[1] Its French name was "Gens de Large" or "nomadic people" which when written in English from its local pronunciation evolved into "Chandalar.

"[7] Its peak flow, recorded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) between 1964 and 1974 at a stream gauge at Venetie, was 62,800 cubic feet per second (1,780 m3/s) on June 9, 1968.

[8] At the North Fork, headwaters is a flat valley known as Chandalar shelf just east of the Dalton Highway, where caribou are known to winter.

The 102-mile (164 km) Middle Fork Chandalar River[11] heads up in the Philip Smith Mountains east of Atigun Pass.

[8] East Fork Chandalar River, 175 miles (282 km) long,[12] starts near the Romanzof Mountains in the eastern Brooks Range.