Matanuska River Points

To start the pri­ma­ry Class II and III run, dri­ve the Glenn to mile 102 and head south on the steep road to the Glac­i­er Park Bridge over the Matanus­ka. From here it is a 5‑mile sec­tion of Class II+ riv­er to the con­flu­ence with Hick­’s Creek where the riv­er picks up steam and becomes Class III+ with some giant flip holes to miss and wave trains to be straight for.

Take out at the main bridge of the Glenn High­way where it crosses.

To get to the Lion’s Head run, dri­ve the Glenn to mile 107 where the high­way cross­es Cari­bou Creek and where there are roads down to the creek and float two miles of Cari­bou Creek.

From Anchor­age, it is only an hour dri­ve to where the riv­er can be accessed. To get on the East Fork, which is main­ly a kayak trip, take the Glenn High­way to the Tah­ne­ta Pass area to the west of Eure­ka. At mile 118.6 take a dirt road to the south and trav­el towards the radio tow­er facil­i­ty for 2.8 miles, park at the small turnout and hike down hill to the river.

A take out is at the Old Glenn High­way near Palmer after about 54 miles, and is just upstream of the bridge on riv­er right.