| Kuparuk River | |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map: | USA Alaska |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of the Kuparuk River in Alaska |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | Alaska |
| Subdivision Type4: | Borough |
| Subdivision Name4: | North Slope |
| Length: | 200miles |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 1400cuft/s |
| Source1 Location: | Brooks Range |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 68.5375°N -149.2461°W[1] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 2900feet[2] |
| Mouth: | Gwydyr Bay, Beaufort Sea |
| Mouth Location: | 8miles southeast of Beechey Point |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 70.4244°N -148.8708°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 0feet |
| Basin Size: | 3130sqmi[3] |
The Kuparuk River (Iñupiaq: Kuukpaaġruk) is a river in Alaska's North Slope that enters a bay on the Beaufort Sea between Beechey Point and Prudhoe Bay.[4] The north-flowing river is about 200miles long, and its delta is about 3miles wide. Its Eskimo name appeared on a map drawn in 1901 by a prospector who spelled it Koopowra, which he translated as Big River.[5] Kuukpaaġruk can be translated to a "smaller version of a big river".
Kuparuk Mound, a 30feet pingo about 12miles southeast of Beechey Point, is named after the river. Arctic explorer Ernest de Koven Leffingwell named the mound, which he used as a triangulation station in 1911.[5]
The Kuparuk River oil field, the second largest oil field in North America, is centered about 40miles west of Prudhoe Bay.[6] Discovered in 1969, it covers about 500mi2.[7]