Kobuk River
| Kobuk Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuwuk, Kuvuk, Putnam | |
|---|---|
Aerial view of a motorboat on the Kobuk River | |
Location of the mouth of the Kobuk River in Alaska | |
| Native name | Kuuvak (Inupiaq) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Endicott Mountains |
| • coordinates | 67°17′59″N 154°23′41″W / 67.29972°N 154.39472°W |
| 2nd source | Walker Lake |
| Mouth | Kobuk Delta |
| Length | 280 mi (451 km) |
| Basin size | 12,310 sq mi (31,880 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Hotham Inlet |
| • average | 10,000 cu ft/s (283 m3/s) |
| • minimum | 1,400 cu ft/s (40 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 110,000 cu ft/s (3,000 m3/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Squirrel River, Tutsuksuk River |
| • right | Salmon River, Adillik River |
| Type | Wild 110.0 miles (177.0 km) |
| Designated | December 2, 1980 |
The Kobuk River (Iñupiaq: Kuuvak; Koyukon: Hʉlghaatno), also known by the names Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuvuk, and Putnam, is a river located in the Arctic region of northwestern Alaska in the United States. It is approximately 280 miles (451 km) long. Draining a basin with an area of 12,300 square miles (32,000 km2), the Kobuk River is among the largest rivers in northwest Alaska, with widths of up to 1,500 feet (460 m) and flows reaching speeds of 3–5 miles per hour (5–8 km per hour) in its lower and middle reaches. The elevation of the Kobuk River Basin is on average 1,300 feet (400 m), ranging from sea level at its mouth on the Bering Sea to 8,276 feet (2,523 m) on the summit of Mount Igikpak.
Topography along the river includes low, rolling mountains, plains and lowlands, moderately high rugged mountainous land, and some gently sloped plateaus and highlands. The river contains an exceptional population of sheefish (Stenodus Nelma), a large predatory whitefish within the salmon family, which spawns in the river's upper reaches during the autumn. A portion of the vast Western Arctic caribou herd utilize the Kobuk River valley as winter range.