Squirrel River, Tributary of the Kobuk River in Alaska, US

The Squirrel River is a 72-mile (116 km) tributary of the Kobuk River in northwest Alaska, flowing south from the foothills of the Baird Mountains to meet the Kobuk at the village of Kiana. Its upper course runs through a U-shaped valley about half a mile wide between slopes of 300 to 400 feet.

The river's name was recorded in several forms by explorers: Lieutenant Cantwell of the United States Revenue Cutter Service noted "Sheeleelicktok" in 1884 and "Shee-gar-rik-puk" and "Shee-lee-lie-tok" a year later, while Lieutenant Stoney of the United States Navy documented "Shu-shuk-to-ark" in 1900. The name is traced either to "Sikrikpak", the Alaska Native term for the hoary marmot, or to "Sikrik", a word for a kind of ground squirrel.

The river's name comes from either "Sikrikpak", the Alaska Native term for the hoary marmot, or "Sikrik", a word for a type of ground squirrel. Lieutenant Cantwell of the United States Revenue Cutter Service recorded the name as "Sheeleelicktok" in 1884 and as "Shee-gar-rik-puk" and "Shee-lee-lie-tok" a year later; Lieutenant Stoney of the United States Navy wrote "Shu-shuk-to-ark" in 1900.

The Squirrel River is reached by boat or floatplane; Kiana, at its mouth, is a village on the Kobuk River with no road connection to Alaska's highway system. The river is best run in summer, when the ice has cleared, and the rough track along the lower north bank leads toward mining claims on Klery Creek.

The river's Iñupiaq name, Siksriktuum Kuuŋa, and Koyukon name, Tleleyh No', refer to the arctic ground squirrel; in 1884 Lieutenant Cantwell of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service recorded the variants "Sheeleelicktok" and "Shee-gar-rik-puk".