Eagle River (Favorite Channel)

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Eagle River
Relief map of USA Alaska.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth of the Eagle River in Alaska
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
Municipality Juneau
Physical characteristics
SourceEagle Glacier
 - location Coast Mountains, Tongass National Forest
 - coordinates 58°35′16″N134°43′26″W / 58.58778°N 134.72389°W / 58.58778; -134.72389 [1]
 - elevation994 ft (303 m) [2]
River mouth Favorite Channel
 - location20 miles (32 km) northwest of downtown Juneau
 - coordinates 58°31′37″N134°49′18″W / 58.52694°N 134.82167°W / 58.52694; -134.82167 Coordinates: 58°31′37″N134°49′18″W / 58.52694°N 134.82167°W / 58.52694; -134.82167 [1]
 - elevation0 ft (0 m) [1]
Length5 mi (8.0 km) [1]

The Eagle River is a stream, 5 miles (8 km) long, in the borough of Juneau in the U.S. state of Alaska. [1] Heading at Eagle Glacier in the Coast Mountains, it flows southwest into Favorite Channel, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the city of Juneau. [1] Alaska Route 7 (Glacier Highway) links the city to the river, a state recreation area, a church camp, and a boy scout camp near the river mouth.

Juneau, Alaska State capital city and borough in Alaska, United States

The City and Borough of Juneau, commonly known as Juneau, is the capital city of Alaska. It is a unified municipality on Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle, and it is the second largest city in the United States by area. Juneau has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of what was the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current municipality, which is larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.

U.S. state constituent political entity of the United States

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Alaska State of the United States of America

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east and southeast, its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

Contents

Hiking trails parallel the river for its entire course. One, the Amalga Trail, leads to a public-use cabin on a lake near the foot of Eagle Glacier in the Tongass National Forest. Remnants of the forming mining town of Amalga and the Eagle Creek Mine are slightly north of the river along an unnamed tributary.

Tongass National Forest national forest in Alaska

The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the largest national forest in the United States at 16.7 million acres (68,000 km2). Most of its area is part of the temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, itself part of the larger Pacific temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which is managed by the United States Forest Service, encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago, fjords and glaciers, and peaks of the Coast Mountains. An international border with Canada runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The forest is administered from Forest Service offices in Ketchikan. There are local ranger district offices located in Craig, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne Bay, Wrangell, and Yakutat.

Course

Beginning at Eagle Glacier in the Coast Mountains of Southeast Alaska, Eagle River flows generally southwest for about 5 miles (8 km) through parts of the Tongass National Forest. [1] [3] Its headwaters include a small unnamed lake, [1] along the right bank of which runs a hiking trail, the Amalga Trail. [4] Also on the right near the downstream end of the lake is Eagle Glacier Cabin, a public-use structure managed by the United States Forest Service. [5]

Southeast Alaska

Southeast Alaska, sometimes referred to as the Alaska Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The majority of Southeast Alaska's area is part of the Tongass National Forest, the United States' largest national forest. In many places, the international border runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The region is noted for its scenery and mild rainy climate.

United States Forest Service federal forest and grassland administrators

The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass 193 million acres (780,000 km2). Major divisions of the agency include the National Forest System, State and Private Forestry, Business Operations, and the Research and Development branch. Managing approximately 25% of federal lands, it is the only major national land agency that is outside the U.S. Department of the Interior.

On the upper and middle reaches of the river, small unnamed tributaries enter from the left and right. One of them, entering from the right downstream of Eagle Glacier Cabin, drains the Amalga Site, remnants of the Eagle River Mine and the former mining town of Amalga. [6]

Along its lower reaches, the river borders Eagle Beach State Recreation Area, which is on the right. The Amalga Trail, which here is part of the recreation area, is also on the right. Also to the right, surrounded by recreation area land, is a United Methodist Church camp. Loop Trail runs around the camp, intersecting Amalga Trail along the river. Slightly downstream of the trail junction, the river passes under Alaska Route 7 (Glacier Highway) and receives the Herbert River from the left. [4]

The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a mainline Protestant denomination and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces both liturgical and evangelical elements.

Alaska Route 7 is a state highway in the Alaska Panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It consists of four unconnected pieces, serving some of the Panhandle communities at which the Alaska Marine Highway ferries stop, and connecting to the Alaska Highway in Yukon via the Haines Highway.

Beyond the confluence with the Herbert, Eagle River flows by tidal flats on the left and right. Here, Loop Trail runs along the right bank until it meets Beach Access Trail, which leads to a beach picnic area. Boy Scout Beach Trail, associated with the scout camp, across the river from the church camp, follows the left bank. Saturday Creek, which flows through Methodist Camp, enters from the right, before Eagle River empties into Favorite Channel. [4]

Eagle Beach is 2 miles (3 km) north of Dotsons Landing and about 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Juneau. [1] The river mouth is opposite Shelter and Lincoln islands, which separate Favorite Channel from Saginaw Channel, to the west. [3] The Alaska Marine Highway runs along Favorite Channel between the islands and Eagle Beach. [3]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Eagle River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. January 1, 2000. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ Derived by entering source coordinates in Google Earth.
  3. 1 2 3 Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2010. pp. 32&ndash, 33. ISBN   978-0-89933-289-5.
  4. 1 2 3 "Welcome to Eagle Beach State Recreation Area" (PDF). Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Eagle Glacier Cabin". United States Forest Service. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  6. ↑ King, Mary Lou (June 30, 2002). "Amalga Trail Leads to Eagle Glacier". Juneau Empire. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
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