{{Infobox river | name = Fortymile River | name_native = {{native name|haa|Ch'èdà Dëk}} | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = <!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP --> | image = Fortymile National WSR (9379818447).jpg | image_caption = The Fortymile River in eastern Alaska | 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 Fortymile River in Yukon <!---------------------- LOCATION -->| subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = {{hlist|United States|Canada}} | subdivision_type2 = [[U.S. state|States]]/[[Provinces and territories of Canada|Territories]] | subdivision_name2 = {{hlist|[[Alaska]]|[[Yukon]]}} | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS --> | length = {{convert|60|mi|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="gnis"/> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = <!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES --> | source1 = confluence of the river's North Fork and South Fork | source1_location = northwest of [[Chicken, Alaska|Chicken]], [[Alaska]], United States | source1_coordinates = {{coord|64|14|34|N|141|45|15|W|display=inline}}<ref name="gnis">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = March 31, 1981| url = {{gnis3|1402291}} | title =Fortymile River| access-date = November 9, 2013}}</ref> | source1_elevation = {{convert|1424|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Google Earth">Derived by entering source coordinates in [[Google Earth]].</ref> | mouth = [[Yukon River]] | mouth_location = [[Forty Mile, Yukon|Forty Mile]], [[Yukon]], [[Canada]] | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|64|25|35|N|140|32|00|W|display=inline,title}}<ref>{{cite web | title=Fortymile River | url=http://geonames2.nrcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/v9/sima_unique_v9?english?KACGL?C | publisher=[[Natural Resources Canada]] | access-date=March 5, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608095359/http://geonames2.nrcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/v9/sima_unique_v9?english%3FKACGL%3FC | archive-date=June 8, 2011 | url-status=dead }}</ref> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|950|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="Google Earth"/> | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{convert|6600|sqmi|abbr=on}}<ref name="Alaska River Guide">{{cite book|last=Jettmar|first=Karen|title=The Alaska River Guide: Canoeing, Kayaking, and Rafting in the Last Frontier|publisher=Menasha Ridge Press|location=Birmingham, Alabama|edition=3rd|year=2008|orig-year=1993|pages=114&ndash;17|isbn=978-0-89732-957-6}}</ref> | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = nwsr | designation1_type = Wild {{convert|179|mi|km}}<br />Scenic {{convert|203|mi|km}}<br /> Recreational {{convert|10.0|mi|km}} | designation1_date = December 2, 1980<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rivers.gov/ |title=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System |website=rivers.gov |publisher=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System |access-date=2023-01-05}}</ref> | designation1_number = }} }} The '''Fortymile River''' is a {{convert|60|mi|km|adj=on}} tributary of the [[Yukon River]] in the U.S. state of [[Alaska]] and the Canadian territory of [[Yukon Territory|Yukon]].<ref name="gnis"/> Beginning at the confluence of its north and south forks in the [[Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska|Southeast Fairbanks Census Area]], the Fortymile flows generally northeast into Canada to meet the larger river {{convert|32|mi|km}} southeast of [[Eagle, Alaska]].<ref name="gnis"/>

==History== Prospectors named the river after gold was discovered there in 1886. The name reflected the distance of the [[river mouth]] from [[Fort Reliance]], a former [[Hudson's Bay Company]] post upstream along the Yukon River.<ref name="gnis"/> Miners eventually extracted more than a half-million ounces of gold from the Fortymile watershed.<ref>{{cite web|title=History and Natural Setting|url=http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/nlcs/fortymile_nwsr/history_and_natural.html|publisher=Bureau of Land Management|date=July 13, 2013|access-date=November 9, 2013|archive-date=November 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109234430/http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/nlcs/fortymile_nwsr/history_and_natural.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> After the gold discovery, two [[Alaska Commercial Company]] traders, [[Jack McQuesten]] and [[Arthur Harper (trader)|Arthur Harper]], built a post at the mouth of the river.

Between 1968 and 1978, Cassiar Mining extracted about a million metric tons of [[asbestos]] from three open pits along Clinton Creek, a tributary of lower Fortymile River in the Yukon.<ref name="asbestos">{{cite journal|last=Hurst|first=Sarah|title=Mining News: Worst Is Over at Yukon Asbestos Mine|url=http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/407577605.shtml|publisher=Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska|journal=North of 60 Mining News|date=June 19, 2005|volume=10|issue=25|access-date=November 9, 2013}}</ref> After abandoning the site, the company went bankrupt in 1992, and the territorial and Canadian governments and others removed or buried mine wastes, stabilized the creek banks, and worked to partly restore the land.<ref name="asbestos"/>

==Wild and scenic designation== In 1980, a total of {{convert|392|mi|km}} of stream segments within the Alaska portion of the Fortymile River watershed were added to the [[National Wild and Scenic Rivers System]] of the United States.<ref name="wild">{{cite web|title=Fortymile River, Alaska|publisher=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System|url=http://www.rivers.gov/rivers/fortymile.php|access-date=November 10, 2013}}</ref> This included {{convert|179|mi|km}} designated "wild", {{convert|203|mi|km}} called "scenic", and {{convert|10|mi|km}} designated "recreational".<ref name="wild"/>

