Copper River

The Copper River is a river in south-central Alaska about 290 miles (470 km) long that rises from the Copper Glacier on Mount Wrangell and enters the Gulf of Alaska southeast of Cordova. It drains more than 24,000 square miles, supports a famed salmon fishery and ends in the Copper River Delta, the largest contiguous wetland along North America’s Pacific coast [1].

Course

The river rises from the Copper Glacier on the northeast side of Mount Wrangell at about 4,380 feet in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. It flows nearly due north, turns west along the northwest edge of the Wrangell Mountains and then southeast to Chitina, where the Chitina River joins it, before running through a narrow glacier-lined gap in the Chugach Mountains to the Gulf of Alaska [1].

Size

It is the tenth-largest U.S. river by average discharge at its mouth, about 57,400 cubic feet per second, and drains an area the size of West Virginia. It drops an average of about 12 feet per mile [1].

Names and Copper

The Ahtna name translates roughly to river of the Ahtnas, and the Tlingit name, Eeḵhéeni, means river of copper. Copper deposits along the upper river were used first by Alaska Natives and later by Russian and American settlers [1]. See the entry on the Ahtna people.

The Railway and Kennecott

Navigation problems at the mouth hindered extraction until the Copper River and Northwestern Railway was built from Cordova through the valley between 1908 and 1911. The Kennecott Mine, discovered in 1898, was the main target; it was abandoned in 1938 and is now a ghost town and historic district run by the National Park Service [1].

Copper River Delta

The delta covers about 700,000 acres and is the largest contiguous wetland along the Pacific coast of North America, about 50 miles wide where the river meets the Gulf. About 16 million shorebirds use it each year, and it holds the world’s largest population of nesting trumpeter swans and the only known nesting site for the dusky Canada goose [1].

Glaciers and the Million Dollar Bridge

Childs and Miles Glaciers calve directly into the river. The Copper River Highway runs from Cordova to the lower river near Childs Glacier and ends at the reconstructed Million Dollar Bridge [1].

Salmon

More than 2 million salmon use the watershed to spawn each year. Chinook and sockeye commercial seasons start in May and can last only hours or several days, sport fishing is open year-round with peak coho runs in August and September, and the fisheries are co-managed by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Federal Subsistence Board [1]. See the entry on Chugach National Forest.

FAQs

How long is the Copper River? About 290 miles.

Where does it end? In the Gulf of Alaska southeast of Cordova.

Why is it called Copper? Copper deposits along the upper river; the Tlingit name means river of copper.

What is the Copper River Delta? The largest contiguous wetland on North America’s Pacific coast.

When did the copper railway run? It was built between 1908 and 1911.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Copper River (Alaska)

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 12, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue