Yukon - Charley Rivers National Preserve
Located in Interior Alaska, Yukon-Charley Rivers offers exploration in a largely untouched landscape. Whether you float the mighty Yukon River or paddle the Charley River's whitewater, your memories will last a lifetime. Geology, cultural history, gold rush remnants, wildlife, and vast scenery will be a part of your experience. But, the strongest element will be solitude. Your adventure awaits.
Alerts
- InformationNPS ↗Sheep Hunting Closure
The Federal Subsistence Board closed sheep hunting to all users on Federal public lands within Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve and Glacier Mountain Controlled Use Areas Units in 20E and 25C due to significant declines to the sheep population. The authority was granted via WP26-76 on April 24, 2026 and the closure with extend through June 30, 2028.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Hours
| Open 24-hours | Daily · All Day |
When to go
July draws the most visits here and March the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Visitor centers
- Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Center ↗Passport stamp
Explore world-class exhibits, watch a free informative movie, and receive assistance on your trip planning needs while at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center, located inside of the Morris Thompson Cultural & Visitors Center in Fairbanks, Alaska.
- Eagle Visitor Center ↗Passport stamp
Located along the mighty Yukon River in Eagle, Alaska, this visitor center is the welcome center for those ready to explore Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. Speak with a ranger, receive a backcountry orientation, and finalize the details of your trip in the preserve.
No campgrounds, no webcams or events in Park Service data. What is here comes from the official page. The rest lives there.
Checked nightly. Modules appear as soon as the Park Service publishes the data.
Explore
Things to do
- Float the Yukon River
A hyperlapse is a moving timelapse and, in this case, it is of the 100 mile stretch of Yukon River from Eagle, Alaska to Slaven's Roadhouse in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.
Opens on the Park Service site - Yukon River Public Use Cabins
Take yourself back in time with a stay in one of the seven public use cabins that are available on a first come, first served basis in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Alaska guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Full checklist: 152 birds, 37 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican kestrel · Bald eagle · Boreal owl · Golden eagle · Great gray owl · Great horned owl · Merlin · Northern harrier · Northern hawk-owl · Osprey · Peregrin falcon · Red-tailed hawk · Rough-legged hawk · Sharp-shinned hawk · Short-eared owl
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican wigeon · Barrow's goldeneye · Blue-winged teal · Bufflehead · Canada goose · Common goldeneye · Common loon · Common merganser · Greater scaup · Greater white-fronted goose · Green-winged teal · Harlequin duck · Horned grebe · Lesser scaup · Long-tailed Duck · Northern pintail · Pacific loon · Red-breasted merganser · Red-necked grebe · Red-throated loon · Ring-necked duck · Sandhill crane · Trumpeter swan
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican golden-plover · Arctic tern · Baird's sandpiper · Black-bellied plover · Bonaparte's gull · Glaucous gull · Greater yellowlegs · Herring gull · Hudsonian godwit · Least sandpiper · Lesser yellowlegs · Long-billed dowitcher · Long-tailed jaeger · Mew gull · Pectoral sandpiper · Red-necked phalarope · Ring-billed gull · Ruddy turnstone · Sabine's gull · Sanderling · Semipalmated plover · Semipalmated sandpiper · Solitary sandpiper · Spotted sandpiper · Stilt sandpiper · Upland sandpiper · Western sandpiper · Wilson's snipe
Gamebirds & dovesRock ptarmigan · Ruffed grouse · Sharp-tailed grouse · Spruce grouse · Willow ptarmigan
WoodpeckersAmerican Three-toed Woodpecker · Black-backed woodpecker · Hairy woodpecker · Northern flicker
Also on the checklistAlder flycatcher · American dipper · American pipit · American pipit · American robin · American tree sparrow · Arctic warbler · Bank swallow · Barn swallow · Belted Kingfisher · Black scoter · Black-billed magpie · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-capped chickadee · Blackpoll warbler · Bohemian waxwing · Boreal Chickadee · Boreal chickadee · Brant · Canvasback · Chipping sparrow · Cliff swallow · Common raven · Common redpoll · Dark-eyed junco · Fox sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned sparrow · Gray jay · Gray-cheeked thrush · Gray-crownded Rosy-Finch · Gyrfalcon · Hammond's flycatcher · Hermit thrush · Hoary redpoll · Horned lark · Lapland longspur · Least flycatcher · Lincoln's sparrow · Mallard · Mountain bluebird · Northern goshawk · Northern shoveler · Northern shrike · Northern waterthrush · Northern wheatear · Olive-sided flycatcher · Orange-crowned warbler · Philadelphia vireo · Pine grosbeak · Pine siskin · Ruby-crowned kinglet · Rusty blackbird · Savannah sparrow · Say's phoebe · Smith's longspur · Snow bunting · Solitary vireo · Surf scoter · Surfbird · Swainson's thrush · Tennessee warbler · Townsend's solitaire · Townsend's warbler · Tree swallow · Varied thrush · Violet-green swallow · Wandering tattler · Western wood-pewee · Whimbrel · White-crowned sparrow · White-winged crossbill · White-winged scoter · Wilson's warbler · Yellow warbler · Yellow-bellied flycatcher · Yellow-rumped warbler
Small mammalsAmerican beaver · Arctic ground squirrel · Brown lemming · Cinereus shrew · Collared pika · Dusky shrew · Hoary marmot · Long-tailed vole · Meadow vole · Muskrat · Northern bog lemming · Northern flying squirrel · Northern red-backed vole · Porcupine · Pygmy shrew · Red squirrel · Singing vole · Snowshoe hare · Taiga vole · Tiny shrew · Tundra shrew · Tundra vole · Water shrew
PredatorsAmerican Marten · American black bear · Brown bear · Coyote · Ermine · Gray wolf · Lynx · Mink · Red fox · River otter · Wolverine
Hoofed mammalsCaribou · Dall's sheep · Moose
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Fishing in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Skiing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
Questions people ask
Does Yukon - Charley Rivers charge an entrance fee?
No. Yukon - Charley Rivers is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
Is Yukon - Charley Rivers open year-round?
Yes. The grounds are open 24 hours a day, year-round.
Source: National Park Service
Can I camp in Yukon - Charley Rivers?
The Park Service lists no campgrounds inside Yukon - Charley Rivers.
Source: National Park Service
Is anything closed at Yukon - Charley Rivers right now?
1 active alert as of October 14, 2026: Sheep Hunting Closure.
Source: Alerts
How busy is Yukon - Charley Rivers?
962 recreation visits in 2025, number 381 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
When was Yukon - Charley Rivers established?
1978. It covers about 3,946 square miles.
Source: Wikipedia
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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