Travel

Whitewater Rafting

Merced River

Whitewater Rivers

McNeil River

Whitewater Class -

Description - 

The McNeil River is found on the eastern drainage of the Alaska Peninsula near its base and conjunction with the Alaska mainland. Its entire length of 35 miles (55 km) lies within the McNeil River State Game Sanctuary, created in 1967 by the State of Alaska to protect the many Alaska brown bears who are common in the area. It also flows entirely within the Kenai Peninsula Borough boundaries.

More famous for its bear population than for the size of the river or the strength of its salmon runs, McNeil River has been featured on many television and film documentaries.

So well-known has the area become as a bear-viewing area, that in 1973 the State of Alaska began limiting the number of summer visitors to ten per day during peak visitor months of June, July and August. The area has also been "wired" for webcam remote viewing for those unable to access the river in person.