Eagle River Bridge to Bridge

2.2 mi

Class II (III)

The stretch of the Eagle River between the Briggs Bridge and Glenn Highway Bridge provides the easiest class 2 and optional class 3 whitewater in the Anchorage area. It is easily road accessible and has an easy option to portage the one class 3 rapid. Because of this, it is a very popular spot for after-work laps, quick weekend fun, and packrafting courses.

To efficiently run Eagle River, you should stage a car in the Eagle River Campground parking lot nearest the pavilion. Your group can then load up into another car and head towards Eagle River on the Eagle River Loop Road. As you approach Briggs bridge, take the dirt road just before it down to the parking lot. You can blow up boats and don drysuits here (it is a cold, glacially fed river throughout most of the season), and then walk down the trail near the bathrooms to the river. At the wye in the trail, you can either go left or right; I prefer to go right as sometimes fishermen occupy the beach if you go left. 

At the put-in, the river is class 1, allowing you to warm up with rolls if you’re a kayaker or wet-reentries if you are a soft boater. After a few minutes of class 1, you cross underneath the Briggs bridge which marks a change from class 1 to class 2 water. There are a few surfable waves and rocks to navigate through this section which provide a nice warmup for the next couple of bends. The following stretch is characterized by gradual gradients on straightaways that kick up some wave trains as well as bends that can create their own waves.

There are certainly local names for each of the rapids, but they tend to be small enough to read and run even for a new boater. The one danger that can exist is wood on the outside of bends. An unaware boater could fall asleep at the wheel and find themselves on the outside of bends, but with a little bit of awareness this should not prove to be an issue. In the event of a swim throughout the swiftwater stretch of the river, it would generally be wise to avoid the banks unless there is an obvious wood-free beach nearby. The good news with Eagle River is it sees enough traffic that finding beta on the wood situation tends to be very easy. 

As you enjoy the class 2 fun, be sure to keep an eye on the left shore for a sign marking the portage around the class 3 Campground Rapid. This rapid is the only notable rapid on the river, and it has earned itself a reputation throughout the years. It consists of some entry moves that lead into one of the biggest logjams you could imagine. Because of this objective hazard, this rapid is not worth running if you have any uncertainty with your class 3 skills. You do NOT want to swim above the logjam. Luckily, if you follow the portage trail, you are able to put in directly above the main drop of the rapid, making for one of the most lappable single drops around.

The line is straightforward, most boaters will take the main tongue and either punch the rooster tail, or exit the tongue in either direction before reaching the rooster tail. At higher flows, different lines begin to open up, but beware that the left side does have shallow rocks that could beat you up if you flipped on them.

When running the rapid from the top, you do also have the choice of following a right channel around the logjam. This leads you into a tight slide that requires solid bracing, but it tends to be over before you know it. The right side rapid is slightly harder than the left side, and since you must run the rapid from the top, it doesn’t see the same traffic. At the bottom of the campground rapid there is a large pool if you follow the left drop, however if you take the right drop there is no break in the current.

After Campground Rapid there are a few more boulders to dodge, but the float is nearing it’s end. Be sure to either catch the boat launch on the left upriver of the Highway Bridge or to take out at the beach on the left at the Highway Bridge. Continuing beyond the bridge is prohibited as the river soon flows through Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, so be sure to hold onto all of your gear as you exit the river. 

8/1/25

5.5ft

(Eagle River @ Glenn Highway Bridge)

Floated the bridge to bridge in the summer heat while the river was pumping. Most of the play features on the upper stretch were washed out and turned into wave trains. The river was fast and began to develop a bigger water feel than it typically has, but was still certainly class 2. We completed the float in record time, even with a few laps on the campground rapid. The roostertail felt nearly impossible to punch in my gnarwhal, but sneaking off the tongue before the meat of it was straightforward.