The King Salmon River is a tributary of the Ugashik River, having its confluence 57°29′50″N 157°38′30″W / 57.49722°N 157.64167°W / 57.49722; -157.64167 with the Ugashik at the head of Ugashik Bay on the Alaska Peninsula in southwest Alaska.
It flows 35 miles (56 km) from headwaters at Mother Goose Lake in the Aleutian Range near Mount Chiginagak northwest to the upper reaches of Ugashik Bay. Its gravel bottom and many braided channels are ideal for the many king salmon which spawn in its waters but limits navigation to small skiff.
There are many rivers in Alaska bearing the name King Salmon River, including tributaries to the Egegik River and Nushagak River systems in southwest Alaska, alone. The name is also occasionally confused with a nickname given the Kenai River, a popular fishing stream located in the Cook Inlet drainage of southcentral Alaska.
Besides the large numbers of king salmon, the river also hosts large numbers of sea-run Dolly Varden, Chum Salmon and a small run of Pink Salmon.
Famous quotes containing the words king, salmon and/or river:
““The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then queen died of grief” is a plot.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“There are some achievements which are never done in the presence of those who hear of them. Catching salmon is one, and working all night is another.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“Come, heart, where hill is heaped upon hill:
For there the mystical brotherhood
Of sun and moon and hollow and wood
And river and stream work out their will....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)