Rafting on the Nenana River, near Denali National Park

The Nenana River is a tributary of the Tanana River, approximately 150 mi (241 km) long, in central Alaska in the United States. It drains an area on the north slope of the Alaska Range on the south edge of the Tanana Valley southwest of Fairbanks.

It issues from the Nenana Glacier in the northern Alaska Range, southwest of Mount Deborah, spproximately 100 mi (160 km) south of Fairbanks. It flows briefly west, then north, forming the eastern boundary of Denali National Park. It emerges from the mountains onto the broad marshy Tanana Valley, joining the Tanana from south at Nenana, Alaska, approximately 35 mi (56 km) southwest of Fairbanks.

The upper valley of the river furnishes approximately 100 mi (160 km) of the northern route of both the Alaska Railroad and the Parks Highway (Alaska State Highway 3) connecting Fairbanks and Anchorage.

The river was explored in 1885 by Lt. Henry Allen of the United States Army. Allen named it the "Cantwell River" after Lt. John C. Cantwell, of the Revenue-Cutter Service, who had explored the Kobuk River region in 1884 and 1885. In 1898, W. J. Peters and A. H. Brooks of the USGS, reported that the river was called "Tutlut" by the natives. The Tanana Indian name was spelled "Nenana" on a later map.

The river is one of the most popular destinations for whitewater rafting in Alaska.

See also

• List of Alaska rivers