A short distance of 5 to 6 miles down the Slana takes you to the upper Copper River. The first possible put in is from the Nabesna Road off the Glenn Highway and where it crosses the Slana River.

That being said, one of the financial beauties of this river, for all other options, is the road access for put ins and take outs, eliminating the costly means of flying in or out from the river. The longest trip possible on the Copper is the 247-mile stretch that starts at its headwaters at Copper Lake and a floatplane is needed to take you and your gear there. Rafts up to 18 feet are good and canoes are a bit tippy. All this is located within the largest contiguous protected parklands in the world! The most common trip is the 80 miles from Chitina to Cordova and takes 5 to 7 days. It drains the western side of one of the world's largest nonpolar ice fields where Mt Logan at over 19,000 feet reigns, and where the largest collection of peaks over 14,500 feet in North America exist.

It is in a region that encompasses subarctic to temperate zones within a latitude range of 60 to 62 degrees. It is a giant river in its lower reaches, often flowing at rates over 200,000 cubic feet per second, while its headwater tributaries flow down steep, rocky gorges and through wide, braided glacial valleys. The Copper River and its many tributaries drain one of the greatest regions of mountain, ice, snow and forest in North America.

Copper river