Porcupine/Yukon River: Old Crow to Dalton Highway (13 days / 650 km)
The Porcupine River is a fairly slow, meandering river with its headwaters along the Dempster Highway in North Yukon and flows generally straight West above the Arctic Circle. This 650 km trip takes you through a variety of landscapes, from wide open valleys to steep canyons also known as ramparts, opening up in the Yukon flats where it enters the Yukon River, and the river valley is several kilometres wide, to end where the Yukon narrows down again and crosses the Dalton Highway in North Central Alaska.
We paddled the Porcupine and Yukon Rivers in August 2013, as the final two weeks of a longer expedition that started in the Peel Watershed in central Yukon. (See reports from the Hart/Peel, and Rat/Bell/Porcupine for the other sections) Although this section of the trip was the easiest white-water-wise, we still loved every bit of it.
We were a group of 6 paddlers with 2 dogs in 3 different canoes: 2 Nova Craft Prospector 18 Royalex and one Nova Craft Prospector 17 Royalex, all with spraydecks. (Although spraydecks are not necessary for this trip, they are always nice to have when the weather goes sidewise, as they help keep you warm and dry.)
The water on the Porcupine was slightly murky, and since the river is shallow, meandry and slow-moving, it was quite warm at the start, but also became cold very fast as the temperature dropped.
Trip Completed: August 2013
Trip Summary
Location: Yukon, Alaska
Traditional Territory: This route takes place on the traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nations and the Gwich’in Nành First Nations.
Maps & Resources
Guidebook: A Guide to Paddling in the Yukon covers parts of this trip.
Map: I use the Canada Topo app for all my river trips, which is a free app (on iPhone) which uses the original topo maps of Canada. You download the maps of your route before departing, and you can use them on your phone (or iPad) while out on your trip just like you would use a regular GPS. You can download the American version of the app for the Alaska section.
Permits & Reservations
Campsite Reservations / Permits: No permits or reservations are required.
Know Before You Go
Season: This trip was done at the end of August, from the 21st to the 2nd of September. Although it made for a chilly trip with temperatures dropping below freezing most nights, it’s always a magical time of the year to travel in the North. The colours were changing, and the wildlife starts moving more with winter approaching.
Usually, this also comes with low water, which makes for slower travel, but you are less likely to have to deal with crazy floods, which can be very important on this river. (I have witnessed the Porcupine rise 4 m in 48 hours the following summer while doing salmon work on the river) There were no bugs at this time of year either.
That said, the Porcupine can be paddled anytime from break up (early-mid June) to probably mid-late September. The later you go, the better the chance of catching the Porcupine caribou migration.
Cell Reception: Cell reception in Old Crow and Fort Yukon, but none along the route.
Water: The water was silty for us throughout the trip. The Porcupine wasn’t silty enough for us to seek clearer creeks, but the Yukon is super silty, and we usually tried to find water in pools that had settled in the sloughs and became clear before boiling.
Wildlife: I would not consider any wildlife to be a problem on this trip, there are black and grizzly bears in the region as well as moose and caribou.
Waste: This is a remote route with no facilities
Outfitters & Shuttles
Outfitter: We paddled into Old Crow from Fort McPherson, so did not use any assistance there, but Up North Adventures picked us up at the Dalton Highway at the end of the trip.
Shuttle: Most people who paddle this section of river choose one of two options; Either they start paddling on the very slow, meandering Eagle River from the Dempster Highway (Which would add another 2 weeks or so to your trip) or fly into Old Crow with Air North. Air North flies to Old Crow almost every day for a very reasonable price.
We organized a pickup at the Dalton Highway from Up North Adventures in Whitehorse. This can be a very pricy shuttle since the drive from Whitehorse to the takeout is about 2800 km return. That said, it’s a gorgeous drive, so if you happen to have friends somewhere up north and you don’t mind paying for gas, it wouldn’t be hard to convince them to go there. The other option would be to find an outfitter in Fairbanks to pick you up and fly out of Fairbanks.
Trip Report
Day 1: Old Crow to Camp 1 (35 km)
Tough day to start our journey downstream from Old Crow to Alaska, it’s snowing! We had just spent two days in Old Crow, so by the time we were all packed up and had said our goodbyes, it was around 1 pm.
Although the weather was far from ideal, the flow wasn’t bad, and we covered about 35 km in 4 hours before setting camp on a large gravel bar on river left.
Campsite: We camped on a large and high gravel bar on river left, overlooking the river. The Porcupine was low, so campsites were never a problem to find.
| Total Distance | 35 km |
Day 2: Camp 1 to Rampart House (Camp 2) (50 km)
This morning, we woke up to a solid frost covering everything, but the sun was out and shining directly at camp with the fogs slowly moving over the river. As soon as the fog lifted, we noticed a group of sandhill cranes just walking along the shore on the other side.
