paddling.Jimstrutz.com © 2008
Chitina River
Based on two trips; July 2007, and June 2008
My Chitina pictures are here:
The Chitina River flows out of the Wrangle - St Elias Park, the largest national park in the United States, and combined with the adjoining Kluane Park in the Yukon, they create the largest park or national heritage center in the world. The scenery is spectacular, and the experience of floating it, breathtaking.
There are several places to start this river trip, and commonly people fly into the headwaters of the Chitina, or Nizina Rivers and begin their adventure there. The low cost way is to start just outside McCarthy on the Kennecott River, float the 5 miles to the Nizina, and then 11 more to the confluence with the Chitina. Being cheap, we opted for the latter. What is missed is the mile high canyon of the upper Nizina. Quite spectacular from what I hear, but being poor, I am limited to low cost adventures.
To get to the Kennecott put in, drive south on the Richardson Highway from Glennallen. Turn left at the Edgerton Cutoff, and continue through Kenny Lake, all the way to the thriving metropolis of Chitina, about 20 miles off the highway. This is all a nice paved road. Kenny Lake (pop. 410) has a general store, diner, hotel and the all important gas station. Chitina (pop.123) lacks the gas station, so plan accordingly. From Chitina drive across the Copper River Bridge and head out the McCarthy Road. This is 60 miles of a narrow dirt road, and the speed limit is 35 mph. Most of the time you will be driving slower, so plan on 2-3 hours each way.
In Chitina, April, who works at the interesting Spirit Mountain Artworks, may assist in running a shuttle for you from McCarthy to Chitina. Call her up to arrange this before hand, and pick her up in Chitina on your way to McCarthy. In 2007 & 2008 she was charging $125, but I think that is too cheap for the time it takes, so give her a good tip. Also make sure your car has a good spare, and jack or she won't do it. A spare key would help too. She will park your car at the O'Brien Creek take out, or wherever you want. She will also do shuttles to Valdez or Cordova if you are heading that way. You can find a contact number for her at: http://www.spiritmountainalaska.com. Another shuttle alternative is via Wrangle Mountain Air: http://www.wrangellmountainair.com/ and this might be a better option if you are using multiple vehicles.
At the Kennecott put in there is a private campground right along the river bank and in 2008 the cost was $5 per night, per person. Firewood is scarce, so prepare to deal with it or buy some from the campground host. Since it takes most of the day just to get there from Anchorage (or anywhere else) plan on spending the night and heading out the next day.
While you are so near McCarthy, it would be a shame not to take a walk through town. The only way to drive across the Kennecott and into town is on the private vehicle bridge, and the cost is prohibitive unless you are a local looking for a season pass, so plan on hiking the mile or so across the free public foot bridge to town. From there you should also opt for the $15 van ride to visit the old Kennecott Mine. We killed several hours there on our last trip, but still got our boats loaded and headed down stream before the day was done. That didn't leave a lot of float time that day so we camped the next night just a little way down the Nizina, on a nice gravel bar.
Be forewarned that there is a glacial lake that releases most years in a large flood around the first half of July. To be safe, you should talk to Wrangle Mountain Air in McCarthy while you're there to check on the likelihood of this release happening on your trip. They generally keep fairly good tabs on the condition of the ice dam, and can give you some clues as to what's likely to happen in the next few days. If the flood is imminent you can still do the trip, but plan on camping way above the usual high water mark if there is a chance of this happening while you're on the river. The real danger is while you are still on the Kennecott, and to a lesser extent the Nizina. After the flood gets to the Chitina it's effects are greatly reduced. It's a 1-2 day flood, so plan accordingly.
Based on two trips; July 2007, and June 2008
My Chitina pictures are here:
The Chitina River flows out of the Wrangle -
There are several places to start this river trip, and commonly people fly into the headwaters of the Chitina, or Nizina Rivers and begin their adventure there. The low cost way is to start just outside McCarthy on the Kennecott River, float the 5 miles to the Nizina, and then 11 more to the confluence with the Chitina. Being cheap, we opted for the latter. What is missed is the mile high canyon of the upper Nizina. Quite spectacular from what I hear, but being poor, I am limited to low cost adventures.
To get to the Kennecott put in, drive south on the Richardson Highway from Glennallen. Turn left at the Edgerton Cutoff, and continue through Kenny Lake, all the way to the thriving metropolis of Chitina, about 20 miles off the highway. This is all a nice paved road. Kenny Lake (pop. 410) has a general store, diner, hotel and the all important gas station. Chitina (pop.123) lacks the gas station, so plan accordingly. From Chitina drive across the Copper River Bridge and head out the McCarthy Road. This is 60 miles of a narrow dirt road, and the speed limit is 35 mph. Most of the time you will be driving slower, so plan on 2-
In Chitina, April, who works at the interesting Spirit Mountain Artworks, may assist in running a shuttle for you from McCarthy to Chitina. Call her up to arrange this before hand, and pick her up in Chitina on your way to McCarthy. In 2007 & 2008 she was charging $125, but I think that is too cheap for the time it takes, so give her a good tip. Also make sure your car has a good spare, and jack or she won't do it. A spare key would help too. She will park your car at the O'Brien Creek take out, or wherever you want. She will also do shuttles to Valdez or Cordova if you are heading that way. You can find a contact number for her at: http://www.spiritmountainalaska.com. Another shuttle alternative is via Wrangle Mountain Air: http://www.wrangellmountainair.com/ and this might be a better option if you are using multiple vehicles.
At the Kennecott put in there is a private campground right along the river bank and in 2008 the cost was $5 per night, per person. Firewood is scarce, so prepare to deal with it or buy some from the campground host. Since it takes most of the day just to get there from Anchorage (or anywhere else) plan on spending the night and heading out the next day.
While you are so near McCarthy, it would be a shame not to take a walk through town. The only way to drive across the Kennecott and into town is on the private vehicle bridge, and the cost is prohibitive unless you are a local looking for a season pass, so plan on hiking the mile or so across the free public foot bridge to town. From there you should also opt for the $15 van ride to visit the old Kennecott Mine. We killed several hours there on our last trip, but still got our boats loaded and headed down stream before the day was done. That didn't leave a lot of float time that day so we camped the next night just a little way down the Nizina, on a nice gravel bar.
Be forewarned that there is a glacial lake that releases most years in a large flood around the first half of July. To be safe, you should talk to Wrangle Mountain Air in McCarthy while you're there to check on the likelihood of this release happening on your trip. They generally keep fairly good tabs on the condition of the ice dam, and can give you some clues as to what's likely to happen in the next few days. If the flood is imminent you can still do the trip, but plan on camping way above the usual high water mark if there is a chance of this happening while you're on the river. The real danger is while you are still on the Kennecott, and to a lesser extent the Nizina. After the flood gets to the Chitina it's effects are greatly reduced. It's a 1-
McCarthy Road
Camping at McCarthy
Put in -- Note the high banks.
The flood sometimes tops it.
