When explorer Robert Marshall came to this part of the Brooks Range, the northernmost mountains in the country, he saw the Koyukuk River pouring out between Boreal Mountain and Frigid Crags and called them the "Gates of the Arctic." When the park was created in 1980, the name was made permanent.
High glaciers, ragged mountains and clear streams make this wilderness park a joy to explore. There is a nearly full complement of Alaska wildlife: black and grizzly bears, Dall sheep, wolves, foxes, porcupines, northern flying squirrels and so forth, along with ptarmigan, owls and hawks.
Gates of the Arctic is above the Arctic Circle in the center of the state. It covers more than 8 million acres, or about 12,600 square miles. Six national wild and scenic rivers -- the Alatna, John, Kobuk, North Fork of the Koyukuk, Tinayguk and Noatak -- cross the land. There are also two national natural landmarks: the famously ragged Arrigetch Peaks and Walker Lake.
In addition, Gates of the Arctic holds the headwaters of the Noatak River drainage, which is internationally recognized as a biosphere reserve in the United Nation's "Man in the Biosphere" program.
Artifacts from the Brooks Range, the National Park Service says, "have led some to argue for an ancient Indian tradition over 12,000 years in age. Other archeologist believe these finds to be later in time, or only about 8,000 years old. The Putu site, located just northeast of the park and estimated to be over 11,000 years old, may be an example of a Paleo-Indian site in the vicinity of the park and preserve." One site near Anaktuvuk Pass, Tuktu-Naiyuk, has been dated at 6,500 years old.
American explorers began exploring the range shortly after the United States paid Russia for the territory in 1867. In the 1880s, Army and Navy expeditions went up the Koyukuk, Noatak and Kobuk rivers. This territory had been used for centuries by Eskimos and Athabaskans for hunting and fishing, as well as for trading of inland and coastal products.
Trading posts and riverboats arrived after gold was discovered in paying quantities at Tramway Bar on the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River in 1893. "Old" Bettles, Coldfoot, and Wiseman became mining and trading camps.
U.S. Geological Survey crews began to map at the region, and the biologist Murie brothers spent time there. But it was Robert Marshall who popularized the region with his books about exploring the country; he is credited with establishing what the Park Service calls "a philosophy and a literature of ultimate wilderness for the central Brooks Range."
Gates of the Arctic National Park is best reached by air. There is scheduled air service from Fairbanks to Anaktuvuk Pass, Bettles and Coldfoot. Charters may be arranged from Bettles and Coldfoot. Hikers can walk into the park from Anaktuvuk Pass, a Native village within the boundaries, but the terrain has lots of tussocks and rivers and walking might average a single mile per hour.
There are no roads to the park, but the Dalton Highway passes at one point about five miles to the east. Hikers may walk in at that point, but they'll have to cross one or two rivers and then mountain passes.
The National Park Service has no facilities in Gates of the Arctic, although there are administrative buildings in Anaktuvuk Pass, Coldfoot, Bettles and Fairbanks. Hikers should know survival skills and be flexible in case weather delays their air dropoff and pickup.
Because the park is designated as wilderness, there are no campgrounds, roads or established trails. Individuals pay no fees, but they are expected to attend an orientation session.
The village of Anaktuvuk Pass was established in the 1950s when the last band of Nunamiut Eskimos settled permanently in this caribou migration route. The Nunamiuts continue their subsistence lifestyle in the park.
The village allows camping in the willows along the east side of the runway. Native corporation lands surround the village, and visitors are allowed to hike and drive dog teams through them. Camping is allowed but is restricted; check at the ranger station, store, restaurant, community center or Nunamiut Corp. office for information.
Birders and scientists have recorded 133 species in the park in the past three decades. Arctic peregrine falcons, a threatened species, nest in the area, as do other raptors: eagles, hawks, jaegers and the northern shrike.
Fishing is allowed, but catch-and-release fishing is suggested because the fish grow so slowly in the park's climate. Grayling are most common, and there are lake trout, northern pike, arctic char, whitefish and salmon as well. Subsistence users rely on whitefish and on chum salmon, which spawn in Kobuk and Koyukuk rivers, and sheefish, which spawn in the Kobuk.
The park has long, hard winters and short, cool summers. The average temperature range on the southern side of the Brooks Range in July is 46 to 70 degrees, and the wettest time is June through September with thunderstorms in June and July. The temperature may drop below freezing in mid-August and continue dropping to January, when the temperature range is 10 below zero to 30 below zero.
On the northern side, the July ranges are 40 to 60 and the February lows bottom out around 47 below. Precipitation on the northern side is light, making the area an "arctic desert."
The National Park Service has a list of recommended readings about the Brooks Range:
- "Wild Alaska" by Nancy Lange Simmerman and Tricia Brown.
- "The Alaska River Guide" by Karen Jettmar.
- "Arctic Village" by Robert Marshall.
- "Journeys to the Far North" by Olaus J. Murie.
- "Two in the Far North" by Margaret E. Murie.
- "People of the Noatak" by Claire Fejes.
- "The Brooks Range" by Alaska Northwest Publishing Co.
- "Up the Koyukuk" by the Alaska Geographic Society.
- "Interior Alaska -- A Journey Through Time" by the Alaska Geographic Society.