A few minutes later, we noticed they were not alone. A large grey wolf was trying to close the gap on them along the bushes! After about half an hour, he seemed to decide it wasn’t going to work and retreated into the forest.
We left at a reasonable time, and although it was sunny, we had a nasty headwind keeping everyone kind of quiet and focused on the task of moving forward to reach Rampart House. Although we had heard lots about Rampart House, we didn’t realize that it was called that way due to the canyon/ramparts that this section of the river carves through.
A few kilometres before reaching Rampart House (and the Alaskan border), we entered this beautiful canyon and the wind just died. We had no clue, but we were about to paddle through this scenery for about 3 days!
We reached Rampart House late in the afternoon.
Campsite: Rampart House is a must-stop kind of campsite along this route. The old trading post was abandoned around 1920 when everyone moved to Old Crow. That said, it is now considered a National Historic Site that is maintained by both the First Nations and the Federal Government. Some of the old buildings were rebuilt or renovated, and there are several information panels around explaining the history of the area. It’s quite a surreal place, especially considering how remote it actually is. There’s plenty of space to pitch a tent, either around the old buildings or on the gravel bar along the river.
| Total Distance | 50 km |
Day 3: Rampart House to Camp 3 (70 km)
Today, I woke up early, staring into the sun with the Canadian flag slowly waving away. This was going to be our last morning in Canada, as we were just about to enter Alaska.
There are no border agents here, so you have to send passport copies and information on your travels to the US border agents of the Beaver Creek highway crossing. Although we had sent all the required information in, it felt a little weird to cross into the USA without anyone checking on us, and we kept joking that they probably had some cameras hidden somewhere to watch us, who knows!
We had a good tailwind, and after covering about 70 km, we decided to call it a day. We found a nice large gravel bar on river right and settled there for the night. There had been a forest fire here during the summer, and it was still smouldering in some areas, which was neat to see.
Campsite: Nice large gravel bar at the base of small cliffs. Plenty of space for everyone in the group.
| Total Distance | 70 km |
Day 4: Camp 3 to Camp 4 (64 km)
We woke up to another chilly frosty morning, but to add to it, there was also the same strong East wind (tailwind) that we had the day before. So, Simon, one of our two Kiwi team members, who has lots of sailing experience, convinced us to build a sail. We made a mass in the form of a “T”, attached our tarp to it, attached all three canoes together and attached ropes to the lower corners of the tarps to be able to control the tension. Believe it or not, it worked like a charm! We covered about 64 km and only paddled about 10. It felt amazing to be covering such distance with barely any effort. Forget the crisp air (must have not gotten above 10 degrees Celsius) and you could have thought that you were sailing in the tropics!
Towards the end of the afternoon when the wind died, we decided to stop on a small gravel bar at the base of a tall rampart that we could climb up to. We decided to make it our camp for the night.
Campsite: Top of a rampart on river right. The ramparts are mostly sharp tall cliffs but with mellow hills in between them, where you can often see the caribou trails from when they migrate. We had amazing weather, no wind, and clear skies, so we decided to climb on top of one for the night. It was one of the most beautiful camp spots of our entire 2-month trip. I could not stop taking pictures. We made a fire close to the edge and enjoyed the most beautiful sunset overlooking the entire river. We would 100% recommend doing that if you get the right weather.
| Total Distance | 64 km |
Day 5: Camp 4 to Camp 5 (50 km)
This morning, our campsite at the top of the ramparts was a little less ideal. It was about -5 and the wind had already picked up. We made a fire in the forest behind to be a little more sheltered and hit the river to start sailing as early as possible.
After covering about 30 km with the sail, the river became too windy, so we had to put the sail down and start working again. It was another bluebird day, so even though it was cold we pushed an extra 20 km or so.
With the cold, comes extra tiredness, or at least it seems to hit faster. By the end of the 50 km, we were now out of the mountains and the ramparts, and we had entered the famous Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. Although the Yukon Flats is an incredible area environmentally speaking, from the river, it’s not necessarily the most exciting. This section of the Porcupine and the Yukon are a lot flatter; therefore, the current is a lot slower.
This section on the Porcupine was extra meandry, with muddy shores instead of the large gravel bars we had gotten used to. We managed to find a reasonable campsite and settled for the night.
Campsite: We camped on a gravel/mud bar on river right. Plenty of space for everyone, but it would have been messy if it had been rainy.
| Total Distance | 50 km |
Day 6: Camp 5 to Camp 6 (55 km)
This morning, we got up thinking a storm was coming. Our tents had been shaken by the wind all night, but when we poked our heads out, it was still a bright blue sky with a line of grey clouds in the distance, which never came to us.
It’s amazing how much having the sun keeps the morale up, even if it was cold, everyone had good energy.
