Updated Recommendations for Travel to Alaska #4: The Most Remote National Parks

Gates of the Arctic from the air

I've talked about the six Alaska National Parks that you've probably heard of and maybe visited. In this post, I am going to cover the final two: the ones that are so remote that they are seldom visited. Each has about 11,000 to 15,000 visitors per year. I am happy that I (finally) got to be in that count.

The challenging ones

I wrote extensively about these two Parks when I visited in 2018, so I am not going to give a lot of detail. You can read about Kobuk Valley here and Gates of Arctic here. But, just for ease and continuity, I will repeat a few things.

Kobuk Valley National Park
Located about 25 miles north of the Arctic Circle and 32 miles west of Gates of the Arctic, Kobuk Valley National Park is the ninth largest National Park in the U.S. and seventh largest in Alaska. 

Kobuk Valley National Park

It's not at all what you expect for an Alaskan Park, however, because its main feature is three sand dune fields on the south side of the Kobuk River. 

Yep, sand dunes!

The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes, Little Kobuk Sand Dunes and the Hunt River Dunes comprise about 30 square miles of golden sand punctuated by sparse groves of trees, bushes and tundra. At the end of the last Ice Age, these fields, which were created by a combination of glacial outwash and strong wind, covered ten times as much land. 

The tundra and forest are reclaiming the land

Map: NPS

The dunes are just a small fraction of the Park, which also protects the broad muskeg wetlands valley of the Kobuk River, the Baird Mountains in the north and the Waring Mountains in the south. 

A very Alaskan land feature, muskeg is bog composed of water and partially dead vegetation covered by spongy moss. It is extremely difficult to navigate on foot.

Muskeg is a wonderland for mosquitoes

A unique feature of the land, seen very well from the air, is the "polygons." 

These natural geometric shapes are caused by frost heave soil expansion in the permafrost. Gravity causes fine soil particles to migrate away from the freezing front and larger particles to migrate to the middle, forming a uniquely shaped "plate."

Water collects in the cracks, eventually making a pattern of either plants or streams

Polygons are found in remote regions of the Arctic, Antarctica, the Australian outback and Mars!

The Park protects a major migration route for the Western Caribou Herd, which comprises about 400,000 animals. The herd's annual crossing of the Kobuk River is central to the Inupiaq people's subsistence hunting and people travel to the Park to observe these magnificent beasts. We did not see any on our (very) brief visit.

Western Caribou Herd; Photo: NPS

Kobuk Valley National Park has no trails, roads, facilities or developed camping areas within its 2,735 square miles. 

Vast empty land

Unlike many Alaskan National Parks, there are no settled areas and no part of the Park is designated as a National Preserve, which would allow sport hunting. Kobuk Valley is entirely National Park land with only subsistence hunting by local residents permitted. 

It's a harsh environment; average lows temperatures in January are −8°F and can reach −50°F. Summer temperatures average around 65°F and can reach 85°F. 

When we went it was foggy and rainy, which prevented flying one day

Since the Park is above the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set from June 3 to July 9. It can snow any time of the year and wind and rain are common in summer. 

If you plan to go, you must factor in buffer time in case flights are cancelled or delayed.

Wolf and Bear tracks at our landing site

Kobuk Valley National Park is home to many animals in addition to Caribou, including Brown Bears, Wolves, Tundra Swans, Wolverines, Foxes, Porcupines and Moose.

Of course, we saw nothing except a couple of pairs of Tundra Swans. The Swans mate for life and live in pairs, staking out ponds across the landscape.

A pair of Tundra Swans guarding their lake

Visitor services are available at a Ranger Station in Bettles, more than 100 miles away, the Northwest Arctic Heritage Center in Kotzebue, 80 miles to the southwest, and the Alaska Public Lands Information Centers in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

I stamped my Passport at the Bettles Ranger Station

Most access is via small floatplane or tundra plane from either Bettles or Kotzebue, which are both accessible by an additional flight from Anchorage or Fairbanks. 

Heading to the Park

You can do day tours (we did ours through the Bettles Lodge) or arrange for drop-off and pick-up if you want some back-country time for hiking, kayaking, fishing or just enjoying the remoteness. 

On the ground

The Park is so remote that it is possible to be the only visitor in the Park on any given day. Drop-off visitors must have good wilderness skills and be well-provisioned with medications, food, outdoor gear and clothing for a broad range of weather.  

The NPS website for Kobuk Valley provides links to authorized outfitters, guides and air services.

