Debris-choked channel on Beaver Creek poses hazard for July 4th floaters

A debris-choked channel on the upper Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River is pulling watercraft toward it, the Bureau of Land Management warned, with the hazard flagged in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's July 2 Yukon fishing report alongside salmon emergency closures and other local conditions.

The channel opened in 2025, just upstream of the Borealis-LeFevre Cabin on the approximately 100-mile remote float from the Nome Creek put-in to the gravel bar commonly used as an aircraft take-out. "The Upper Beaver Creek Wild and Scenic River's 'new' channel is chock-full of logs and debris, and the current will likely pull you towards it if you are not paying attention," BLM said in a public hazard warning. "Boaters can avoid this new channel by lining or portaging along the gravel bar upstream where the river splits." The Beaver Creek website has additional information and coordinates for the new river channel.

Access and Additional Hazards

Getting to the put-in carries its own complication. Nome Creek Road, the access route to Ophir Creek Campground, is closed on weekdays through September 30, 2026, open only on weekends, federal holidays, and during the September 1 to 15 moose hunt. When the road is open, travelers should expect traffic controls and delays of up to 20 minutes. Floaters planning Birch Creek Wild and Scenic River should also call ahead; a hazardous channel discovered in 2023 below the Upper Birch Creek Wayside at milepost 94.1 of the Steese Highway may require a roughly quarter-mile portage. BLM advises contacting its office at (907) 474-2200 before floating either stream.