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River

Yukon

River

Yukon is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.

Feature Class
River
Coordinates
65.53°, -150.21°
7.0
Coordinates: 65.5276° N, 150.2122° WCountry: United StatesOpenStreetMap ↗

About Yukon

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 mi) long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,400–7,000 m3/s (230,000–250,000 cu ft/s). The total drainage area is 854,700 km2 (330,000 mi2), of which 323,800 km2 (125,000 mi2) lies in Canada. The total area is more than 25% larger than Texas or Alberta.

The longest river in Alaska and Yukon, it was one of the principal means of transportation during the 1896–1903 Klondike Gold Rush. A portion of the river in Yukon—"The Thirty Mile" section, from Lake Laberge to the Teslin River—is a national heritage river and a unit of Klondike Gold Rush International Historical Park. Paddle-wheel riverboats continued to ply the river until the 1950s, when the Klondike Highway was completed.

Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Yukon River (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Yukon in Depth

Course

While geologists, geographers, hydrologists, and ecologists agree that the headwaters of the Yukon River are located within the northern reaches of the glaciated Coast Mountain range in British Columbia, its exact source remains the subject of some debate. According to the United States Geographic Survey, the generally accepted source of the Yukon River is the Llewellyn Glacier at the southern end of Atlin Lake in British Columbia. Others suggest that the source is Lake Lindeman at the northern end of the Chilkoot Trail. Either way, Atlin Lake flows into Tagish Lake (via the Atlin River), as eventually does Lake Lindeman after flowing into Bennett Lake. Tagish Lake then flows into Marsh Lake (via the Tagish River).

Ecology

Some of the upper slopes of this watershed (e.g. Nulato Hills) are forested by Black Spruce. This locale near the Seward Peninsula represents the near westernmost limit of the Black Spruce, Picea mariana, one of the most widespread conifers in northern North America.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Yukon River (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Yukon: Key Facts

Key facts about Yukon
Length3,190 km
Average discharge6,428 m³/s
Drainage basin832,000 km²
SourceJuneau Icefield
MouthBering Sea
Drainage systemYukon River Basin
TributariesTakhini River, White River, Charley River, Birch Creek, Beaver Creek, Tanana River, Yuki River, Nowitna River

Facts from Wikidata Q104437 (CC0).

Major River Dossiers

Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.

Connected Reaches

Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.

Water Bodies in the Catchment

Settlements Along the Reach

Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby

Surrounding Terrain

Yukon: Quick Answers

Where is Yukon?
Yukon is located in United States and Canada, at 65.5276° N, 150.2122° W.
Are there dams on the Yukon?
No dam on the Yukon is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.