{{Short description|Tributary of the Yukon River in the Alaska, USA}} {{Infobox river | name = Nowitna River | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = <!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP --> | image = Nowitna river, gravel bar.jpg | image_caption = Gravel bar in the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge | 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 Nowitna River in Alaska <!---------------------- LOCATION --> | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = United States | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = Alaska | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = Census Area | subdivision_name4 = Yukon–Koyukuk | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS --> | length = {{convert|250|mi|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="Place Names"/> | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = <!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES --> | source1 = Kuskokwim Mountains | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= {{coord|63|30|28|N|155|32|34|W|display=inline}}<ref name="gnis"/> | source1_elevation = {{convert|1688|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>Derived by entering source coordinates in Google Earth.</ref> | mouth = Yukon River<ref name="Place Names">{{cite book|last=Orth|first=Donald J.|author2=United States Geological Survey|title=Dictionary of Alaska Place Names: Geological Survey Professional Paper 567|url=http://137.229.113.112/webpubs/usgs/p/text/p0567.pdf|format=PDF|publisher=University of Alaska Fairbanks|year=1971|orig-year=1967|page=705|access-date=October 12, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017165933/http://137.229.113.112/webpubs/usgs/p/text/p0567.pdf|archive-date=October 17, 2013}}</ref> | mouth_location = {{convert|38|mi|km}} northeast of Ruby | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|64|55|38|N|154|16|11|W|display=inline,title}}<ref name="gnis">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = January 1, 2000| url = {{gnis3|1407276}} | title = Nowitna River| access-date = October 19, 2013}}</ref> | mouth_elevation = {{convert|154|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="gnis"/> | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = nwsr | designation1_type = Wild {{convert|223.0|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 '''Nowitna River''' is a {{convert|250|mi|km|adj=on}} tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska.<ref name="Place Names"/> The river flows northeast from the Kuskokwim Mountains through Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge and enters the larger river {{convert|38|mi|km}} northeast of Ruby<ref name="Place Names"/> and southwest of Tanana.<ref name="DeLorme">{{cite book|title=Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer|publisher=DeLorme|location=Yarmouth, Maine|pages=130 and 110–11|edition=7th|year=2010|isbn=978-0-89933-289-5}}</ref> Major tributaries include the Titna, Big Mud, Little Mud, Lost, and Sulatna rivers.<ref name="DeLorme"/>
In 1980, the {{convert|225|mi|km}} of the river within the wildlife refuge were designated "wild" and added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nowitna River, Alaska|publisher=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System|url=http://www.rivers.gov/rivers/nowitna.php|access-date=October 19, 2013}}</ref> The designation means that most of the Nowitna is unpolluted, free-flowing, and generally inaccessible except by trail.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the WSR Act|publisher=National Wild and Scenic Rivers System|url=http://www.rivers.gov/wsr-act.php|access-date=October 19, 2013}}</ref>
==Boating== It is possible to run the Nowitna in many kinds of boats, including hard-shell, folding, or inflatable canoes and kayaks or inflatable rafts. Most of the river is slow-moving and meandering, rated Class I (easy) on the International Scale of River Difficulty. The exception occurs in Nowitna Canyon between Mastodon Creek and Big Mud River along the middle reaches of the Nowitna. This segment includes Class II (medium) rapids.<ref name="Jettmar">{{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=130–31|isbn=978-0-89732-957-6}}</ref>
Dangers include black bears as well as rapids. Navigating can be difficult at times because of upriver winds, especially on the lower reaches.<ref name="Jettmar"/>
==See also== *List of National Wild and Scenic Rivers *List of rivers of Alaska
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Nowitna River}} *[http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=75621 Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge] – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
{{Protected areas of Alaska}} {{authority control}}
Category:Rivers of Alaska Category:Rivers of Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska Category:Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Category:Tributaries of the Yukon River Category:Rivers of Unorganized Borough, Alaska