Ready to depart for Kobuk Valley National Park

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
Only slightly less remote is Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska's most northerly National Park. Centered on the Brooks Range, the Park covers the north and south slopes of the mountains, including the Endicott Mountains and part of the Schwatka Mountains. 

Map: NPS

Like Kobuk Valley, Gates of the Arctic has no roads or facilities. Its eastern boundary comes within five miles of the Dalton Highway, but requires a river crossing to reach from the road. The town of Anaktuvuk Pass is surrounded on three sides by the northern part of the Park.

Anaktuvuk Pass

Gates of the Arctic is part of the largest contiguous wilderness in the U.S., which also includes the Gates of the Arctic Wilderness, the Noatak Wilderness (closed to visits), the Noatak National Preserve and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Almost all of the Park is designated as wilderness, with the exception of areas around Anaktuvuk Pass. A detached portion of the park surrounds Fortress Mountain and Castle Mountain to the north. 

Vast wilderness

The Park itself is the nation's second largest National Park.

The Park protects the Arrigetch (Inupiat for "fingers of the outstretched hand") Mountains ...

Towering mountains

... and six Wild and Scenic Rivers: the Alatna, the John, the Kobuk, the North Fork of the Koyukuk, the Noatak and the Tinayguk ...

Meandering rivers

It straddles the Continental Divide, and, therefore, has drainages to the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

The Park's boreal forest extends to about 68 degrees north latitude, characterized by black and white spruce mixed with poplar. 

Forest in the fall

North of that line, coinciding with the spine of the Brooks Range, is a cold, arid "arctic desert." 

There is little vegetation in the mountains

During the long winters, temperatures can reach −75°F; in the summer, it can get as hot as 90°F.

The mountains were repeatedly and heavily carved by glaciers.

Glaciation was recent enough that the edges are still dramatically sharp

Upland regions are primarily tundra and exposed rock. 

Tundra is dramatic in September

Valleys have conifers and shrubs, but once the valleys exit the mountains, tundra takes over again.

Exposed rock

Just as in Kobuk Valley, we didn't see much wildlife. But, we were told the Park has the usual contingent of Alaskan animals. It's just a very, very big place.

Alaskan Moose

When we visited, we landed on Walker Lake in the far southern part of the Park. Walker Lake was also known as "Big Fish Lake," because Inupiaq legend in the area told of giant fish that inhabited the waters. 

Walker Lake

A National Natural Landmark, the glacier-formed lake is nearly 14 miles long and averages over a mile in width. The gravel shore is bordered by dense white spruce forests and talus slopes that rise 2,000 feet above the lake.

The Kobuk River, which drains from the lake, has been a fishing site and travel corridor for thousands of years. It is rich in Lake Trout, Arctic Char and Grayling and the shores are full of berries in the fall. Walker Lake is a popular drop off point for visitors floating the Kobuk River. 

Our set-down spot

We never set foot in most of the Park, but have flown over the Brooks Range when traveling to Kaktovik and Utqiaġvik. 

We've seen much of the Park from the air

Park activities include hiking and backpacking, river floating, birding, camping, technical mountain climbing, fishing and hunting (in the Preserve, not in the Park). 

A-OK from Scott

Like Kobuk Valley, Park access is via tours or air-taxi drop-off and pick-up. The NPS website has lists of authorized providers.

One of the least-visited National Parks in the U.S., Gates of the Arctic gets less than 15,000 visitors a year. With how much work it was for us to get there (our first attempt to visit was aborted when our guide failed to meet us in Anaktuvuk Pass), I can see why. 

Information is available at the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center in Coldfoot, the Ranger Station in Bettles, a Ranger Station in Anaktuvuk Pass and the Alaska Public Lands Information Centers in Anchorage and Fairbanks.

The Bettles Ranger Station

I visited both Kobuk Valley and Gates of Arctic via one-day of flightseeing with brief river/lake landings. I had planned for two full days to see more of the Parks, but weather prevented that. Plus, we had a total fail on our first attempt to visit Gates of the Arctic. 

As I said, pad your time and plan for, well, for anything. It's the wilderness!

Fleeting sunlight

Fun Tip

If you do go, make sure that you stop at the National Park Service Ranger Station in Bettles to borrow the signs: a wooden sign with a Kobuk Valley hand-painted on one side and Gates of the Arctic painted on the other. 

Borrow the sign!

Years ago a visitor made them so that other travelers could graphically document their visits to the Parks. 

They're not fancy. 

They look handmade, which is part of the charm

They are free to borrow and they just ask that they be returned so that someone else can use them.