The Copper River Basin

Surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides, the Copper River Basin, located in what was once the bottom of a massive ice-age glacial lake, carves out its own identity among Alaska regions. One of Alaska's major waterways, the Copper River descends from the Wrangell Mountains and heads north before taking a counterclockwise turn through the basin, the Chugach Mountains, and finally empties into the Gulf of Alaska.