Национальный заповедник Юкон-Чарли Риверс на Аляске

United States national preserve in Alaska

Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve is a United States national preserve located in east central Alaska along the border with Canada. Managed by the National Park Service, the preserve encompasses 130 miles (208 km) of the 1,800 mile (3,000 km) Yukon River and the entire Charley River basin. The preserve protects the undeveloped Charley River and a significant portion of the upper Yukon. The interior Alaskan region experiences extremes of weather, with temperatures that can vary from in winter to in summertime. The Yukon provided a means of access to the region, which is entirely roadless, during the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. Gold rushes in Alaska brought prospectors, who operated gold dredges to recover significant quantities of placer gold from area creeks. Today the preserve includes part of the route of the annual Yukon Quest dogsled race, which runs every February. During the summer float trips are popular on the Yukon and Charley Rivers.

The Yukon River is the main feature of the preserve, one of the largest rivers in North America. The Yukon's valley is bordered by bluffs and terraces along its course, representing river downcutting through alluvial deposits. The lowlands were never glaciated during the last ice age, but higher valleys did see glaciation, in which the ice free land was mostly tundra. As the climate warmed, forests advanced from the south. The Yukon is host to significant quantities of economically important fish. The chief salmon species in the portion of the Yukon that runs in the preserve are chinook, coho and chum. Large mammals in the preserve include wolf, black bear, moose, caribou, and Dall's sheep.

As a consequence of Yukon Charley Rivers' designation as a national preserve, both subsistence hunting by local residents and sport hunting are allowed within the preserve, subject to Alaskan game regulations. Camping is permitted on any publicly owned lands within the preserve. The Charley River can be floated from June through August. The majority of the river is rated at Class II, with some Class III and even Class IV during high water. Most of the rapids occur in the area of the bluffs where the river emerges into the main Yukon valley. The Yukon River can be floated from May to September. The most popular trip is from Eagle to Circle, a 158 mile (254 km) trip, averaging 30 mile (48 km) per day.

Archaeological investigations in the Yukon valley have not been well documented. Evidence from other portions of northern Alaska indicates that people lived in the area as early as 11,000 years before the present. Northern Athabaskan speakers moved into the region by about 1500 BP. One theory proposes that the eruption of the White River Ash about 1900 years ago from Mount Churchill in the St. Elias Mountains displaced people from the region of Kluane Lake into the relatively ash free Yukon valley. in many cases working for miners. Circle City was established in 1893, Seventymile in 1888 and Mission Creek, now Eagle in 1895, all as mining camps. A number of sites in the preserve were developed for mining during this period.

Numerous rustic cabins and historic sites are located in the preserve. One of the most significant sites is Slaven's Roadhouse, at Coal Creek, built by prospector Frank Slaven in 1932. Slaven lived there until 1938, after which Gold Placers, Inc. used the cabin as a bunkhouse and supply drop for their gold dredging operations on Coal Creek. The cabin continues to be used as a dog drop station during the Yukon Quest dogsled races each February. In the summer the cabin serves as a bunkhouse for visitors and Park Service personnel. The roadhouse is a contributing feature in the Coal Creek Historic Mining District, which encompasses a number of structures associated with coal dredge mining on Coal Creek. The district's centerpiece is the Coal Creek dredge, floating in the creek. The dredge was built in Oakland, California in 1935 and shipped to the site, operating from 1936 until 1977, having recovered $3,229,124.61 worth of gold. Biederman's Cabin is located nearby, where mail carrier Ed Biederman boarded dogs for miners and trappers during the summer, using two fish wheels to catch enough salmon to feed the dogs. On January 9, 1986, the United States Board of Geographic Names approved naming an Alaskan mountain range after geologist John Beaver Mertie Jr. The Mertie Mountains are located in the Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve, between Fairbanks and Eagle. The range is approximately 187 km (117 miles) long and 176 km (110 miles) wide.