The Chena River begins in the White Mountains and is fed by five tributaries, the North Fork, South Fork, West Fork, Middle (East)  Fork and the Little Chena.  All the forks empty into the Middle Fork which is the main section of the Chena River.  The spring-fed Chena River runs right through downtown Fairbanks.

In 1901, Captain E.T. Barnette set up a temporary trading post called Barnett's Cache on the banks of the Chena River near the present site of First Avenue and Cushman Street in Fairbanks. On August 12, 1935 Will Rogers and Wiley Post landed their float plane on the Chena River in Fairbanks.  A monument is erected at the site. This would be the last town to host the celebrities. Their plane crashed after a brief stop in a lagoon outside Barrow, Alaska from apparent engine failure. In 1967 the Chena River overflowed its banks and flooded the town.
 
 
 

Wedding of the rivers (clear Tanana and the Chena muddied from glacial melt)	Just another day in paradise along the strikingly beautiful Chena River.	The Chena River glides lazily  down from the hills through the center of the city.