Birch Creek (Yukon River tributary)

Birch Creek
Rain along Birch Creek
Birch Creek (Yukon River tributary) is located in Alaska
Birch Creek (Yukon River tributary)
Location of the mouth of Birch Creek in Alaska
Location
CountryUnited States
StateAlaska
Census AreaYukon–Koyukuk
Physical characteristics
Sourceconfluence of Ptarmigan and Eagle creeks
 • locationnear Porcupine Dome
 • coordinates65°26′19″N 145°31′36″W / 65.43861°N 145.52667°W / 65.43861; -145.52667[1]
 • elevation2,275 ft (693 m)[2]
Mouthbeginning of distributaries, Upper Mouth Birch Creek and Lower Mouth Birch Creek
 • location
upstream on Birch Creek from distributaries' mouths on the Yukon River, Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge
 • coordinates
66°16′13″N 145°30′15″W / 66.27028°N 145.50417°W / 66.27028; -145.50417[1]
 • elevation
453 ft (138 m)[1]
Length150 mi (240 km)[3]
TypeWild 126.0 miles (202.8 km)
DesignatedDecember 2, 1980[4]

Birch Creek is a 150-mile (240 km) tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska.[3] Beginning at the confluence of Ptarmigan and Eagle creeks near Porcupine Dome, it flows southwest, then south under the Steese Highway and into the Steese National Conservation Area. It then turns east, then north, again passing under the Steese Highway and entering the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Turning northwest, it ends where it splits into two distributaries, Lower Mouth Birch Creek and Upper Mouth Birch Creek, near Birch Creek, Alaska. The distributaries flow into the Yukon River at separate locations downstream of Fort Yukon.[5]

  1. ^ a b c "Birch Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. March 31, 1981. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  2. ^ Derived by entering source coordinates in Google Earth.
  3. ^ a b Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, p. 136
  4. ^ "National Wild and Scenic Rivers System" (PDF). rivers.gov. National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2023-01-05.
  5. ^ Alaska Atlas & Gazetteer (7th ed.). Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. 2010. pp. 126–27, 137. ISBN 978-0-89933-289-5.