Plan Your Visit

Beaver Creek floats through a remote area of interior Alaska. Once you put in at Nome Creek, there are no roads or services until you reach the bridge on the Dalton Highway. It usually takes six days to reach the mouth of Victoria Creek at river mile 111. Many floaters arrange for a Fairbanks air-taxi service to pick them up from a gravel bar a few miles past Victoria Creek. If you continue down Beaver Creek and the Yukon River to the Dalton Highway bridge, you should plan for up to two additional weeks of travel.

Beaver Creek Map. A larger version is available in PDF format (...KB).

Most of Beaver Creek is classified class I (smooth water), although there are a few short sections of class II water. There are many gravel bars in the upper section of Beaver Creek, and you may have to line your boat for short distances through shallow sections of the river. "Sweepers" (trees leaning low from the riverbanks) and logjams may pose unexpected hazards. Intense rainstorms in the White Mountains can cause rapid rises in Beaver Creek's water level, so choose campsites carefully.

Camping is best on the many gravel bars along Beaver Creek. BLM's Borealis-LeFevre Cabin at river mile 32 is also available by reservation. Use dead and down wood for campfires. Pack out any nonburnable trash. BLM supports Leave No Trace camping techniques. Remove any trace of your camp, such as fire rings, and scatter any firewood piles.

Getting Started

The put-in for floating Beaver Creek WSR is located in the Nome Creek Valley. Take the Steese Highway to mile 57, then follow US Creek Road for seven miles. It's 12 miles on the lower Nome Creek Road, past the entrance to the Ophir Creek Campground, to the put-in for floating to Beaver Creek National Wild and Scenic River.

A small parking area provides a place to organize equipment and prepare for your float trip. A long-term parking area is located just inside the Ophir Creek Campground entrance. A short trail leads to a gravel bar for launching your boat; no boat ramp is provided. There are three river miles of floating on Nome Creek before joining Beaver Creek. If launching in the Nome Creek Valley, boat motors are limited to 15 horsepower.

Getting Picked Up

An air taxi lands at Victoria Creek.

Taking out of Beaver Creek WSR involves either making arrangements with an air taxi to be picked up off a gravel bar, or committing enough time to float down to the Dalton Highway Bridge on the Yukon River.

There are several air taxi operators in Fairbanks that will make gravel bar landings to pick up floaters. Prior arrangements must be made for pickup dates and locations. Bad weather can cause delays so be prepared to spend an extra night or two. Using an inflatable raft or folding canoe is suggested if getting picked up by small plane.