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The Tanana River is a tributary of the Yukon River in
Alaska in the United
States.
Its headwaters are on the north slope of the Wrangell
Mountains in southeast Alaska. It flows in a northeast direction, and then turns to the northwest near the border with the
Yukon Territory, and flows laterally along the northern slope of the
Alaska Range, roughly paralleled by the Alaska Highway. In central Alaska, it emerges into a lowland marsh region known as the Tanana Valley and passes to the south of the city of Fairbanks and past the village of Ester.
In the marsh regions it is joined by several large tributaries, including the Nenana (near the village of Nenana) and the
Kantishna. It empties into
Yukon approximately 70 miles (110 km) downriver from the village of Manley Hot Springs, near the town of Tanana.
The date when the ice breaks on the Tanana River, an event that commemorates both the start of spring in Alaska, as well as
transportation in Alaska before paved roads, trains, and planes, is the point of the Nenana Ice Classic, a
lottery held in Nenana. During the history of the Ice Classic, the earliest calendar
date the ice broke was April 20 in both 1940 and 1998; the latest date was May 20, 1964.
Tributaries
- Chetna River (south)
- Wood
Creek
- Fish
Creek
- Julius Creek
- Nenana River (south)
- Kantishna River (south)
- Seventeen Mile Slough
- Dry
Creek
- Montana
Creek
- Toklai River
- Clear
Creek
- Bearpaw Creek
- Moose
Creek
- Glacier
Creek
- McKinley River
- Birch
Creek
- Tolovana River (north)
- Tatalina Rover
- Washington Creek
- Snowshoe Creek
- Cushman Creek
- Lost Horn Creek
- Goldstream Creek
- Sheep
Creek
- Globe Creek (Tolovana) Globe Creek - 4 Tributaries.
- O'Brien Creek
- Duncan
Creek
- Montana Creek (several
branches)
- West Fork
Tolovana River
- Lost
Creek
- Checkerman Creek
- Cotna River (south)
- Patterson Creek (north)
- Fish Creek
(ends north)
- Boulder
Creek
- Little Boulder Creek)
See also
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