Delta River

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title: "Delta River" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["alaska-range", "rivers-of-alaska", "rivers-of-copper-river-census-area,-alaska", "rivers-of-southeast-fairbanks-census-area,-alaska", "rivers-of-unorganized-borough,-alaska", "tributaries-of-the-yukon-river", "wild-and-scenic-rivers-of-the-united-states", "tanana-athabaskans"] description: "River in Alaska, United States" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_River" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in Alaska, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Delta River
image	Delta River AK.jpg
image_caption	Delta River
image_size	300
map_size	300
pushpin_map	USA Alaska
pushpin_map_size	300
pushpin_map_caption	Location of the mouth of the Delta River in Alaska
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	United States
subdivision_type2	State
subdivision_name2	Alaska
subdivision_type4	Census Area
subdivision_name4	Copper River, Southeast Fairbanks
length	80 mi
source1	Tangle Lakes
source1_location	Amphitheater Mountains, Alaska Range, Copper River Census Area
source1_coordinates
source1_elevation	2823 ft
mouth	Tanana River
mouth_location	Big Delta, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area
mouth_coordinates
mouth_elevation	984 ft
extra	{{Designation list
embed	yes
designation1	nwsr
designation1_type	Wild, Scenic, Recreational
designation1_date	December 2, 1980
::

| name = Delta River | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = | image = Delta River AK.jpg | image_caption = Delta River | image_size = 300 | map = | map_size = 300 | map_caption = | pushpin_map = USA Alaska | pushpin_map_size = 300 | pushpin_map_caption= Location of the mouth of the Delta River in Alaska | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = Alaska | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = Census Area | subdivision_name4 = Copper River, Southeast Fairbanks | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | length = 80 mi | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = Tangle Lakes | source1_location = Amphitheater Mountains, Alaska Range, Copper River Census Area | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = 2823 ft | mouth = Tanana River | mouth_location = Big Delta, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = 984 ft | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = nwsr | designation1_type = Wild, Scenic, Recreational | designation1_date = December 2, 1980 | designation1_number =

The Delta River is an 80 mi tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Its name in the Ahtna language is Saas Na’ (). Fed by the Tangle Lakes of the Alaska Range, the river flows north to meet the larger river near Big Delta. It is older than the Alaska Range, being formed before their uplift 30 million years ago.

In 1980, 62 mi of waterways in the Delta River basin, including all of the Tangle Lakes and the main stem to within 0.5 mi of Black Rapids became part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Of this, 20 mi are designated "wild", 24 mi "scenic", and 18 mi "recreational".

Boating

Easily accessible from the boat launch at the Tangle Lakes campground near the Denali Highway and at many points downstream along the Richardson Highway, the river can be floated in sections that vary in difficulty from Class I (easy) to Class V (extremely difficult) on the International Scale of River Difficulty and may require portages. The upstream stretches include four lakes and their Class II (medium) connecting channels. About 2 mi downstream of the last lake, the river enters a canyon and flows over unrunnable waterfalls. A 0.5 mi portage leads to a 2 mi stretch of Class III (difficult) rapids.

Below the Class III rapids, the river continues through 29 mi of Class I and II water before entering a 20 mi stretch between Ann Creek and One Mile Creek known as Black Rapids. Here the difficulty is Class III rising to Class IV (very difficult) or V, followed by 30 mi of Class III and then 18 mi of Class I.

Author Karen Jettmar warns of dangers including "sweepers, canoe fragments wrapped around rocks, bears, cold and wet weather, and high winds". She says that "only experts should attempt to run Black Rapids (Class IV–V) below Mile 229 on Richardson Highway."

Fishing

The Tangle Lakes complex, 24 mi long, that feeds the Delta River has "some of the best road-accessible grayling fishing in Interior Alaska". In the deeper lakes of the system, lake trout are fairly abundant. Lakes and streams that are away from the highway and accessible only by canoe or trail are the least heavily fished. Arctic grayling fishing is also considered excellent on the upper river down to its confluence with Eureka Creek.

References

References

1. Derived by entering source coordinates in [[Google Earth]].
2. (March 31, 1981). "Delta River". Geographic Names Information System.
3. (2010). "Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer". DeLorme.
4. (2014). "Roadside Geology of Alaska". Mountain Press Publishing Company.
5. "Delta River, Alaska". National Wild and Scenic Rivers.
6. Jettmar, Karen. (2008). "The Alaska River Guide: Canoeing, Kayaking, and Rafting in the Last Frontier". Menasha Ridge Press.
7. Limeres, Rene. (2005). "Alaska Fishing: The Ultimate Angler's Guide". Publishers Design Group.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::