Fossils and Footprints Along the Aniakchak River

Aniakchak River. Photo: Dave Prouty

Dr. Anthony Fiorillo partnered with the National Park Service in 2001 on a rafting trip, and made a major discovery along the banks of the Aniakchak River. The tracks he found were the first dinosaur record found in any national park in Alaska.

Dr. Fiorillo has since returned several times on a research project based out of Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, Texas. Below is a news clip recently aired on KTUU Anchorage discussing the find, and shows beautiful footage of banks and delta area where the Aniakchak River flows into Aniakchak Bay.

Ouzel Expeditions has been running river trips down the Aniakchak River since 1990. Dave Prouty, long-time river guide here at Ouzel has kindly shared his photos of this first trip he did with us, which you can view on our Aniakchak page. Dave has returned to Aniakchak numerous times since then and plans to be back this summer!

The Aniakchak River is located in Aniakchak National Monument, on the Alaska Pennisula. We fly from King Salmon to Surpise Lake, inside a volcanic crater. The Aniakchak River trip is one of our longest trips at 10 days. While the river is actually one of the shorter ones we travel, the extra days give us plenty of time for hiking and exploring, and accommodates for the sometimes finicky weather out there. We schedule this trip for July, when the water levels and weather is most cooperative. A bonus too, is the strong Salmon run that fills the river at this time.