We covered around 55 km on the river today, but when looking at our GPS, we realized that we had only covered about 20 km in a straight line! Gives you an idea of how windy this section of the Porcupine is.
Campsite: We found another nice gravel bar, with a view to the West, so we could enjoy another beautiful sunset over the never-ending horizon.
| Total Distance | 55 km |
Day 7: Camp 6 to Camp 7 (55 km)
Another day, another crisp clear sky morning on the Porcupine! The frost was extra thick this morning, so I took the time to take a couple time-lapses of the frost thawing up on kinnikinnick (a beautiful little red berry plant abundant in the north).
We paddled slowly through the never-ending meanders of the Porcupine. The closer we got to the Yukon River, the more ospreys we kept seeing. Today, we had two of them catch fish right in front of us!* We saw a cow moose and a calf, as well as a small black bear not too far from them.
We also met our first Alaskans on the river. They were getting ready for hunting season as well as trapping season. They spend most of their winters at their cabin along the river.
*Fun Fact: Ospreys are found throughout the world but are the only birds of prey who fully dive in the water to catch their prey with their feet, instead of with their beak, or instead of just skirting the water to catch fish with their feet, like bald eagles for example.
Campsite: Another random gravel bar along the edge of the river, with another beautiful sunset. Simple, but perfect at the same time.
| Total Distance | 55 km |
Day 8: Camp 7 to Fort Yukon (Camp 8) (55 km)
Today we were surprised to wake up to a grey sky with light rain. We must have been on the edge of a larger system, as we noticed that the river had risen a little. We ate a quick breakfast and headed out. About halfway through the day, the sun came out once again.
We reached the confluence of the Yukon River at about 3 pm, and we knew Fort Yukon was slightly upstream. When we turned the corner, we could see the village and figured it was about 2 km, so we decided to paddle against the flow to go check it out. (It’s incredible what the thought of a fresh beer can do) It took us about 3 hours to make it up.
A few minutes after we reached the boat launch, we were greeted by a local police officer. Which seemed to have been the case in every town we stopped at. He was super nice and offered us a ride into town, which was a couple of kilometres down a bumpy road, but told us that someone needed to stay with the gear to avoid having some of our stuff go missing.
We quickly realized why as we strolled to town… Fort Yukon seemed like a rough place.
We didn’t linger for too long, grabbed a couple packs of beer and went back to the boat launch. Matt, who had stayed behind, had received a few visitors who didn’t convince him about the place either, so we decided to do a long ferry across the river to camp on one of the large gravel bars.
Later that night, we were woken up by several gunshots, which definitely made us a little uncomfortable, but we were far enough (over 1 km) that we convinced ourselves that staying put was safer than heading downriver just as the sun was coming down.
Campsite: We stayed on a large gravel bar across the river from Fort Yukon. Although it was totally fine, we would recommend camping a little passed or a little before the village to avoid unwanted visitors.
| Total Distance | 55 km |
Day 9: Fort Yukon to Camp 9 (40 km)
We woke up late this morning, as we were kept awake until late the night before from all sorts of noise coming from town. We were on our last stretch of the trip, and although I had never been on this section of the Yukon, it suddenly felt like home. (I have paddled several sections upstream) We left in the rain this morning, but the current was stronger than on the Porcupine and in about 4 hours of paddling, we covered about 40 km. We were drenched from the early rain, but the sky had cleared, and we had found a beautiful elevated large gravel so decided to camp there for the night.
Campsite: First camp on the Yukon River. We camp on an elevated gravel bar. The Yukon is so wide here, that unless you really push it and get out of the main channels, you’re basically always stopping on islands. The valley is several kilometres wide, and the river always splits into many channels.
| Total Distance | 40 km |
Day 10: Camp 9 to Camp 10 (60 km)
Today, we woke up to a strong breeze and grey skies, something we haven’t encountered much on our trip. We headed out, and quickly realized we were in for a battle. The wind was against us, and it was strong. The combination of the headwind and the strong current going downstream was creating large waves, up to 1 meter! If we wouldn’t have had spraydecks, we would have had to pull over and wait it out for safety reasons, but with the decks, it wasn’t too much of a concern. Plus, this was a fun little challenge on an otherwise very wide and flat section of river.
The Yukon is so wide here it’s hard to describe. It resembles the Amazon River, except it’s freezing cold water and there are no pink dolphins to be found! You have to pick a spot to stop kilometres in advance to make sure everywhere can reach it in time, which makes it challenging to pick campsites. Nevertheless, after battling the waves all day, the sun came out again and we found a nice campsite at the entrance of a big slough, right next to a giant log jam.
