Kobuk River

Kobuk
River
Sunset over the Kobuk River
Countries	United States
States	Alaska
Tributaries
- left	Squirrel River, Tutsuksuk River
- right	Salmon River, Adillik River
Source	Walker Lake
Secondary source	Endicott Mountains
Mouth	Kobuk Delta
Length	451 km (280 mi)
Basin	31,880 km2 (12,309 sq mi)
Discharge	for Bering Strait
- average	283 m3/s (9,994 cu ft/s)
- max	3,000 m3/s (105,944 cu ft/s)
- min	40 m3/s (1,413 cu ft/s)

The Kobuk River (also Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuvuk, or 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 1500 feet (460 m) and flow at a speed of 3–5 miles per hour (5–8 km per hour) in its lower and middle reaches. The average elevation for the Kobuk River Basin is 1,300 feet (400 m) above sea level, ranging from near sea level to 11,400 feet (3,475 m). Topography 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 leucicthys), a large predatory whitefish within the salmon family, found throughout the Arctic that 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.

It is commonly assumed that the Kobuk River issues from Walker Lake. However, the headwaters of the river are to the east of Walker Lake in the Endicott Mountains within the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, just north of the Arctic Circle. It flows briefly south, descending from the mountains through two spectacular canyons (Upper and Lower Kobuk Canyon), then flows generally west along the southern flank of the western Brooks Range in a broad wetlands valley. In the valley it passes a connected community of inland native villages, including Kobuk, Shungnak, and Ambler, where it receives the Ambler River. In the river’s lower reaches, where it passes between the Baird and Waring mountains, it traverses Kobuk Valley National Park, the location of the 25 square miles (65 km²) Kobuk Sand Dunes. It then passes Kiana. The river enters its broad delta approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Kiana. The delta is located in The Hotham Inlet of the Kotzebue Sound approximately 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Kotzebue.