lies within designated wilderness in the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge and is surrounded by green tundra covered mountains and has good current in the upper reaches with little… ...more
Take Out Option for Chilikadrotna River. The primary take out is usually by floatplane from the waters of the Mulchatna River at a spot about 12 miles below its confluence with the Chilikadrotna, making for a 72-mile trip.
Issuing out of the aquamarine waters of Twin Lakes, the Chilikadrotna River, a Wild and Scenic River, flows past the high peaks of Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and speeds the 60 miles to its confluence with the Mulchatna River. The river runs an average of 5 miles an hour through birch and spruce forest with the jagged peaks of the southern Alaska Range standing above it. It can be run in as little as 4 days but a longer trip is… ...more
At the very western edge of Alaska’s mountainous interior and adjacent to the giant delta region of the Yukon River is the little known, federally designated Wild and Scenic, Andreafsky River and its tributary, the East Fork River. Flowing south west away from the Nulato Hills, the Andreafsky River and its tributary the East Fork, run for 105 miles and 122 miles as clear streams flowing out of alpine tundra and into the spruce and birch… ...more
The Alagnak river, a federally designated Wild and Scenic River that originates in Katmai National Park and Preserve, is a fisherman’s paradise and the most popular fishing float trip in the Bristol Bay region. From it’s headwaters at Kukaklek or Nonvianuk Lake, it is a 75 mile Class I and II river with one Class III canyon that is a mile long and has a short falls, not easily portaged or lined due to the steep walls. The river is a good… ...more
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