Kenkeme

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The Kenkeme is a river in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia. It is a tributary of the Lena River and is about 589 kilometers long (around 366 miles); if you include its headwaters, it reaches about 627 kilometers. The river’s drainage basin covers about 10,000 square kilometers.

The river starts on the northeastern edge of the Lena Plateau at the confluence of the Yagas-Yyaabyt and Yolyong-Yurege rivers, about 125 kilometers west of Yakutsk. It flows southeast, then east, then north, with many bends, running near the Lena to the east and the Khanchaly to the west. It joins the Lena on the left bank about 1,275 kilometers from Lena’s mouth, east of the Aldan River and opposite the Belyanka’s mouth.

A bridge on the Mirny–Yakutsk stretch of the A331 highway crosses the Kenkeme. The river flows through a sparsely populated area; the basin’s only settlement is an Evenk community in its middle course. Because it is not far from Yakutsk, the Kenkeme is a popular summer spot for kayaking and rafting.

The Kenkeme’s basin includes parts of Gorny, Khangalassky, Yakutsk Urban, Namsky and Kobyaysky districts. It is fed by snow and rain and freezes to the bottom from November through May. Its main left-bank tributaries are the Chukul (59 km), Delaiah and Chakyya. The surrounding region has sparse coniferous forests, with larch as the main tree, and continuous permafrost. Common fish in the river include ide, dace, pike, roach and grayling.