The Koyuk River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 on the Seward Peninsula

Seward Peninsula

The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It projects about into the Bering Sea between Norton Sound, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, and Kotzebue Sound, just below the Arctic Circle...

 of western Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. The river originates in the interior of the peninsula, at the Lost Jim Lava Flow

Lost Jim Lava Flow

The Lost Jim Lava Flow, located in the heart of the Seward Peninsula, is a Holocene lava flow in the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. The name originates from a member of a USGS research team who became separated from the rest of the group while mapping the lava flow in 1947. The Lost Jim...

 of the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

Bering Land Bridge National Preserve

The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is one of the most remote United States national park areas, located on the Seward Peninsula. The National Preserve protects a remnant of the Bering Land Bridge that connected Asia with North America more than 13,000 years ago during the Pleistocene ice age...

, where it flows southeast towards the mouth of Norton Bay. The native village of Koyuk

Koyuk, Alaska

Koyuk is a city in the Nome Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 297 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Koyuk is located at...

 is located at its mouth. The two major tributaries are the Peace and Salmon Rivers.

Its Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 name was reported by Captain Tebenkov (1852, map 2), IRN, as "Kvyguk." The present spelling comes from A. H. Brooks, USGS, in 1900. The Western Union Telegraph Expedition spelled the name "Koikpak," which means "big river."