Foraker River

Last updated
Foraker River
Country United States
State Alaska
District Denali Borough
Source Denali National Park and Preserve
 - location Foraker Glacier, Alaska Range
 - elevation 3,251 ft (991 m) [1]
 - coordinates 63°07′43″N151°34′24″W / 63.12861°N 151.57333°W / 63.12861; -151.57333   [2]
Mouth Minchumina Lake [3]
 - location near village of Lake Minchumina
 - elevation 646 ft (197 m) [2]
 - coordinates 63°53′27″N152°05′45″W / 63.89083°N 152.09583°W / 63.89083; -152.09583 Coordinates: 63°53′27″N152°05′45″W / 63.89083°N 152.09583°W / 63.89083; -152.09583   [2]
Length 60 mi (97 km) [3]
USA Alaska location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of the mouth of the Foraker River in Alaska

The Foraker River (Lower Tanana : Kwalana or Kotalhno) is a 60-mile (97 km) stream in central Alaska in the United States. [3] It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks. [4] The Herron River is a major tributary. [4]

Lower Tanana is an endangered language spoken in Interior Alaska in the lower Tanana River villages of Minto and Nenana. Of about 380 Tanana people in the two villages, about 30 still speak the language. As of 2010, "Speakers who grew up with Lower Tanana as their first language can be found only in the 250-person village of Minto." It is one of the large family of Athabaskan languages, also known as Dené.

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.

Alaska Range mountain range of the North American Cordillera in Alaska, USA and Yukon, Canada

The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, 650-km-long (400 mi) mountain range in the southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest end to the White River in Canada's Yukon Territory in the southeast. The highest mountain in North America, Denali, is in the Alaska Range. It is part of the American Cordillera.

The Foraker River issues from Foraker Glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve, northwest of Mount Foraker. [4] It flows through the tundra to the north of the Alaska range in a generally northwest direction to Minchumina Lake near the village of Lake Minchumina. [4]

Foraker Glacier is a glacier in Denali National Park and Preserve in the U.S. state of Alaska. The glacier begins in the Alaska Range on the north side of Mount Foraker, moving northwest for 15 miles (24 km). It is the source of the Foraker River.

Denali National Park and Preserve national park in Alaska

Denali National Park and Preserve is an American national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali, the highest mountain in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres which is larger than the state of New Hampshire. On December 2, 1980, 2,146,580-acre Denali Wilderness was established within the park. Denali's landscape is a mix of forest at the lowest elevations, including deciduous taiga, with tundra at middle elevations, and glaciers, snow, and bare rock at the highest elevations. The longest glacier is the Kahiltna Glacier. Wintertime activities include dog sledding, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling. The park received 594,660 recreational visitors in 2018.

Mount Foraker mountain in Alaska

Mount Foraker is a 17,400-foot (5,304 m) mountain in the central Alaska Range, in Denali National Park, 14 mi (23 km) southwest of Denali. It is the second highest peak in the Alaska Range, and the third highest peak in the United States. It rises almost directly above the standard base camp for Denali, on a fork of the Kahiltna Glacier also near Mount Hunter in the Alaska Range.

The river was named for its glacial source in 1925 by S.R. Capps of the U.S. Geological Survey. Other names or variants include Seyh Khoolanh No' and Gotothna River. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Interior Alaska geographic region

Interior Alaska is the central region of Alaska's territory, roughly bounded by the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north. It is largely wilderness. Mountains include Denali in the Alaska Range, the Wrangell Mountains, and the Ray Mountains. The native people of the interior are Alaskan Athabaskans. The largest city in the interior is Fairbanks, Alaska's second-largest city, in the Tanana Valley. Other towns include North Pole, just southeast of Fairbanks, Eagle, Tok, Glennallen, Delta Junction, Nenana, Anderson, Healy and Cantwell. The interior region has an estimated population of 113,154.

Nowitna River river in the United States of America

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Tanana River river in the United States of America

The Tanana River is a 584-mile (940 km) tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Bright, the name is from the Koyukon (Athabaskan) tene no, tenene, literally "trail river".

Kuskokwim River river in the United States of America

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Nenana River river in the United States of America

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Chena River river in Alaska

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Kuskokwim Mountains

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Chandalar River river in the United States of America

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Swift River (Alaska) watercourse

The Swift River is a tributary, about 100 miles (160 km) long, of the Kuskokwim River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Formed by meltwater from several glaciers in the Revelation Mountains of the Alaska Range, the river flows generally west and northwest to meet the larger stream 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Sleetmute.

Kantishna River river in the United States of America

The Kantishna River is a 108-mile (174 km) tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Formed by the confluence of the McKinley River with Birch Creek in Denali National Park and Preserve, it drains part of the north slope of the Alaska Range including the Denali massif. The direction of flow is generally north-northeast. The Toklat River is a major tributary.

Salcha River river in the United States of America

The Salcha River is a 125-mile (201 km) tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Rising in the eastern part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough east of Fort Wainwright, it flows generally west-southwest to meet the larger river at Aurora Lodge, 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Fairbanks.

Chatanika, Alaska Place in Alaska, United States

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Cosna River (Alaska) river in Alaska, United States

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Chatanika River river in the United States of America

The Chatanika River is a 128-mile (206 km) tributary of the Tolovana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. The Chatanika River is a clear or lightly tannic stained rapid-runoff stream that has its headwaters in the mountains of the northeastern portion of the Alaska Range and flows westward through valleys between summits and uplands for about four-fifths of its length before it enters Minto Flats. Once in the flats—a marshy area in which multiple streams, rivers, and lakes are located— the Chatanika joins the Tolovana, which flows into the Tanana River and on to the Yukon River. The Chatanika is thus a portion of the Yukon River drainage basin.

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Herron River river in the United States of America

The Herron River is a 48-mile (77 km) tributary of the Foraker River in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks.

McKinley River river in the United States of America

The McKinley River is a 58-mile (93 km) tributary of the Kantishna River in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks. The river issues from Muldrow Glacier in the northern Alaska Range in Denali National Park and Preserve, northeast of Denali. It flows through the tundra north of the Alaska Range in a generally northwest direction, joining Birch Creek to form the Kantishna River near Chilchukabena Lake.

Toklat River river in the United States of America

The Toklat River is an 85-mile (137 km) tributary of the Kantishna River in central Alaska in the United States It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks. It issues from unnamed glaciers in the northern Alaska Range in Denali National Park and Preserve, northeast of Denali. It flows generally northwest through hilly country to the tundra to the north of the Alaska Range.

References

  1. ↑ Derived by entering source coordinates in Google Earth.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Foraker River". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. March 31, 1981. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Orth, Donald J.; United States Geological Survey (1971) [1967]. Dictionary of Alaska Place Names: Geological Survey Professional Paper 567 (PDF). University of Alaska Fairbanks. United States Government Printing Office. p. 345. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2010. pp. 102–03. ISBN   978-0-89933-289-5.


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