Location of the River

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Location: A flight of about 35 to 40 minutes heading Northwest from Anchorage will put you in the area of the Talachulitna River. It is located on USGS topographical map TYONEK C-4 and D-4. The Talachulitna River is a north flowing river for most of its course. The headwaters on Beluga Mountain start the Talachulitna flowing south. It then makes a slow sweep west, where it eventually heads north after meeting up with the Talachulitna Creek, which comes from Talachulitna Lake through Judd lake. The river proper is 65 miles long and divided into 3 main sections: Lower, Canyons, and Upper. The zero mile marker on the river starts at its confluence with the Skwentna River and up to mile 2.8, this is the Lower section. The Canyon section is from mile 2.8 to 18.3. From June 15th through August 20th, mile 9.0 (Thursday Creek) to mile 18.2 (Hell's Gate) is designated non-motorized. The Upper section runs from mile 18.3 to 32.5, with the midpoint put-in/take-out at approximately mile 19.5. While the river does continue on (another 32 miles), mile 32.5 is "The Forks" where the Talachulitna Creek joins the river and the point where most users float downriver from - a 52 river mile trip from Judd Lake to the Skwentna River take-out. The mile indications are only for reference and, of course, are not like a road with markers every mile nor is there any evidence of distance measurement. This is still a wild, remote river and most information about the river is done from the air or on paper.

An important section of the river is a main tributary, the Talachulitna Creek, which is non-motorized from June 15th through August 20th from its confluence with the Talachulitna River at approximately mile 32.5 to Judd Lake. Talachulitna Creek covers approximately 22 river miles. It is approximately 17.1 miles from the put-in on Judd Lake to the Talachulitna River at "The Forks".