Basics
- Class:
- Class III-IV
- River Length
- 12 miles
- Time:
- 1/2 day
- Season:
- June to September
Description
The Kings River offers a wild river experience in a half-day setting, a bit of an oddity in Alaska. The Kings River drains the expansive Talkeetna Mountains outside of Denali National Park and Preserve and its put-in is accessed via helicopter flight, mountain bike ride, or trail hike down into a deep river canyon.
The Kings River is a wild ride, with continuous beginner-intermediate level rapids interspersed with four larger advanced intermediate level drops. The waves, large hydraulics, big holes and technical rapids of the Kings River keep visitors on their toes. The Kings River winds swiftly downstream through a forested mountain river valley with pronounced canyon walls.
The Kings River is most often accessed through the town of Talkeetna, a very small but well apportioned Alaskan town due to its notoriety as housing the airport most mountaineering expeditions utilize to reach the Alaska Range. The take-out for the Kings River is located on the Glenn Highway.
