Porcupine River

For other places with the same name, see Porcupine River (disambiguation).

Porcupine River (Ch’ôonjik)
River
Porcupine River
Countries	Canada, United States
State	Alaska
Source	Nahoni Range
- location	Ogilvie Mountains
- coordinates	65°28′N 139°32′W
Mouth	Yukon River
- location	Fort Yukon
- coordinates	66°35′42″N 145°18′32″W
Length	916 km (569 mi)
Basin	61,400 km2 (23,700 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	650 m3/s (22,955 cu ft/s)
- max	8,467 m3/s (299,009 cu ft/s)
- min	0 m3/s (0 cu ft/s)

The Porcupine River (Ch’ôonjik in Gwich’in) is a river that runs through Alaska and the Yukon. Having its source in the Ogilvie Mountains north of Dawson City, Yukon, it flows north, veers to the southwest, goes through the community of Old Crow, Yukon, flowing into the Yukon River at Fort Yukon, Alaska. It derives its name from the Gwich'in word for the river, Ch'oonjik, or "Porcupine Quill River".

The Porcupine caribou herd, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Alaska, gets its name from the river.

The oldest (but disputed) possible evidence of human habitation in North America were found in a cave along one of its tributaries, the Bluefish River. A large number of apparently human-modified animal bones have been discovered in the Bluefish Caves. They have been dated to 25,000 to 40,000 years old by carbon dating — several thousand years earlier than generally accepted human habitation of North America.

See also

• List of Alaska rivers
• List of longest rivers of Canada
• List of Yukon rivers