We begin our trip flying out of our local airstrip in McCarthy, Alaska with a bush plane drop off next to Nizina Lake at the terminus of the mighty Nizina Glacier. We spend our first day hiking and exploring the beauty surrounding the lake and glacier as we prepare to begin our trip downstream. After enjoying a hardy breakfast, we begin our river journey negotiating the icebergs in the lake as we wind our way to the mouth of the Nizina River. Unrivaled beauty surrounds us as the river tumbles towards Chitina. Class II and III whitewater make this a ‘must do’ Alaska river adventure.

Float past the Mile High Cliffs on the right and the beautiful mouth of the Chitistone River on the left. The historic skeleton of the Nizina River Bridge that once connected the towns of McCarthy and May Creek looms ahead on the second day of floating, reminding us of the copper and gold booms of the past century. Before flooding and the rivers ever shifting coarse washed the bridge out for good, this bridge intimately connected the small towns of the Wrangell’s. Land connection severed, only by boat can you now continue downstream through the windy walls of the Nizina River Canyon and out onto the Chitina River.

Day three on the river presents us with the fun twists and turns of both Five Mile Gorge and the Nizina River Canyon. With views upstream of the mighty 16,000- 18,000 peaks of the St. Elias range, the tallest coastal mountain range in the world, the Upper Nizina river is a natural paradise.

Choose a four to five day trip with a bush plane fly out at the confluence with the Chitina River, a short plane flight back to McCarthy, or add an extra day and continue on downstream on the Chitina River to the historic town of Chitina, Alaska. For sheer beauty and grandeur, the Upper Nizina is a stretch of remote river that is hard to beat!