Nenana River
The Nenana River (Template:Langx) is a tributary of the Tanana River, approximately Template:Convert long, in central Alaska in the United States.<ref name="Place Names"/> It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks.<ref name="DeLorme">Template:Cite book</ref>
It issues from the Nenana Glacier in the northern Alaska Range, southwest of Mount Deborah, approximately 100 mi (160 km) south of Fairbanks. It flows briefly southwest, then west, then north, forming the eastern boundary of Denali National Park and Preserve.<ref name="DeLorme"/> It emerges from the mountains onto the broad marshy Tanana Valley, joining the Tanana River from the south at Nenana, Alaska,<ref name="DeLorme"/> approximately Template:Convert southwest of Fairbanks. The Tanana River continues to its confluence with the Yukon River.
The upper valley of the river furnishes approximately 100 mi (160 km) of the northern route of both the Alaska Railroad and the Parks Highway (Alaska State Highway 3) connecting Fairbanks and Anchorage.
The Nenana supports populations of Alaska blackfish, Arctic grayling, Arctic lamprey, broad whitefish, burbot, chum salmon, humpback whitefish, king salmon, lake chubs, least cisco, longnose suckers, northern pike, round whitefish, sheefish, silver salmon, and slimy sculpins.<ref name="ADFG Chat">Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Rivers of the Lower Tanana Management Area, "The Nenana River" Accessed August 6, 2009.</ref> Major archaeological sites located in the valley include Broken Mammoth and Swan Point, of late Pleistocene age.
Name origin
Lieutenant Henry Allen of the U.S. Army explored the river in 1887. He named it the Cantwell River after Lieutenant John C. Cantwell, of the Revenue Cutter Service, who had explored the Kobuk River region in 1884–85.<ref name="gnis"/> In 1898, members of the United States Geological Survey reported that people living along the river called it Tutlut. However, the local Tanana name was spelled Nenana on a later map.<ref name="gnis"/> A century later, linguist William Bright wrote that the river's name derived from the Lower Tanana (Athabascan) word, neenano', meaning the "stopping-while-migrating stream".<ref name="Native American Place Names of the United States">Template:Cite book</ref>
Boating
The river is one of the most popular destinations for boating and whitewater rafting in Alaska. Thousands of users, some on commercial cruises and others on private trips, travel on the river each year. The proximity of the Denali Highway, which runs parallel to the upper river for about Template:Convert, and the Parks Highway, which follows the river for Template:Convert, makes the river accessible at many places.<ref name="Alaska River Guide">Template:Cite book</ref>
The river begins as a Class I (easy) rafting stream on the International Scale of River Difficulty. Jetboats and other craft ply the waters along the Denali Highway. Below this, however, the flow rate increases, and the Nenana becomes a Class I to II (medium) stream for the Template:Convert between Windy Station and McKinley Village Lodge. The most difficult whitewater, for experts only, occurs over the next Template:Convert, in Nenana Gorge between McKinley Village and Healy, and is rated Class IV (very difficult). Below this, the river is Class I or II all the way to Nenana.<ref name="Alaska River Guide"/>
Dangers include extremely cold swift water, Class IV rapids in the gorge, overhanging trees along the upper river, and overhangs, logjams, and braids on the lower river. An additional danger at the river mouth involves following the wrong braid, missing the take-out at Nenana, and being swept into the Tanana River, from which it may not be possible to exit until reaching Manley Hot Springs, Template:Convert further downstream.<ref name="Alaska River Guide"/>
Crossings
| Location | River elevation | Remarks | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mile 216 George Parks Highway | 2020 ft | Known unofficially as “Number One Bridge” | Template:Coord |
| Mile 231.2 George Parks Highway | 1800 ft | Crabbie's Crossing<ref name="crabbie" /> | Template:Coord |
| Mile 238 George Parks Highway | 1580 ft | 0.7 miles north of Denali National Park access road. South extent of “Glitter Gulch” region. | Template:Coord |
| Mile 242.9 George Parks Highway | 1420 ft | Known as “Moody Bridge” or “Windy Bridge”; built 174 ft above river. | Template:Coord |
| Healy Spur Road | 1280 ft | East of Healy, Alaska, and south of Usibelli Coal Mine | Template:Coord |
| Mile 275.8 George Parks Highway | 680 ft | Jack Coghill Bridge to the Interior | Template:Coord |