RIVER TRIP DESCRIPTION: Begin your trip by flying commercial airliner from Anchorage to the western Alaska fishing town of Dillingham. (There are less desirable alternative fly-out logistics available from the village of Bethel). It is in Dillingham that your Alaska float trip adventure begins.



Load up your gear and board amphibious flying boats or smaller float planes. Shortly after take off, you'll be flying through, snow-capped mountain passes of the rugged Kuskokwim Range en route to Kisaralik Lake. This flight truly inspires awe! After steadily clicking the picture after picture and having gone through a whole media card or film, an large outlying lake appears. Soon thereafter you skim across Kisaralik Lake and the plane taxis up to the shoreline. Stepping out onto the beach, you'll unload, make a few last minute equipment surveys, confirm the take out, and say farewell to any sense of civilization for the duration of your Alaska wilderness river float trip. Kisaralik Lake's basin is mostly tundra covered and is bordered by hikable mountains towering 3,000 feet above its mirrored surface. It is from crystal clear Kisaralik Lake that the Kisaralik River flows steadily northwest 111 miles to its confluence with the meandering Kuskokwim River 20 miles northeast of Bethel.



The Kisaralik is a fantastic wilderness waterway offering highly diverse scenery, wildlife viewing opportunities, sport fishing, and fun whitewater. The river runs through several distinct ecosystems: rugged mountains, high mountain tundra, moist tundra, sodden tundra, sub arctic taiga, and remarkably distinctly separated forests of alder, aspen, birch, cottonwood, and spruce. It is quite typical to find bears fishing or feeding on blueberries, caribou roaming around or migrating, and moose along on the riverbanks. If we are in the right places at the right times; other wild animals like Fox, Wolf, River Otter, Beaver, Eagles, Falcon, Ptarmigan, Hare, and waterfowl materialize throughout the trip. Sport fishing on the Kisaralik River is outstanding for eight species of fish including Lake Trout, Rainbow Trout, Arctic Grayling, and seasonal runs of King, Coho, Sockeye, Chum, Pink Salmon and Dolly Varden Char. Northern Pike are present but pretty sporadic. Twenty years ago the Kisaralik River was one of southwestern Alaska's best-kept secret sport fisheries. Today, there is more activity, yet the river remains a wild and scenic place.



The river itself can be challenging. In the headwaters, expect to be drifting shallows with slalom turning moves to avoid closely spaced rocks and some boulder gardens. In the heart of the float trip, be especially on alert for deep cuts through razor-edged shale bluffs. River character better described as several plunge, drop, and pool rapids with small falls present at certain water levels. As the river begins to flatten out prepare to negotiating sweepers, strainers, and log jams. Some years the river will change course running straight through the woods or thick alders... so pay close attention. All these features make this river a dynamite whitewater rafting or kayaking, fly or spin fishing, and wilderness camping float trip adventure. The Kisaralik River drainage covers 1,100 square miles of western Alaska. This float trip in every way is premier, wild Alaska.



