Stikine River, Alaska, United States

5Charles B 5:00 PM Dec 12, 2016

Jet Boat Tour
Traveled with tour outfit out of Wrangell. Captain of the Chutine Warrior skillfully maneuvered around sandbars. We saw the blue ice at Shakes Glacier, river house boats, and jagged mountains. Charles Baxter

4TGB40 5:00 PM Sep 15, 2014

Paddled from Telegraph Creek, British Columbia to Wrangell, Alaska
Just completed a 12 day trip with the University of Calgary Outdoor Program on the Lower Stikine River with 6 canoes. It is considered one of the true wilderness heritage rivers in North America and although most of the reviews only comment on trips out of Wrangell as a day trip, I thought it was important to give a different perspective. We put in at Telegraph Creek just below the "Grand Canyon of the Stikine" where there are class 5 rapids. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Groups do this trip in between 8 and 12 days. We decided to take longer and to have a couple of layover days. Late August and early September was chosen as the river level is considerably lower and there seems to be less sweeper action along with less logs floating in the water to avoid. The river is considered to be the fastest flowing river in North America - no dams on it. We easily traveled between 6 and 12 kilometers an hour. The river has some tricky currents and braiding and rapids rated no higher than 2 at this time of the year. The headwinds on day 2 and tricky currents made this our most challenging day. The weather for us was also not particularly cooperative. We had lots of rain. Highlights did include Shakes Lake and the icebergs, views of glaciers, tour of the Great Glacier Fish Plant and the Hot Springs. There are cabins that can be rented once in Alaska which were wonderful. Check out the one at Shakes Slough. The Stikine River has wilderness campsites near many of the creek tributaries.