If you would like to reach one of the forks upstream contact Tok Air Service. Otherwise the Fortymile River passes under the Taylor Highway.
Formed by its North and South Forks, Fortymile River is just north of Chicken, beginning in the Yukon-Tanana Uplands. It flows northeast into Canada to Yukon River. It's designated a National Wild and Scenic River and is a popular clearwater river floated for recreation providing multiple put-ins and take-outs for trips of varying lengths.
There are a few Class III rapids along Fortymile River including one about 15 miles down from the Taylor Highway bridge, and another in Canada, Canyon Rapids. Canyon Rapids can be difficult at highwater levels and a class II/III at lower volumes.
There are three BLM public campgrounds in the Fortymile region. West Fork Campground is located at milepost 48.8 along the Taylor Highway. Walker Fork Campground is at milepost 82 on the Taylor Highway, and Eagle Campground in the town of Eagle. The campgrounds consist of campsites including picnic tables, along with outhouses and potable water. Dump stations are not available; campers are encouraged to dump in Tok or Dawson. Overnight camping is not allowed along the Taylor Highway when on BLM land.
BLM would like to remind paddlers. If you plan to float the Fortymile and will be passing through Canadian waters. You will need to get ahold of Canadian Immigration, before your trip, via their remote river crossings email (971NPCU03G@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca). They will get back to you with the required information they need from you for your river trip. Give them as much lead time as possible as processing can take 12 weeks or longer. If you have any questions, Canadian Immigration in Whitehorse can be reached at 867-667-3943.
Likewise, if your plans involve returning to the United States via the Yukon River, contact U.S. Customs at 907-774-2252 when planning your trip. You will need to check in with U.S. Customs in Eagle, using the special telephone in the white box on the left side of the Eagle laundromat.
Don't use the blue one as that one contacts the FBI. Just kidding.
Fortymile River is a prospectors' name given about 1886; so called because the mouth of the stream is about 40 miles below the former Hudsons Bay post called "Fort Reliance." It was called "Cone-Hill River" by Lieutenant Schwatka (1885, p. 248), USA, "from the fact that three is a prominent conical hill in the center of its broad valley, near its mouth." Gold was discovered here late in 1886 (Spurr, 1898, p. 115). During the 1887 season, 115 miners produced 10,000 to 15,000 ounces of gold from the Fortymile District (Dunham, 1898)
