Salcha River | |
---|---|
Native name | Sołchaget (Lower Tanana) |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Alaska |
Borough | Fairbanks North Star |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Tanana Hills |
• location | slightly south of Steese National Conservation Area, northeastern Fairbanks North Star Borough |
• coordinates | 65°04′23″N 143°54′58″W / 65.07306°N 143.91611°W[1] |
• elevation | 4,054 ft (1,236 m)[2] |
Mouth | Tanana River[1] |
• location | 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Fairbanks |
• coordinates | 64°28′00″N 146°58′44″W / 64.46667°N 146.97889°W[1] |
• elevation | 640 ft (200 m)[1] |
Length | 125 mi (201 km)[1] |
Basin size | 2,170 sq mi (5,600 km2)[3] |
Discharge | |
• location | 2 miles (3.2 km) from the mouth[3] |
• average | 1,601 cu ft/s (45.3 m3/s)[3] |
• minimum | 60 cu ft/s (1.7 m3/s) |
• maximum | 97,000 cu ft/s (2,700 m3/s) |
The Salcha River (Lower Tanana: Sołchaget) is a 125-mile (201 km) tributary of the Tanana River in the U.S. state of Alaska.[1] Rising in the eastern part of the Fairbanks North Star Borough east of Fort Wainwright, it flows generally west-southwest to meet the larger river at Aurora Lodge,[4] 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Fairbanks.[1]
The Salcha drains an area of 2,170 square miles (5,620 km2), making it the second-largest tributary of the Tanana.[5] The Trans-Alaska Pipeline crosses under the Salcha approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of the mouth of the river.[4]