The [[Bureau of Land Management]] oversees the Fortymile Wild and Scenic River, accessible via the [[Taylor Highway]] in Alaska as well the Clinton Creek Road branching off from the [[Top of the World Highway]] in the Yukon Territory. Float trips, camping, and sightseeing are among the recreational possibilities in the watershed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fortymile River at a Glance|url=http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/nlcs/fortymile_nwsr/fortymile_at_a_glance.html|publisher=Bureau of Land Management|date=April 10, 2010|access-date=November 9, 2013|archive-date=October 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001150326/http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/nlcs/fortymile_nwsr/fortymile_at_a_glance.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Climate== {{Weather box |single line = yes |location = Fortymile River, Alaska, 2005–2017 normals: 1252ft (382m) |Jan record high F = 30 |Feb record high F = 47 |Mar record high F = 59 |Apr record high F = 71 |May record high F = 87 |Jun record high F = 94 |Jul record high F = 93 |Aug record high F = 90 |Sep record high F = 76 |Oct record high F = 59 |Nov record high F = 33 |Dec record high F = 31 |year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 15.6 |Feb avg record high F = 28.7 |Mar avg record high F = 48.4 |Apr avg record high F = 59.5 |May avg record high F = 78.4 |Jun avg record high F = 83.9 |Jul avg record high F = 84.5 |Aug avg record high F = 82.9 |Sep avg record high F = 68.8 |Oct avg record high F = 50.5 |Nov avg record high F = 22.6 |Dec avg record high F = 17.6 |year avg record high F = 86.8

|Jan high F = -6.3 |Feb high F = 3.8 |Mar high F = 23.7 |Apr high F = 47.2 |May high F = 61.7 |Jun high F = 71.3 |Jul high F = 72.4 |Aug high F = 68.2 |Sep high F = 55.8 |Oct high F = 31.8 |Nov high F = 2.7 |Dec high F = -2.8 |year high F =

|Jan mean F = -14.3 |Feb mean F = -8.4 |Mar mean F = 3.5 |Apr mean F = 30.3 |May mean F = 46.3 |Jun mean F = 56.1 |Jul mean F = 58.6 |Aug mean F = 54.1 |Sep mean F = 43.3 |Oct mean F = 23.2 |Nov mean F = -5.0 |Dec mean F = -10.6 |year mean F =

|Jan low F = -22.4 |Feb low F = -20.6 |Mar low F = -16.7 |Apr low F = 13.4 |May low F = 31.0 |Jun low F = 40.9 |Jul low F = 44.8 |Aug low F = 40.0 |Sep low F = 30.8 |Oct low F = 14.6 |Nov low F = -12.7 |Dec low F = -18.4 |year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = -44.4 |Feb avg record low F = -41.2 |Mar avg record low F = -37.5 |Apr avg record low F = -4.5 |May avg record low F = 21.7 |Jun avg record low F = 31.2 |Jul avg record low F = 35.4 |Aug avg record low F = 27.6 |Sep avg record low F = 18.4 |Oct avg record low F = -6.9 |Nov avg record low F = -32.8 |Dec avg record low F = -38.8 |year avg record low F = -47.2

|Jan record low F = −64 |Feb record low F = −64 |Mar record low F = −63 |Apr record low F = −28 |May record low F = 14 |Jun record low F = 18 |Jul record low F = 22 |Aug record low F = 19 |Sep record low F = 4 |Oct record low F = −24 |Nov record low F = −50 |Dec record low F = −51 |year record low F =

|source 1 = XMACIS2<ref name = XMACIS2> {{cite web |url = https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/ |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |title = xmACIS |access-date = July 10, 2024 }} </ref> }}

==Boating== The Fortymile River [[main stem]] as well as the North Fork, South Fork, and other tributaries offer a variety of boating possibilities for experienced paddlers of rafts and kayaks, or experienced canoeists willing to [[portage]] around difficult rapids. The many runnable segments vary from Class I (easy) on the [[International Scale of River Difficulty]] to Class V (extremely difficult). In addition to rapids, dangers include overhanging or submerged vegetation and the high probability of confusing one bend in a stream with another&mdash;thus entering rapids disoriented and unprepared&mdash;without the aid of a map and compass.<ref name="Alaska River Guide"/>

One of the watershed's hydrologic features, [[the Kink]], is an artificial channel that is part of a Class V rapids on the North Fork. Mining interests blasted the channel through a ridge in 1904 in order to expose {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} of the original riverbed for prospecting on dry land. The Kink is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] as a significant engineering feat of the early 20th&nbsp;century.<ref name="Alaska River Guide"/>

==See also== *[[List of rivers of Alaska]] *[[List of rivers of Yukon]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/alaska/fortymile-wsr Fortymile Wild and Scenic River] - BLM page

{{Protected areas of Alaska}} {{authority control}}

[[Category:Rivers of Alaska]] [[Category:Rivers of Yukon]] [[Category:Rivers of Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska]] [[Category:International rivers of North America]] [[Category:Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States]] [[Category:Tributaries of the Yukon River]] [[Category:Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska]]