Campsite: Nice gravel bar at the entrance of a large slough next to a huge log jam. This was nice, especially with the cold weather. We made a giant bonfire, with a smaller cooking fire on the opposite side. This kept us nice and warm throughout the evening.
| Total Distance | 60 km |
Day 11: Camp 10 to Camp 11 (50 km)
Today we woke up a little later than usual, but we had a good reason to. We were up until 3 am watching the northern lights fill the sky! I have seen northern lights my whole life, but these ones were surreal! So, we spent most of the night taking photos, timelapses and enjoying the lights.
Sad thing though, this morning, 3 of the guys are feeling quite sick. We came to realize later on that they had become infected by giardia, otherwise known as ‘’beaver fever’’.* Although we were careful with boiling our water, it’s quite likely that at some stage we drank water that we thought had boiled and simply hadn’t, especially in this long of a trip. Luckily, they were still able to finish the trip without too much trouble.
The wind stayed low all day today, and we covered about 50 km before calling it a day.
*Although people know giardia as beaver fever, it doesn’t come from the beavers to start with. Most giardia bacteria found in our waterways originally comes from feces of infected humans. Beavers, as well as mustelids like otters or mink, can be carriers of the bacteria, which is where the term beaver fever comes from.
Campsite: We found a beautiful grassy patch on river right where the Canada geese did such a great job that it makes it look like a perfect putting green at a golf course. Other than avoiding the droppings, it was a perfect spot for the night.
| Total Distance | 50 km |
Day 12: Camp 11 to Dalton Highway Bridge (65 km)
We woke up today to a drizzle with fog covering the river. It took us a bit longer to get organized, but we hit the river just before noon. We were planning on camping one extra night before reaching the bridge, but as the day went on, the weather just kept getting worse. Whenever we would stop, we would freeze.
So, we took the ultimate decision to cover the extra 30 km and make it to the end. Leaving the flats, the river narrows and picks up in speed, which made it even easier than we thought to reach our ending point.
We arrived at the bridge at around 8:30 pm, to realize our big surprise, that there was a lodge there, with a restaurant! The kitchen was closing at 9 pm, so we quickly hauled our boats up on shore and went to order each a giant burger with fries! No better way to end a long rainy day on the river.
There’s a campground there, but we were super lucky, and the lodge was ultra quiet. After hearing our story, and where we had come from, they let us crash in the shop for the night as we were too poor to rent a room, and they didn’t want us to sleep outside in the pouring cold rain.
Campsite: There’s a lodge at the bridge with rooms you can rent, but there’s also a nice little campsite on the side, where we stayed for our 2nd night there. When you pay for camping, you get access to the amenities, which is nice at the end of a canoe trip.
Day 13: Dalton Highway Lodge (0 km)
We all fell asleep early last night after the big meal and being so cold and drenched all day. Since we were a day early, we knew we would have the day to get our stuff organized before our ride arrived tomorrow. It was still raining, so we spent many hours just chatting in the lodge and eating good fresh food.
We set up our tents one last time in the little campground right next to the lodge.
Campsite: Lodge campsite.
| Total Distance | 65 km |
Day 14: Dalton Highway Lodge to Whitehorse (1400 km)
We had been in touch with our driver Mark and knew he was supposed to arrive mid-day from Fairbanks. We had all our gear packed when he showed up early in the afternoon. We loaded up all our wet gear in the back, the three canoes on the roof and hit the road.
The Dalton was beautiful, even in bad weather. It took us two days to get back to Whitehorse. It felt quite surreal to be back to bigger towns/cities after being gone for 2 months out on the rivers…
Trip Video
Reflections
This trip was the second 3-week portion of a 2-month long documentary expedition called ’’Paddle for the North’’. The trip started on the Hart River, down the Peel, up the Rat, across the divide into the Little Bell, Bell, and Porcupine River to Old Crow before starting this part of the journey.
Although this was the mellow section of our trip, it was also the one where we covered the most ground. We all loved that portion, the scenery through the ramparts was breathtaking and the endless skies in the flats are things we will never forget.
We saw a few people along the river, especially once we reached the Yukon. Most people waved as they passed by. Other than our quick stop at Fort Yukon, we didn’t stop at any other small town sites or houses along the river. We were on a bit of a schedule at that point and didn’t feel like bothering people. Plus, we had everything we needed.
All in all, this is an incredible canoe trip to do if you’re looking for something a little more off the beaten path, without the difficulties of more dangerous waters.
Author Bio
Gabe grew up paddling in Abitibi, QC and moved to the Yukon in 2008 and guided throughout the Territory for several years. In 2013, he led a 2-month canoe expedition called ‘’Paddle for the North”, to document what was happening in the Peel Watershed at the time. The documentary won several awards in film festivals including the Banff Mountain Film Fest, International Vancouver Film Fest and the Paddling Film Fest. Since then, Gabe has become a biologist and now teaches field courses in the Northern Environmental Science program offered at Yukon University. The canoe is by far the preferred way to explore the north.
Instagram: @gabe_rivest
YouTube: @gabepaddles