The Pickhandle Lakes HPA is a wetland complex located approximately 50 km southeast of the community of Beaver Creek and approximately 120 km northwest of Burwash Landing. The Pickhandle Lakes HPA covers an area of 50.1 km2 in a narrow valley east of the White River in the Ruby-Nisling Ranges ecoregion. The wetland complex is located directly adjacent to the Alaska Highway and is accessible from the Pickhandle Lake Recreation Site, which is maintained by the Government of Yukon.
About pickhandle lakes
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The Pickhandle Lakes area – known as Chettyel Chi, “Stone Axe Handle Lake” in Southern Tutchone - is made up of small lakes, pothole lakes, marshes and bogs. It is within the Shakwak Trench, part of the Pacific Flyway, an important migration corridor for birds seasonally traveling between Central Yukon/Alaska and South America. The Pickhandle Lakes HPA is fed by the Koidern River, which is in the White River Watershed. The Koidern River supplies nutrients to the shallow ponds and lakes of the HPA, nourishing the plants and aquatic life, which makes it an attractive place for waterfowl to stop for nesting, breeding and feeding. Other wildlife species that are plentiful in the HPA include moose, beaver, otter, mink, muskrats and raptors. Fish species in the HPA include whitefish, arctic grayling, northern pike, and suckers. First Nations people come to this area to harvest sheep, moose, caribou, beavers and muskrat. This area is also abundant in wild berries and edible plants. 
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In the past, the Tlingit Chilkat people would travel hundreds of kilometers from the coast to the Pickhandle Lakes to trade fish oils for furs from the Han, Southern and Northern Tutchone and the Copper people. Chettyel Chi has always been rich in copper, which was traditionally used to make ornaments and tools. Copper was also used as a currency.
